The Eastern New Mexico News - Serving Clovis, Portales and the Surrounding Communities

FLOYD - The Floyd Broncos pulled off a bit of a stunner on Thursday night.

Trailing by nine points late in the first quarter, Floyd rallied for the lead by halftime and pulled away in the second half to beat Gateway Christian 60-49 in District 4-1A boys action.

Junior Trace East led a balanced attack for the Broncos (3-16, 2-5 district) with 17 points - 13 coming during a 23-13 second-quarter surge that sent Floyd into halftime with a 30-27 advantage.

Junior Juan Alba-Beltran chipped in 12 points for the Broncos, while Gateway (12-9, 3-4) got 25 points from senior Wes Tipton and 15 from senior Joe Waide.

In other boys contests on Thursday:

Grady 62, Clovis Christian 52 - In a District 4-1A tilt played at San Jon, the Bronchos outscored CCS 17-3 in the final period to wipe out a four-point deficit.

Senior Chisum Rush led Grady (11-9, 3-3) with 20 points - 17 coming in the first half - while junior Isaiah Mitchell added 11 points, freshman Zane Rush nine and junior Dustin Bryant eight. For the Eagles (9-15, 0-7), junior Tyler Lingnau took game honors with 22 points and junior Dawson Teune and freshman Noah Gershon had eight apiece.

Santa Rosa 63, Texico 36 - The host Lions outscored Texico 29-11 over the middle two quarters to take control of their District 7-2A matchup.

Seniors Korey Padilla and Shawn Agar led five players in double figures for Santa Rosa (18-6, 3-1) with 13 points each, while junior Ricardo Chavez added 11 points and seniors Seth Cordova and Martin Madrid chipped in 10 apiece. For the Wolverines (13-7, 1-3), seniors Luke Phipps and Ruger Horton had eight and seven points, respectively.

Tatum 74, Elida 48 - In a battle for the top spot in District 4-1A at Elida, the Coyotes (17-6, 7-0) roared to a 32-point halftime lead and won easily behind 16 points from senior Kivan Cardenas, 15 from senior Sebastian Jimenez and 12 from sophomore Hayden Mullins.

The Tigers (19-4, 5-2) were paced by seniors Colton Ferguson with 14 points and Tyce Delk with 11.

In girls contests on Thursday night:

Clovis Christian 51, Grady 42 - At San Jon, the Lady Eagles outscored Grady 16-4 in the final period to erase a three-point deficit in District 4-1A.

Senior Sofi Garbarino tallied 16 points, freshman Claire Fisher 13 and junior Lola DeGroot 12 for CCS (14-10, 2-5), with Garbarino and Fisher each collecting three 3-point baskets. For the Lady Bronchos (6-14, 0-6), junior Bailey Montoya scored 20 points and junior Teryn Foote added 13.

Melrose 47, Tucumcari 34 - In a non-district game at Tucumcari, the Class 1A second-ranked Lady Buffs (18-4) steadily pulled away against the Class 3A Lady Rattlers, riding 14 points from junior Hailey Martin and 13 from senior Shannon May.

Tucumcari (14-9) was led by 20 points from senior Ashley Shipley.

Texico 56, Santa Rosa 34 - The Lady Wolverines held Santa Rosa to just three first-half points and led 36-12 entering the final period in a District 7-2A matchup.

Senior Ashley Hill led a balanced attack for Texico (10-10, 3-1) with 13 points, while junior Rachel Phipps added 12 and senior Sydney Furrow 10. For the Lady Lions (8-16, 0-4), senior Elyse Chavez posted a game-high 16 points.

Gateway Christian 61, Floyd 31 - The Lady Warriors (16-2, 6-0) retained the District 4-1A lead, outscoring the host Lady Broncos 42-12 over the middle two stanza.

Senior M.J. Stephens scored 17 of her game-high 20 points during the middle two periods for Gateway. Floyd (5-13, 3-4) was paced by 15 points from senior Anahi Chavez.

In action on Wednesday:

Melrose boys 83, Clovis Christian 42 - Tristan Sena led a balanced attack with 17 points, and the Buffaloes were never seriously threatened after scoring the game's first 13 points.

Dylan Valentine added 16, Trace Jackson 15 and Devon Bailey 11 for the Buffaloes (21-1, 5-0 District 6-1A). Melrose sat post Tate Sorgen due to a hip pointer suffered over the weekend against Cimarron, but coach Kevin Lackey said he was happy with how the rest of the team stepped up in his absence.

Noah Gershon had 11 to lead the Eagles (9-14, 0-6).

Melrose girls 65, Clovis Christian 21 - A comfortable lead turned into a blowout in the second half, as the Buffaloes won the third quarter 26-0 and allowed just four points in the fourth.

Martin had 17 to lead Melrose, which committed just seven fouls and didn't send the Eagles to the free-throw line all game while leading by as many as 45 late.

Lola DeGroot had 15 points to lead three scorers for the Eagles, and hit all three of the team's 3-pointers.