Lady Rams drop consecutive two-point verdicts

LITTLEFIELD – Portales High’s girls were tested this week by three Texas squads in Littlefield’s Wildcat Invitational.

After beating Class 1A No. 6 Slidell in a tight one on the first day, the Lady Rams lost to Clarendon 42-40 in Wednesday’s semifinals and to the host Lady Wildcats 44-42 in Thursday’s third-place game.

PHS (7-7) built a 12-point lead late in the half against Littlefield before the Lady Wildcats closed to 27-20 at the break. Littlefield then dominated the third quarter, pulling even after holding Portales to just four points, then built a six-point lead before the Lady Rams rallied back late.

Portales tied it 40-40 with about 1 ½ minutes left, but Littlefield scored the next four points and held on.

The Lady Rams committed 30 turnovers while forcing Littlefield into 22.

“Most of their turnovers were in the first half,” Portales coach Wade Fraze said. “We were getting steals and layups.”

Senior Kyndal Edgemon scored 20 points for Littlefield (7-9), and senior Madison McNeese chipped in 14. Meantime, junior Brenna Jewell topped the Lady Rams with a personal-best 13 points while sophomore Angel Ornelas finished with 11 points for a third game in a row, also collecting team highs of nine rebounds, three assists and five steals.

Fraze noted that while they recently lost their only two seniors, Alivia Gonzales and Cyria Aguirre, to injuries, the Lady Rams are making progress.

“I feel like as young as we are, we’re close to turning a corner,” he said. “We’re playing some decent teams and we’re staying close.”

PHS returns to action on Friday with a 5:30 p.m. tipoff against Carlsbad at the Ram Athletic Center.

Portales 44, Slidell 39 (Tuesday, quarterfinals) – Trailing by a point at halftime, the Lady Rams outscored the Class 1A sixth-ranked Lady Greyhounds 13-6 in the third stanza and never let Slidell (16-3 after a Wednesday morning consolation bracket loss to Sundown) get closer than three points the rest of the way.

Ornelas finished with 11 points for the Lady Rams. Sophomore guard Myleigh Banda posted a double-double with 10 points and 10 rebounds to go with five steals, while junior guard Audrey Paden also had 10 points and collected seven rebounds and six steals.

For Slidell, which came in on a 16-game winning streak and outscoring its previous opponents 1,051-560, juniors Avery Weathers and Kenlea Hardin finished with 13 and 10 points, respectively.

Clarendon 42, Portales 40 (Wednesday, championship semifinals) – The Lady Rams got off to a 12-0 start and led 16-10 early in the second period after a 3-pointer by Ornelas, but the Lady Broncos (10-2) went on a 17-0 run to finish the half with an 11-point advantage.

PHS still trailed by 11 early in the fourth, but finally pulled even when Banda stole the ball, drew a foul and converted 1-of-2 at the line. But Clarendon’s, finally tying It with six seconds left after Banda came up with a steal and converted 1-of-2 at the line. But Clarendon’s Tandie Cummins took a baseball pass in for a layup with two seconds left to win it.

Banda scored 16 points while Ornelas finished with three 3-pointers and 11 points for Portales. The Lady Rams outrebounded Clarendon 33-16, led by Banda with eight and junior Brenna Jewell with seven.

Senior forward Finley Cunningham paced a balanced Lady Broncos attack with 11 points.