Gallup holds off Lady Rams in 4A quarterfinal

RIO RANCHO – Portales High’s girls put up a valiant effort after falling behind by 17 points in the third quarter of Tuesday’s Class 4A state quarterfinal game against Gallup.

The Lady Rams rallied to grab a three-point lead early in the final stanza, but they couldn’t hold on as the fourth-seeded and defending 4A champion Lady Bengals posted a 66-56 victory at The Pit on the campus of the University of New Mexico.

Junior Rylie Whitehair dominated the smaller Lady Rams inside and scored 20 points to lead three players in double figures for Gallup (23-9), while freshman Kayden Tsosie added 12 points and senior Adrian Thomas chipped in 11 for the Lady Bengals.

Gallup’s bid to repeat ended on Thursday with a 61-47 semifinal loss to top-seeded district rival Kirtland Central at The Pit.

PHS girls coach Wade Fraze praised his team’s efforts in digging its way back into Wednesday’s tilt.

“Whitehair got hers, but she had to work hard for them,” Fraze said. “We weren’t doing things defensively in the first half that we had talked about. We just played better defense (after that), and because of that we played better on offense.”

Junior guard Myleigh Banda led fifth-seeded PHS (20-9) with 15 points. Junior forward Evannie Fulfer tallied 14, and junior guard Angel Ornelas earned a double-double with 13 points and 12 rebounds.

Fulfer scored two baskets out of the gate for Portales before the Lady Bengals, coached by 2007 PHS grad and former Portales boys assistant Todd McBroom, rallied back to take a 19-12 lead at the quarter. The margin grew to 33-16 late in the half, but three 3-pointers from Banda fueled a 21-12 third-quarter surge that lifted the Lady Rams back into contention.

They netted the first six points of the final period to lead 50-47, but Gallup outscored them 19-6 the rest of the game, pulling away in the final couple of minutes.

Gallup went 14-of-23 from the foul line for the game, while PHS was 7-of-11. “That was the difference in the game, really,” Fraze said.

With the exception of senior guard Audrey Paden, the Lady Rams return the core of their roster next season. Fraze said they did well this year to get as far as they did.

“About half our kids had never seen The Pit before,” he said of the 17,000-seat arena, which included the usual loud and large contingent of fans from Gallup. “Only two of our kids had played in The Pit before. It was good for the girls to experience that environment.

“Being down 17 to the defending state champs, I couldn’t be prouder of what we did (to come back).”