Serving Clovis, Portales and the Surrounding Communities
LOVINGTON – Sophomore guard Angel Ornelas had a monster game, especially through the first three quarters, and her teammates took her cue down the stretch.
Ornelas funneled in easily a personal-best 26 points while adding eight rebounds and four assists as Portales High’s girls turned back Lovington 60-51 in a District 4-4A clash.
Down by five entering the stanza, PHS (11-11, 1-2 district) outscored the Lady Wildcats 22-8 over the final eight minutes. Junior guard Brenna Jewell scored all seven of her points in the frame while sophomore post Evannie Fulfer had six of her seven.
“We played better defense,” PHS girls coach Wade Fraze said in explaining the comeback. “In the second half, we got 12 offensive rebounds and a lot of those led to baskets or free throws.”
Ornelas also shot 7-of-7 from the foul line in the final two periods en route to surpassing her previous top game (16), set in a district-opening loss to Roswell Goddard. Junior guard Audrey Paden added 10 points, five assists and seven steals for Portales.
Lovington (10-11, 0-2) got three 3-pointers and 21 points from freshman guard Malaiya Castro, while junior guard Elizabeth Buendia added 15 points and sophomore guard-forward Aubrey Aranda 10.
Castro had 13 points of her points in the first half to help stake Lovington to a 26-24 halftime lead, including three of the Lady Wildcats’ four first-half trifectas. She and Buendia accounted for all but six of the team’s tallies in the opening two cantos.
“Lovington’s better than they’ve been in a few years,” Fraze said. “They’re as young as we are, maybe even a little younger.”
PHS returns to action on Friday at Goddard.
Artesia 38, Portales 37 (Tuesday) – After dropping an overtime decision to Roswell Goddard to start district play, the Lady Rams fell into an 0-2 hole on Tuesday with a down-to-the-wire setback to the Lady Bulldogs at Artesia.
Trailing by five starting the final stanza, PHS rallied back to lead by two with 2 ½ minutes to go. Senior guard Koda Beltran converted a pair of free throws in the closing seconds to lift Artesia to victory, and a desperation three-quarter-court shot for PHS clanged off the backboard.
“I guess you could call it a moral victory, but I don’t like moral victories,” Fraze said of playing the district favorites to the wire on Artesia’s home floor. “It puts us in a big hole. We’re close; we’ve just got to get over the hump.”
Beltran finished with 12 points for the Lady Bulldogs (13-8, 2-0). No one else reached double figures for Artesia, but three others had at least seven points.
Sophomore guard Myleigh Banda tallied 15 points for Portales, while Ornelas was next in line with seven.
Banda and freshman Skyler Massey led the Lady Rams with seven rebounds apiece, Paden had a team-high five steals and Ornelas dished out four assists.