Portales freshman Macy Mitchell goes hard to the basket Saturday night against Lovington. The Lady Rams won 33-30 to pull even with the Lady Wildcats in the District 4-3A standings.

Portales seniors earned a hard fought win over rival Lovington Saturday night to pull even with the Lady Wildcats in District 4-3A as the Lady Rams held off a late rally by Lovington to win 33-30 on senior night.

In the closing minutes of the game, the Lady Rams clinged to a three-point 31-28 lead after a free-throw by Lovington.

Senior Dallas Russell was fouled with a minute to go and hit both free throws to push Portales ahead 33-28.

Head coach Clay Stout said he was proud of how his girls overcame foul trouble early in the game.

“We played in spurts and them having the strength of character,” Stout said. “They got into early foul trouble and that made a difference. Our players coming off the bench did a great job for us.”

After the first period, Portales was down 12-8, but the Lady Ram defense rallied in the second quarter allowing Lovington only three points while the Portales girls scored nine points to move ahead 17-15. A late 3-pointer by Tara Johnson gave Portales the lead going into half-time.

 Tara Johnson was the leading scorer with 11 points, followed by Macy Mitchell’s and Jenna Wagner’s eight points each.

Lovington’s Mystica Perez was the only player for the Lady wildcats in double digits with 16 points.

Lovington coach Rick Black said it was a great game and well played by Portales.

“Coach Stout is a great coach,” Black said. “It was a great experience to come down here and play in this gym and compete, we had opportunities down the stretch to make some shots and it could have gone either way.”

In the second half the Lady Rams defense held Lovington to four points in the third quarter 22-19, before the Portales girls were able to run out the clock after a turn-over by Lovington.

“I enjoy these girls so much, they want to play and give God the glory,” Stout said. “I enjoy coaching a group of girls even when things are going bad. They have great attitude and pick each other up and they are a pleasure to coach.”