Rams defeat Wolverines

Portales High's boys were able to stop the bleeding on Tuesday night.

Losers in three of their previous four outings, the Rams got back on the winning track with a 69-50 victory over Texico at the Ram Athletic Center.

Sophomore forward Carson Pfaffenberger posted a double-double and led the Rams (11-6) with 23 points and 11 rebounds. Junior guards Joel Lujan and Jase Hightower added 12 and 11 points, respectively, while junior forwards Paxton Culpepper and Xavier Tarpeh just missed double digits with nine apiece.

"Our guys did a great job executing our game plan," Rams coach Randy McBroom said. "They're sharing the ball and having fun, and that's pretty awesome."

Texico (8-8) never led, but pared an early 10-point deficit to one three times in the second frame, the latter at 25-24 on a 3-point basket by senior Kyle Gonser, before the Rams went on an 11-0 run that carried into the third quarter.

The Wolverines pulled to 49-40 early in the fourth on a 3-point play by junior Alex Fuentes, but they couldn't get any closer.

Fuentes paced Texico with 15 points, while senior Daltyn Cain finished with a pair of 3s and 10 points.

"We came out (after halftime) and clamped down defensively," McBroom said. "That's a good ballteam, but we emphasized coming out and controlling the rebounding in the second half."

Portales shot 53 percent for the game. Hightower led the team with six assists while junior Bradley Aguilar collected five steals.

PHS returns to action on Monday against Gallup in a 6 p.m. neutral-site game scheduled for Estancia. Meantime, the Wolverines hosted Santa Fe-based Academy for Technology & the Classics on Saturday, and return to action at home on Thursday against Melrose.