Serving Clovis, Portales and the Surrounding Communities
Serving Clovis, Portales and the Surrounding Communities
PORTALES — One would think the silver lining in Portales missing the state volleyball tournament would be that it would give the Portales basketball team an extra week to prepare for the season.
Not so fast, the New Mexico Activities Association said. Teams weren’t allowed to officially practice until Nov. 19, and coach Wade Fraze gave the players most of the Thanksgiving break off for needed rest.
“All of my kids have been in season since August,” Fraze said. “I think the mental and physical break, come February, pays off.”
He’ll probably admit the Rams need the practice just as much as they need the rest. Unlike last year’s 8-2 start — which was then followed by a 20-game winning streak and a state championship win over Moriarty to close the season — Fraze is expecting a bumpy road starting Friday night at Clovis.
With us being as young as we are, it’s going to be a big learning curve for us. We may be the youngest team in the state in any class. I’ve never coached a team this young across the board. But I like the kids I’ve got, and I think they’re up for the challenge.”
The only thing that’s really certain going into Friday is that senior Taylee Rippee will start.
“We graduated six of our top seven players,” Fraze said. “Taylee was for sure one of those top seven. We’ve got to supplement that somehow. The last time I lost a large core (in 2017), I had a pretty good group intact. I don’t have that this year.”
Portales will only have two seniors on the roster, Rippee and Codi Flores. Juniors Maricela Garcia and Aaliyah Austin return, while junior Alexis Ryen only saw JV time last season and fellow junior Kiera Heywood joins the team without playing at any level last year.
Sophomore contributors are expected to be Kinzie Davis and Mattison Blakey, who Fraze said “saw good minutes at various times” last season.
The biggest key against Clovis, Fraze said, will be game experience.
“I think that’s going to be valuable,” Fraze said. “Clovis is going to have a lot of good athletes. A lot of those girls don’t play volleyball, and (Coach Jeff Reed) has had them since August. They’ll probably be more seasoned just on that aspect. Meanwhile, we’re a team with three practices under out belt.”
Friday’s game is the closest Portales will have to a home game until Dec. 18 against Frenship. The six-game District 4-4A season begains Feb. 5 at home against Goddard.
