TEXICO — The Texico Lady Wolverines have survived shaky offense at times this season with a physical, unrelenting defense.

Not Friday night, though. Santa Rosa controlled play for the most part in the second half and the Lady Lions went on to a 33-29 victory over the two-time defending Class 2A state champions in the District 6-2A championship game.

The result means the Lady Wolverines (20-7) will travel on Friday to face the District 7-2A champion in a first-round state contest. Meantime, Santa Rosa (20-7) will host that district’s runnerup.

“We missed so many two-foot shots,” Texico coach Ryan Autrey said. “If we get some of those to fall, it’s a different game.

“It’s just one of those nights where people are off.”

Texico led the entire first half, but with a 12-9 advantage after a stickback by junior Katlin Luscombe with 4:41 left in the half the Lady Wolverines went more than 10 1/2 minutes with just one point.

Fortunately, they were able to keep Santa Rosa in check for the most part. But the Lady Lions scored the first eight points of the second half to snap a 13-13 tie and Texico’s work was uphill after that.

“They’re a very disciplined team; they controlled the tempo,” Santa Rosa coach Joe Esquibel said. “We just did what we could to compete with them.

“They hurt us early on the offensive boards. I think we did a better job in the second half with defense and rebounding. We’re thankful to hang on.”

The Lady Lions opened a nine-point lead with just over two minutes left. Texico freshman Jordyn Cooper hit a pair of 3-pointers to get her team in striking range, but senior guard Tanisha Trujillo hit the first end of a 1-and-1 with 13 seconds left to clinch it.

Junior forward Renae Roybal led all scorers with 14 points for Santa Rosa, while Cooper paced the Lady Wolverines with 10 and Luscombe finished with eight.

Santa Rosa went 10-for-13 from the free throw line. Meantime, Texico was 5-of-6 in the first half but missed all six attempts in the final two periods.

FRIDAY AREA PREP ROUNDUP
Girls
District 6-2A championship
Santa Rosa 33, Texico 29
Santa Rosa    7    6    8    12    —    33
Texico    8    5    4    12    —    29
Leading scorers — Santa Rosa, Renae Roybal 14, Samantha Romero 5, Sara Tapia 5, Tanisha Trujillo 5. Texico, Jordyn Cooper 10, Kaitlin Luscombe 8, Jaylyn Cooper 4, Victoria Richards 4. 3-pointers — Santa Rosa, Tapia. Texico, Jo. Cooper 2.
Records — Santa Rosa 20-7, Texico 20-7.

District 4-1A championship
Clovis Christian 45, Grady 44, OT
Clovis Christian    17    6    6    9    7    —    45
Grady    11    14    9    4    6    —    44
Leading scorers — Clovis Christian, Jennifer Schaap 19, Julia Roberts 10, Lauren Douma 8. Grady, Mandy Rush 20, Payton Provencio 11, Joni Lampley 6. 3-pointers — Clovis Christian, Douma 2, Roberts. Grady, Rush.
Records — Clovis Christian 19-8, Grady 16-10.
Notes: Schaap converted a 3-point play with eight seconds left to rally the Lady Eagles to victory. … CCS opened a 15-5 lead early, but the Lady Bronchos chipped away and took a two-point halftime lead, then led most of the second half. … Grady scored the first four points in OT, thenm tok a 44-42 lead on two free throws by Rush with 30 seconds left. … For the second consecutive year, the Lady Eagles took the district tournament championship at top-seeded Grady, which beat CCS twice by five points during the regular season. … CCS will host the District 3-1A runnerup, either Fort Sumner or Elida, at 7 p.m. Friday in a first-round state game. Grady travels to the 3-1A champion.

Boys
District 3-1A championship
Dora 50, Fort Sumner 48, OT
Fort Sumner    9    9    8    18    4    —    48
Dora    13    16    4    11    6    —    50
Leading scorers — Fort Sumner, Rawley Stallard 12, Berry Stinnett 12, Christian Pettigrew 11. Dora, Lathan Lieb 22,, Kyler Smith 18. 3-pointers — Fort Sumner, Pettigrew 3. Dora, Smith 3, Lieb.
Records — Fort Sumner 16-9, Dora 22-5.
Notes: The Coyotes led 26-13 with 2 1/2 minutes left in the half, but Fort Sumner closed to 37-36 with 5:40 to go when Stinnett scored on a feed from Stallard and then deflected the inbounds pass to Skylar McMath for a layup. Stallard tipped a missed free throw to Stinnett for an 8-foroter with 52 seconds left, making it 44-42, then Laremy Simmons made a steal and converted two free throws with 20 seconds left to force OT. The Foxes led 46-44 in the OT, but Dora scored five consecutive points to take the lead for good. … The teams are matched up with District 4-1A’s Clovis Christian and Logan, who meet tonight, in next week’s first-round state games. Dora will host the runnerup team, while Fort Sumner visits the champion.

— Freedom New Mexico