Serving Clovis, Portales and the Surrounding Communities
PORTALES — After a round-of-16 win over Pojoaque on Friday, the Portales High girls basketball team will take on a familiar foe today in the state Class 4A quarterfinals at The Pit on the campus of the University of New Mexico in Albuquerque.
The Lady Rams (17-10), seeded fourth, are facing fifth-seeded Moriarty (19-7) for the fourth time this season in an 11:30 a.m. tipoff.
The teams split a pair of regular-season District 4-4A contests, each winning on the other's home floor, before the Lady Rams notched a 56-38 victory over Moriarty in the semifinals of last week's district tournament semifinals at Moriarty.
Three of the four teams from 4-4A are in the top five in the state field, led by top-seeded Hope Christian (26-2). The Huskies open today's action against eighth-seeded Sandia Prep at 8 a.m.
"First off I think it shows the strength of our district to have so many teams in the bracket," Lady Rams coach Wade Fraze said. "Familiarity-wise, it's good because we know what to expect, but they also know us."
Fraze said he thinks the Lady Rams will need a team effort to get past the Lady Pintos. He added that he expects Moriarty to try and key in defensively on Zamorye Cox and Taylee Rippee, two Portales players who have consistently scorched the Lady Pintos this season.
Likewise, the Lady Rams are focused on containing Moriarty's top duo of Alyssa Adams and Emily Gonzales.
"We can't let them get started and we need to just limit their touches as best we can," said Fraze. "When they do get the ball, we just need to make it tough on them."
Today's winner will likely get Hope Christian in a Thursday semifinal matchup, scheduled for 8 a.m. at The Pit.
The championship game is slated for 3:30 p.m. on Friday, also at The Pit.