The Portales Lady Rams faced Gallup High School in a semi-final playoff game on May 6, 2021 in Santa Rosa as a neutral site.
Tip off was at 4 PM with hundreds in attendance. Gallup won the tip off and quickly added 3 points to the score. Portales capitalized on their first possession after with a 2 point basket. The points continued between the two teams and Portales managed to take the lead briefly with a score of 8-7 after a #3 Taris Rippee hit 2 free throws.
Shortly after, Gallup took the lead again while preventing Portales from scoring. By the end of one period, the Bengals were on top 17-8.
Portales went scoreless for half of the 2nd period, while Gallup continued adding points. Once the Lady Rams began dropping baskets again, they had a decent deficit to overcome. By halftime, the score was 37-29 with Gallup in the lead.
After the half, Portales decreased their deficit to just 6 points, but the Bengals went on a scoring drive and took over and increased their lead again. Halfway through the 3rd, the score fluctuated by a small deficit for the Lady Rams to more than 8 points. At the end of the 3rd, the Lady Rams were down by 7.
The 4th didn’t fair well for the Lady Rams. Gallup continued their strong scoring, and took the game, sending them to the state championship game, and ending the season for Portales. The final score was 77-63.
The Lady Rams finished their shortened season 10-2. The season may be over, but only 2 losses in 12 games is a great feat they overcame!
