The Littlefield Wildcats’ varsity basketball team lost an overtime thriller to Portales on Thursday, 67-65, in overtime, in the first round of the 2023 Farwell Invitational.
With the loss, the Wildcats fall to 01 in tournament play on the weekend, 9-1 overall on the season.
Paxton Culpepper knocked down a jumper from the left wing off of the assist from Jase Hightower and on their next possession, Carson Pfaffenberger was fouled on an attempt by Jeremiah Trevino earning a trip to the line. He made one-of-two shots from the line, making the score, 3-0, with just under seven minutes to play in the opening quarter.
MJ Randle was fouled on an attempt by Hightower and split the free throws to get the Wildcats on the board, but Pfaffenberger answered with a lay-up to stretch the Portales lead to, 5-1, with 5:45 remaining in the first quarter. Joel Lujan drew a shooting foul on Jeremiah Trevino and converted one-of-two shots from the line, making the score, 6-1. The Rams dropped in another bucket off of an assist, as Littlefield took a time out with 4:58 to play in the quarter, trailing the Rams, 8-1.
Out of the break, Xavier Tarpeh knocked down a jumper from the right elbow, but on the other end, Sir Pratt was fouled on an attempt by Lalo Aranda, earning a trip to the line. He made one-of-two shots from the line, trimming the lead to, 10-2, with 3:33 remaining in the quarter. Kam McCarty dropped in a floater in the lane off of the assist from Randle, but Pfaffenberger answered with a lay-up on the left side over Pratt, making the score, 12-4.
With 1:49 to play in the first, Lujan was fouled on an attempt by Jayden Barrio and split the free throws, but McCarty answered with a three from the top of the key off of the assist from Randle, making the score, 13-7. Ja’Den Williams drew a shooting foul on Ethan Crawford and split the attempts at the line, trimming the lead to, 13-8.
But, Hightower banked in a three from the top of the key, however with time winding down in the quarter, Randle drained a three from the righ wing off of the assist from Ja’Den Williams, cutting the lead to, 16-11, as the first quarter came to a close.
Randle opened the second quarter with a steal, dishing the outlet pass ahead to McCarty for a fast-break layup, making the score, 16-13. Hightower drained a three from the right wing, but McCarty answered with a runner from the right elbow off of the screen by Pratt and Ja’Den Williams followed it up with a lay-up, drawing an andone foul on Culpepper. He converted the free throw to make it a one-point game, 19-18.
With 5:15 to play in the first half, McCarty hit Barrio in transition for a lay-up on the fast-break, as he drew an and-one foul on Aranda. He converted the free throw to put Littlefield in front, 21-19. Pfaffenberger dropped in a lay-up, drawing an and-one foul on Pratt, but he missed the free throw, leaving the score tied, 21-21. McCarty and Pfaffenberger exchanged lay-ups to keep the game tied, 23-23, but Barrio dropped in a lay-up off of an assist from Randle and McCarty followed it up with a three from the left elbow off of the assist from Randle, making the score, 28-23, as Portales took a time out with 3:22 to play in the half.
Out of the break, Ryan Williams was fouled on an attempt by Pfaffenberger and split the attempts from the line, pushing their lead to, 29-23, with 3:10 remaining in the half. Omar Martinez dropped in a floater in the lane off of the assist from Ryan Williams and Ja’Den Williams followed it up with a put-back off of the miss from Martinez to stretch their lead to 10 points, 3323.
With 1:26 to play in the half, Barrio drove the lane, dumping the ball off to McCarty for a lay-up, as he drew an and-one foul on Pfaffenberger. McCarty converted the free throw to push their lead to, 36-23. With under a minute remaining in the half, McCarty dropped in a lay-up in transition, but on the other end , Lujan was fouled on an attempt by Ryan Williams. He converted both free throws to trim the Littlefield lead to, 38-25, going into the locker room at halftime.
Hightower went coast-to-coast for a lay-up to open the second half, but Martinez answered with a floater off of the no-look pass from Ryan Williams, pushing the lead to, 40-27. Trevino was fouled on an attempt by Pfaffenberger; he sank both shots at the line and on the next play, Tarpeh stepped over the baseline on the inbound play, turning the ball over to Littlefield with just under seven minutes to play in the third quarter.
Chip Green knocked down a three from the right wing off of the pass from Randle and Ryan Williams pump faked for a lay-up on the next play, stretching the lead to, 47-27, with 6:15 to play in the quarter. Culpepper drew a shooting foul on Randle and split the attempts from the line, trimming the lead to, 47-28. Hightower followed it up with a put-back off of a miss by Culpepper, as Portales took a time out with 5:33 left to play in the third, trailing, 47-30.
Out of the break, Lujan dropped in a lay-up in transiton, but Martinez answered with a pass to a cutting Trevino for a lay-up to stretch the lead back out to, 49-32. With 4:15 to play in the quarter, Tarpeh dropped in a layup, drawing an and-one foul on Martinez. However, he was called for a lane violation on the free throw, leaving the score, 49-34.
Green dropped in a lay-up off of the assist from Trevino, but Tarpeh answered with back-to-back lay-ups for the Rams and Hightower took a charge on Ryan Williams to regain possession with the lead cut to, 5138. With 2:33 to play in the quarter, Pfaffenberger was fouled on an attempt by Pratt and converted both free throws, trimming the lead to, 5140.
Pratt answered with a put-back on the other end off of the miss by Trevino, but the Rams came right back, as Hightower was fouled on an attempt by Trevino. He split the free throws, and Tarpeh followed it up with a three from the right wing, slicing the lead to, 53-44. Pfaffenberger dropped in a lay-up off of a turnover by Martinez to close out the third quarter with Littlefield’s lead cut to, 53-46.
RyanWilliams and McCarty opened the fourth quarter with back-to-back lay-ups, but Portales answered with a lay-up on the other end, making the score, 57-48. McCarty dropped in a floater in the lane to push their lead back to double-digits, 59-48, but Lujan was fouled in transition by Ryan Williams. He sank both attempts from the line, and Pfaffenberger followed it up with a put-back off of a miss by Culpepper, cutting the lead to, 59-52.
Littlefield took a time out with 4:41 to play in the game, and out of the break, Culpepper knocked down a three from the left elbow, and Pfaffenberger dropped in a lay-up to make it a one-possession game, 5957. Trevino dropped in a lay-up off of the assist from Ryan Williams, but Tarpeh answered with a lay-up on the other end to make the score, 61-59.
Littlefield took a time out with 3:12 remaining to save a possession, and out of the break, Hightower scored a lay-up off of a turnover to tie the game, 61-61, and force overtime.
Tarpeh opened the extra period with a floater from the right side and on the defensive end, Hightower took a charge on Ryan Williams with 3:10 left to play in overtime. Ryan Williams was fouled on the floor by Hightower earning a trip to the free-throw line. He split the attempts to cut Portales’ lead to, 63-62. Martinez took a charge on Tarpeh and followed it up with a steal, taking the ball coast-to-coast for a floater in the lane to regain the lead, 64-63.
Lujan dropped in a lay-up to take the lead for Portales, but Green was fouled on the floor by Lujan, earning a trip to the line. He split the free throws, as Portales took a time out with 23.1 seconds remaining in overtime. Out of the break, Hightower drove the lane dumping the ball to Lujan, who dropped in a lay-up to claim the victory for Portales, 67-65.
McCarty led the Wildcats in scoring with 23 points, to go along with five rebounds, one assist, one steal and one block. Martinez tallied six points, four rebounds, two steals and two blocks, while, Ja’Den Williams chipped in six points, five rebounds, one assist and one steal, and Ryan Williams added six points, four rebounds, three steals, two assists and one block.
Trevino contributed six points, three rebounds and two assists, while Green added six points, Barrio contributed five points, two rebounds and two assists and Pratt finished with three points, three rebounds and one block.