By Marty Mayfield
KRTN Multi-Media
The first round 16 of basketball state tournament action takes place throughout the state before moving on to one of three venues in the Albuquerque area during the four days of March 13-16. In Northeastern New Mexico the #8 seed Cimarron Lady Rams hosted the #9 seed Elida Lady Tigers, winning 66-40 while the #11 seed Des Moines Lady Demons traveled to #6 seed Quemado, losing 77-64 and #14 seed Roy/Mosquero Lady Blue traveled to #4 seed Pine Hill, losing 61-29.
Friday evening, March 8th, the Lady Rams hosted eight time state champion Elida Lady Tigers in hopes of breaking that long running winning streak in state playoffs. As the game got under way, it looked like Elida could make the upset taking the early lead as Cimarron found themselves cold. It was Angel Gonzales who finally broke the cold streak and stuffed a 3-pointer at the first quarter buzzer to turn the momentum in Cimarron’s favor. Both Zoe Salazar and Olivia Perryman contributed to the first quarter scoring for Cimarron while Alyssa Bargass, Maislyn Ferguson and Madison Ferguson kept Elida out in front ending the quarter 14-10.
But the Lady Rams’ momentum continued into the second quarter as Cimarron turned the tables on Elida who could only muster six points to Cimarron’s 21. This trend continued into the third period of play as Cimarron again outscored Elida 20-9, the difference was the aggressive play by the Lady Ram defense stealing several passes and converting them into points.
With the win, Cimarron moves on to play the #1 seed Melrose Lady Buffaloes on Wednesday March 13 at Bernalillo High School at 6:30 pm. The game will be broadcast on KRTN. The #11 seed Des Moines Lady Demons traveled to #6 seed Quemado and played another tough game. They were down by only four at half 34-30, but ended the game on the losing side of a 77-64 score to end their season. The #14 seed Roy/Mosquero Lady Blue traveled to #4 seed Pine Hill and they too put up a good fight down by only four at half 15-11. Pine Hill however found the weak spot in the Lady Blue and poured on the points winning the game 61-29.
Elida 14 6 9 11 40
Cimarron 10 21 20 17 66
Elida High Point
Alyssa Bargas 12 2 of 4 free throws
Maislyn Ferguson 11 3 of 4 free throws
Free throws 8 of 14 attempts
Cimarron High Point
Angel Gonzales 25 2 of 4 free throws
Zoe Salazar 25 1 of 2 free throws
Olivia Perryman 12
Free throws 3 of 6 attempts
