Portales senior Dallas Russell battles with Rio Grande senior Lydia Newton for control of a loose ball during the first half of Monday's game at Rock Staubus gym 2.

Portales senior guard Tara Johnson tries to make a move around Rio Grande’s junior guard Bernadette Sanchez during the first half of Monday's game of the Plateau Holiday Classic.

CLOVIS — With two tournaments occurring at the same time, almost every game of the boys and girls invitationals in Clovis could be squeezed into the main gymnasium at Clovis High School.

Every year, though, one contest each day is forced into the auxiliary gym — where spectators on the front row could literally stretch their legs into the court itself.

It was Portales’ fate to play in that gym in the first round of the Plateau Wireless Classic on Monday. But, thanks to a 49-35 victory over Rio Grande, the Lady Rams have escaped the clutches of the secondary gym.

Portales (4-4) will play Alamogordo (8-2), a 44-29 winner over Abilene Cooper, in today’s tournament semifinals.

Freshman Macy Mitchell led the Lady Rams with 13 points while Jenna Wagner added 10 for the victors.

Rio Grande (5-5), which pushed a fast tempo throughout the game, was led by Lydia Newton’s 14 points.

“We were aware of (the Ravens’ preferred mode of play),” Portales coach Clay Stout said. “But if you’ll be efficient on the offensive end, that would stop a lot of their transition game.”

Portales seemed to have little, if any, trouble early on with the fullcourt defensive pressure applied by the Ravens.

After Mitchell scored three straight buckets, two on putbacks after Portales went on fast breaks, the Lady Rams took an 18-4 lead three minutes into the second quarter. The only signs of life for Rio Grande before intermission was when Bernadette Sanchez popped in a pair of long 3-pointers.

At the start of the third quarter, however, the Ravens made a run at Portales as four straight buckets it 22-18. It wasn’t until midway through the period, when Ashley Hernandez put back in her own missed shot, that the Lady Rams finally got on the board.

“We went through a period when we were throwing the ball away,” Wagner said. "But once we started being more patient — with shorter passes — that’s when we started picking them apart.”

Ahead 31-22 after Rio Grande made the first bucket of the fourth quarter, Portales scored 12 straight points to put the game out of reach. In that stretch, four Lady Rams recorded assists on teammates’ field goals.

“We got a little out of sync in the third quarter, and I thought we stopped looking at the basket,” Stout said.

Rio Grande began the game without two of its usual starters while a third player, Monique Macias, injured her left knee midway through the fourth quarter. But Ravens coach Joe Rick Espinoza credited Portales instead of finding fault with his own team.

“No excuse — we just couldn’t get it together,” Espinoza said. “Needless to say, Portales is well-coached and they’ve got a good team. When you put those two together, they’re going to be tough to beat.”