Portales freshman Macy Mitchell looks for the entry pass in Friday night's game.

Muleshoe sophomore Cooper Washington blocks Portales junior Marcus Slocum’s shot during the first half of Friday’s game in Portales.

Muleshoe junior BreeAnn Baca strips the ball from Portales sophomore Gabby Garcia during Friday night's game in Portales.

Two schools fresh off state football championships met in basketball Friday night in Portales.

Suffice it to say, both are still making the transition.

Portales, the New Mexico Class 3A football champ, was a little closer to form. Muleshoe, the Texas Class 2A champ less than a week removed from the gridiron, couldn’t handle the Rams’ aggressive defensive pressure as Portales rolled to a 66-40 win.

Portales also took the girls contest, beating the Lady Mules 49-35.

Despite the win, Portales boys coach Mark Gallegos wasn’t pleased with his team’s overall performance.

“I’ve never had a team play with that little intensity and without a desire to get better,” Gallegos said. “We can make lots of excuses, but we just have to get better. We weren’t mentally ready to play.”

Still, the Rams (2-2) were always in control. They forced Muleshoe into 30 turnovers, including four in a row at the start en route to an 8-0 lead.

The Mules (1-5), who’ve had their entire team together for just three practices, warmed up a bit in the final period with five 3-pointers and 20 points, but it was far too late.

“They had a good pressure defense and we had a hard time handling it,” first-year Mules coach Matt Mason said. “We got a little better toward the end of the game, but we still have a ways to go.

“We’ll just keep trying to get better before district play.”

Senior post Billy Good led three Rams in double figures with 18 points. Senior William Archibeque added 11 and junior Shawn Carrasco 10.
Dillon Gallman scored 10 points for the Mules, all coming in the second half.

Gallegos said the Rams will get a better gauge of where they stand tonight when they host Class 5A Carlsbad.

“It goes back to the way we practice,” Gallegos said. “We just ‘want’ it to happen. The good thing is we get to take the floor again (tonight) and see what we’re made of against a very good Carlsbad team.”

Portales girls 49, Muleshoe 35
Freshman Macy Mitchell poured in 24 points to lift the Lady Rams (3-4), who broke open a three-point game with a 21-point third quarter.

“She’s gotten so much stronger around the basket,” Portales coach Clay Stout said of Mitchell, adding that her teammates did a good job of getting her the ball. “She really squares her shoulders when she gets ready to get a pass.”

Stout said his team made a minor adjustment at halftime against Muleshoe’s pressure.

“We told the girls we had to shorten the passing angles against their pressure — that was the main thing we talked about,” Stout said.
Gizell Vasquez scored 12 points for the Lady Mules (10-5).

“They’re a good team,” Muleshoe coach Val Acree said. “They’re real strong.

“We just didn’t play with a whole lot of energy. We let them score 21 points in the third quarter, and you’re not going to beat a whole lot of teams that way.”