<div>Dec. 9—ARTESIA — Portales High's boys finished third in Artesia's City of Champions Classic over the weekend.After thumping Deming 69-30 in Thursday's quarterfinal round, the Rams (2-2) stepped up a notch in competition, losing to Rio Rancho 80-31 in Friday's championship semifinals before dropping an 80-73 decision to Alamogordo on Saturday."We knew going in we had a good shot at beating Deming," Rams coach Ty Thatcher said. "Rio Rancho is so deep and their (defensive) pressure is relentless. They kind of exposed some of our weaknesses."Sophomore guard Aiden Mestas put in 19 points for the Rams against Deming (1-5), while sophomore guard John'Rey Aranda tallied 13 and junior forward Pierce Culpepper had 12. PHS held the Wildcats to 14 second-half points.Senior guard Sam Hofacket led Deming with 11 points.On Friday, PHS led 12-6 early before Rio Rancho took off, outscoring the Rams 25-5 in the second stanza. Senior forwards Kayden Decker and Cayden Richardson scored 18 and 17 points, respectively, for Rio Rancho (5-0), which had 10 3s in the contest and went on to thrash host Artesia 79-44 in Saturday's finals.Mestas led Portales with 11 points in Friday's setback.In the third-place tile, Alamogordo (3-1) erased an early 12-6 deficit and opened a 10-point lead at the quarter, then and held off a late Rams rally. Junior Julian Favela led four Tigers in double digits with 26 points, while Mestas put in 26 and Culpepper 22 for PHS.The Rams are idle this week, returning to action on Dec. 16 at Lubbock Christian.Lady Rams finish 1-2 at Denver City — The PHS girls routed Plains 67-30 in Thursday's opening round of the Denver City Shootout before dropping a pair of tilts to finish the event.Sophomore Sam Babalola scored 18 points and senior Molly Ainsworth added 10 in the win over the Cowgirls (1-6). The Lady Rams led 14-9 at the quarter and turned the contest into a rout with a 24-point third quarter.In their second game, also on Thursday, Denver City (11-4) used a 15-6 advantage in the third period to break open a four-point game en route to a 49-37 win. Junior Natalie Garcia tallied 20 points for the Fillies (11-4).Junior guard Addyson Mayberry led PHS with nine points, followed by Babalola with eight and Ainsworth with seven.In Saturday's finale, Sundown dominated the first and third quarters and kept the Lady Rams at bay behind 14 and 10 points, respectively, from seniors Camry Jourden and Araceli Ibarra. Babalola had nine points and freshman Zoe Urban seven for Portales."Our goal for the week was to do well and then try to do better," first-year Lady Rams coach Jonathan Langan said. "We learned some things this week; now we just have to try to do them better."Next up for the Lady Rams is a 16-team weekend tournament at Brownfield, beginning with a 2 p.m. (MST) clash on Thursday against Pampa.</div>

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Dec. 9—ARTESIA — Portales High's boys finished third in Artesia's City of Champions Classic over the weekend. After thumping Deming 69-30 in Thursday's quarterfinal round, the Rams (2-2) stepped up a notch in competition, losing to Rio Rancho 80-31 in Friday's championship semifinals before dropping an 80-73 decision to Alamogordo on Saturday.

Rams finish third in Artesia tournament

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Dec. 9—ARTESIA — Portales High's boys finished third in Artesia's City of Champions Classic over the weekend. After thumping Deming 69-30 in Thursday's qua

Rams finish third in Artesia tournament

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