In their way of thinking, the Portales Rams felt they had a chance with Class 3A’s top-ranked Hope Christian on Saturday if they could prevent the Huskies from getting off to a fast start.

That didn't happen, however, as juniors Kyle Elliott and Matt Murphy rained down 3-pointers on the visitors and Hope (14-3) took the championship of its own boys basketball tournament by a 72-50 score.

Elliott hit a pair of treys to start the game and, later in the first quarter, Murphy scored nine points in a row off of three long-range bombs as the Huskies roared out to a 24-5 lead. By the time Elliott gunned in his fourth three-pointer, to start the second quarter, Hope held a 32-11 advantage.

"After my second three, I guess I just felt it from then on," said Elliott, who finished with 19 points.

Portales coach Mark Gallegos, whose team was led by Billy Good's 16 points, said the start of the contest was not what he was hoping for as the Rams' chance to control tempo went awry early.

"We knew what they were going to run, but we just didn't come out and execute," Gallegos said.

"It's probably the third game of the season that we've had a box-and-one put on Matt Murphy," said Hope Christian coach Jim Murphy of his son. "But it shows our depth. One game, it was Josh Groenig who stepped up. Last night and tonight it was Josh Elliott.

"It just shows that we don't just have a bunch of individuals, we've got a good team," he added.

Portales (9-7) was resilient, though, and the Rams didn't let the lead grow any larger for the time being. In fact, an 8-3 start to the second half brought the large bulge down to an 11-point advantage.

Up 47-36 two minutes into the third period, a free throw and then a field goal from Arren Wells kicked off an 18-3 run that stretched the Huskies lead to 23 points and gave Hope firm control of the contest.

Shawn Carrasco scored 11 points while Nick Bliss added seven. Marcus Slocum, who was selected to the all-tourney team along with Bliss, managed only two points in the loss.

Hope Christian is an Albuquerque private school that will begin a football program for the first time in the 2009-10 school year. But the Huskies’ boys, right now, get into team sports only when the basketball season begins.

After the game, Gallegos noted that his own team – which includes many players who were part of the Class 3A state football championship squad – was a little behind the curve in comparison with the basketball Huskies.

"With football and stuff, we're just now getting to where Hope was a month ago,” Gallegos said. “We're a little bit behind. In another month, we're going to catch up.”

“Our kids were really pumped and focused to play them, because I told them that they (the Rams) were in the state tournament last year,” Murphy said. “They have a lot of returners and they won the championship in football. They’re a very good team.”