RIO RANCHO — The girls basketball teams from Clovis and Portales made their annual pilgrimage to the Mel Otero Invitational here Thursday.

The quality of opposition, however, couldn’t be more different for the two visiting contingents from eastern New Mexico.

Portales (1-3) faced yet another Class 5A foe in an early-season slate filled with them — and this one was a biggie. The Lady Rams fell to defending 5A state champion La Cueva 49-25 in the first game of the tournament.

Clovis (4-1) then took on outmanned Albuquerque High in the second game and crushed the Bulldogs 71-38 to move into the semifinals.

The victorious Lady Wildcats got off to a quick start in their game and showed no signs of road fatigue in starting their second tournament away from home in two weeks. Last week, Clovis finished third in the Gallup tournament.

Against Albuquerque (1-5), the Lady Cats ripped four 3-pointers in the first quarter — two from Jadee Isler and one each by Leia Willis and Katharine Cordova — to shoot out to a 24-9 advantage.

“I think they made their first eight or nine shots,” Albuquerque High coach Doug Dorame said. “They were really on fire.”

Antiesha Brown led Clovis with 16 points with Brittany Johnson accounting for a dozen more. Isler and Ashlee Pierson also got into double figures with 11 apiece.

“We had four days in between trips, so that gave us time to get our legs underneath us,” Clovis coach Jeff Reed said. “We took Sunday off and watched film on Monday. We took two days off, so we were ready to go."

The only down side in the victory was getting outscored 13-11 in the final period by AHS.

“Sometimes games get like this in the end,” said Reed, whose team led by as much as 39 points. “We had a running clock there for awhile and then it kind of got helter-skelter.

“I want us to be able to finish a game a little bit better than that.”

Clovis faces host Rio Rancho in a 7 p.m. semifinal today.

Portales will take on Aztec in the consolation bracket of the invite at 3 p.m. today. Against La Cueva (3-3), the Lady Rams were even through a low-scoring first quarter, but the physical Bears broke away from a 5-5 deadlock by outscoring Portales by a dozen in the second.


Coming off a tough overtime home loss to Hobbs two days earlier, the Rams were unable to muster the energy for a comeback against La Cueva. Portales' points leader was Ashley Hernandez, who scored seven in the loss.

“They (the Bears) are real physical and we didn't play very aggressively — that’s probably the biggest thing,” Lady Rams coach Clay Stout said.

“The schedule’s tough, but this is where we learn — having to play overtime Tuesday and then having to play La Cueva.

“You’ve got to learn that you’ve got to play hard every night.”

 
Mel Otero Invitational
At Rio Rancho

Thursday’s quarterfinals

La Cueva 49, Portales 25
Portales (1-3) — Ashley Hernandez 7, Gabby Garcia 4, Tara Johnson 4, Alexis Orcutt 4, Amber McCasland 2, Dallas Russell 2, Jenna Wagner 2. Totals 10 5-5 25.
La Cueva (3-3) — Nikki Ingram 17, Jamie Parker 9, Erika Baca 6, Brittnay McIntosh 6, Brianna Leitch 4, Taylor Tvede 3, Aimee Kelley 2, Marisa Logan 2. Totals 14 16-19 49.

Portales    5    6    4    10    —    25
La Cueva    5    18    10    16    —    49

3-pointers — Portales, none. La Cueva, Ingram 3, Baca 2. Total fouls — Portales 19, La Cueva 10. Fouled out — none.

Mel Otero Invite
At Rio Rancho
Thursday’s quarterfinals
La Cueva 49, Portales 25
Clovis 69, Albuquerque High 38
Mayfield 57, Aztec 48
Rio Rancho 65, Los Lunas 22
Friday’s semifinals
Consolation
Albuquerque High vs. Los Lunas, 1 p.m.
Portales vs. Aztec, 3 p.m.
Championship
La Cueva vs. Mayfield, 5 p.m.
Clovis vs. Rio Rancho, 7 p.m.
Saturday’s finals
7th place, 1 p.m.
5th place, 5 p.m.
3rd place, 3 p.m.
Championship, 7 p.m.