Jal drops out of Shootout

PORTALES - Portales High's basketball teams got an unexpected day off on Friday.

Scheduled to face their counterparts from Jal on the second day of the three-day Portales Shootout round-robin at the Ram Athletic Center, those games were canceled after a COVID breakout at Jal. On Saturday, the PHS girls were to face Carlsbad while the boys took on Andrews to wrap up the event.

Meantime, Portales squads split on Thursday, the girls winning over Kirtland Central 51-35 while the boys lost to El Paso Cathedral 58-39.

The Lady Rams (11-3) made short work of the Lady Broncos (8-4), stretching a five-point lead at the quarter to 20 by the end of three.

Senior post Kylyie Paden posted a double-double with 19 points and 10 rebounds for PHS.

"She just had a very solid game tonight," Lady Rams coach Wade Fraze said of the 6-foot Paden.

In addition, four other players finished between six and eight points for Portales, which extended its winning streak to six games.

"This was probably our most solid game this year," Fraze said. "We just played steady for four quarters."

Fraze said Kirtland may have been affected by the lengthy road trip from the northwest part of the state.

"They just didn't get going," he said. "Part of it could've been the bus ride, but I think part of it was us."

Junior Teghan Begay scored 14 points for Kirtland Central, which lost its second game this week on the heels of a seven-game winning streak.

Cathedral's boys (16-11) made short work of the Rams, bolting to a 32-12 halftime lead behind 12 of senior Reece Klein's game-high 21 points.

"They're a good team," Rams coach Randy McBroom said. "They shot the ball better than in any of the films I've watched on them.

"They've got a strong senior group (12 of the Fighting Irish's 14 players are seniors). It seems like we've been running into a lot of strong senior groups."

McBroom was encouraged by his team's second-half play, in which the Rams (5-7) outscored Cathedral 27-26.

"I thought we played with a lot better energy in the second half, and that led to better defense and better offense," McBroom said. "We've just got to do that for four quarters."

Senior Zachary Bowling added 12 points for the Fighting Irish. Portales' top scorer was junior Emmanuel Diahn with nine points.

This week, both PHS squads have only a game against Moriarty on tap, with the boys playing Tuesday and the girls on Saturday at the RAC.