MULESHOE — The Portales Rams got their first win of the young season Friday night at Muleshoe 51-41. Rams coach Mark Gallegos said his Rams got off to another disappointing start offensively, but the defense kept them in the game early. “We came out real tentative in the first half,” Gallegos said. “We played pretty good defensively and that kept us in it. They ran a lot of different man-sets at us and a lot of motion and we did a pretty good job.” Portales (1-1) jumped out to a 10-8 first-quarter lead before settling for an 18-17 halftime advantage. “We had a rough first half,” Gallegos said. “In the second half we came out and played real well. We got down defensively and did a good job. I was real pleased with our effort in the second half. We grew up a whole lot.” The Rams dominated the second half, outscoring Muleshoe 21-16 in the final period. “We had some kids step up defensively like Sammy Martinez,” Gallegos said. “It was a good team effort. We played lots of kids.” Senior Ky Mitchell had a game-high 15 points for Portales. Junior Nick Bliss added 11 points and sophomore guard Shawn Carrasco chipped in 10. Patrick Precure led Muleshoe (5-5) with 13 points. “Overall, it was good to see us come back after the Roswell High loss,” Gallegos said. “I think the key was Wednesday we had a really good practice.” Senior guard Chris Mosier found himself in early foul trouble and Bliss got his first action of the season, and impressed Gallegos. “When Chris goes out, we have somebody else to go to who can handle the ball and it takes a lot of pressure off our other guards — they can handle the ball, so it gives us some options."