Farwell teams shore up postseason positions

BOVINA - The Farwell boys and girls basketball teams weren't about to take any chances of messing up their postseason positions on Friday night.

The Steers, with a key clash for the top spot in District 3-2A looming on Tuesday at Olton, made short work of Bovina, rolling to an 87-48 victory over the Mustangs. Meantime, the Lady Blue limited Bovina to eight first-half points - holding the Fillies scoreless for a stretch of nearly eight minutes spanning halftime - en route to a 67-28 win.

Farwell's girls (18-9, 7-1 district) shared the 3-2A title with Vega, and they'll have a tiebreaker game to determine the district's top seed in the upcoming University Interscholastic League playoffs at 7 p.m. (CST) on Monday at Canyon H.S.

The Lady Blue, who had two players out on Friday due to medical protocols, and Lady Longhorns (17-7, 7-1) traded wins on each other's court during the regular season.

"It's always nice to finish tied for the district championship," Farwell coach Mikel Turner said. "We'll see how it goes on Monday."

Senior Presley Agee led four Farwell players in double figures with three 3-point baskets and 17 points, while sophomore Deavyn Bradley came off the bench for a personal-best 15 points on five of the team's season-high 12 3-pointers. Freshmen Zavayia Benoit, making her first start with senior guard Valaria Ruiz out, and Chloee Whitten each added 10.

Meantime, sophomore guard Maryn Terry missed her second consecutive game, but could be back on Monday, Turner said. He added that she probably could have played on Friday if necessary.

"We're going to need her on defense (against Olton)," he said. "We just didn't want to put her in a position to get hurt (in Friday's clash)."

Jaelyn Smith, Agee and Whitten all hit 3s to help stake Farwell to a quick 11-1 lead, and the Lady Blue never looked back.

The Fillies (5-10, 2-6), who qualified for the No. 4 postseason position from the district, were paced by 15 points from senior guard Ireydi Vela.

Farwell boys 87, Bovina 48 - Four players scored in double digits, led by a personal-best 27 points from junior guard Leo Nunez, as the Steers (23-2, 6-1) kept their district hopes alive in a physical matchup. If Farwell, which lost by four points at home to Olton (21-1, 6-0) on Jan. 22, can return the favor on Tuesday, it would likely set up a tiebreaker game for the district's top seed in the playoffs next week.

"Like we tell our kids, 'If you want to be part of a district championship, you've got to win Tuesday,'" Steers coach Shane Perkins said. "We've got to step up and challenge them.

"Through three quarters, I was pleased with how we played. We knew they'd come out and play hard against us, but we hit shots and defended well."

Nunez had four 3-point baskets and scored all but two of his points in the first three stanzas. He said he was motivated by an inadvertent knee to the head early in the game.

"When someone hit me in the head, I kind of went into a different mode - like Kobe (Bryant) with a 'Mamba' mentality," said Nunez, whose previous high game was 20. "I was just having fun out there."

Nunez broke a 5-5 tie with his first trifecta of the game, then hit another to make it 14-6. The Steers' lead grew to 20 points midway through the second period, and the foul-plagued Mustangs (8-6, 3-4) were never able to mount a run.

"They've got enough ballplayers where just about anybody can do that on any night," Bovina coach Eric Fierro said of the outburst by Nunez. "We didn't play very strong. We let the fouls get to us."

Eight players scored at least five points for the Steers, with senior Jonathan Mora added 13 points and juniors Grayson Waldrop and Dustan Sides 10 apiece.

Nunez said the Steers are ready for Tuesday's rematch.

"I feel like it'll be a tough game," he said. "Last time when they came back, we were kind of yelling at each other (during the game), but this time I think we have a pretty good chance."

Senior Jose Mata led the Mustangs (8-6, 3-4) with 18 points, and senior Fernando Martinez finished with 12.