Basketball Game Preview: Goddard Rockets vs. Portales Rams

Goddard hasn't had much luck against Portales recently, but that could start to change on Friday. The Goddard Rockets will take on the Portales Rams at 5:30 p.m. Both come into the matchup bolstered by wins in their previous matches.

Goddard is headed in fresh off scoring the most points they have all season. They claimed a resounding 68-16 victory over Santa Teresa. Given the Rockets' advantage in MaxPreps' New Mexico basketball rankings (they are ranked 32nd, while the Desert Warriors are ranked 104th), the result on Saturday wasn't entirely unexpected.

Lauren Medrano continued her habit of posting crazy stat lines, dropping a double-double on 24 points and 11 boards. The dominant performance gave her a new career-high in points. Another player making a difference was Aubrie Bolanos, who went 6 for 11 en route to 16 points and five steals.

Goddard smashed the offensive glass and finished the game with 14 offensive rebounds. That strong performance was nothing new for the team: they've now pulled down at least 12 offensive boards in four consecutive games.

Meanwhile, Portales didn't have too much breathing room in their contest against Roswell on Saturday, but they still walked away with a 40-35 win.

Portales is also on a roll lately: they've won eight of their last ten matches, which provided a massive bump to their 10-9 record this season. Those victories came thanks to their offensive performance across that stretch, as they averaged 53.4 points per game. As for Goddard, their record now sits at 12-8.

Goddard came up short against Portales in their previous matchup back in February of 2024, falling 42-32. Can Goddard avenge their defeat or is history doomed to repeat itself? We'll find out soon enough.