Serving the High Plains
Serving the High Plains
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The Tucumcari Lady Rattlers will need to topple the top-ranked Lady Wolverines Friday at Texico to secure the second seed in the upcoming District 5-3A tournament. "We will not win another game unless we learn to play as a team," said Gary Hittson, Lady Rattlers head coach. The Rattlers (23-2, 3-2) dropped their second game of the season Saturday to the Lady Yellowjackets (14-9, 2-3) at Clayton. Hittson said the 66-58 loss would give Clayton a tiebreaker over Tucumcari. The teams split their...
By Thomas Garcia QCS Staff Writer [email protected] Saturday's loss to the Texico Lady Wolverines may have ended a 22-game winning streak for the Tucumcari Lady Rattlers, but it also lifted a great pressure. "It was a tough loss, but today I could tell the pressure had been lifted from the girls," said Gary Hittson, Lady Rattlers head coach. Hittson said during the team's winning streak no one mention the "U-word." "Our objective has never been about an undefeated season," Hittson said....
The Tucumcari Rattlers wrestling season comes down to the District 2-4A open tournament Saturday at the Snake Pit in Tucumcari. “Saturday’s tournament is for all of the marbles,” said Eddie Encinias, Rattlers head coach. Encinias said the Rattlers enter Saturday’s open tournament as the District 2-4A runners-up. He said the team finished two points behind first-place Robertson. “The team wrestled their hearts out, they beat Taos by a few points and just fell short of the district championship,” Encinias said. Encinias said Saturday’s...
The Tucumcari Lady Rattlers now prepare for a tough Texico team following a narrow victory over one of their toughest opponents to date. The Lady Rattlers basketball program improved to 22-0, but its 63-59 win against Clayton on Saturday at the Snake Pit was the hardest fought for the team since a 61-60 win on Dec. 8 at Logan. Tucumcari was in an unfamiliar place at the close of the third period, trailing the Clayton Lady Yellowjackets. Clayton's seven-point cushion was short lived in the final...
Ball control, being mindful of the game situation and free throws are three issues the Tucumcari Rattlers will need to address as they look for their first district win against a stout Wolverines team. The Rattlers (9-12, 0-2) will host the top-ranked Texico Wolverines (21-0, 2-0) Friday at the Snake Pit in Tucumcari. The Rattlers lost 54-52 Saturday to the Clayton Yellowjackets in their second District 5-3A game in three days. The guys will have to push past Saturday’s and Thursday’s loss at Santa Rosa (70-44) and focus on the task in fro...
The Tucumcari Rattlers varsity wrestling team has a week of trials ahead with two tough competitions, including a duals competition today at Bernalillo High School in Albuquerque. “There is very little time left before district competition; we cannot afford to make any stupid mistakes in upcoming matches,” said Rod Dunlap, 138-pound junior. Dunlap said the team has what its needs to succeed — good techniques and the best conditioning in the state. “Now is the time for us to show just how much we have progressed from the season,” Dunlap sa...
An undefeated record won't mean nothing if the Lady Rattlers are not prepared to handle business in their district opener at Santa Rosa, said Gary Hittson, Tucumcari head girls coach. The Lady Rattlers (19-0) remain unbeaten beating the Logan Lady Longhorns 59-41 on Friday for Homecoming and Bosque 55-35 on Friday at Albuquerque. "We cannot get lazy; we have to continue to play with intensity even if we have a lead," said Kalani French, senior forward. French, who scored 15-points against...
After snapping a four game losing streak, the Logan Longhorns will look for another win at Elida before they begin their District 6-2A run. "We need to come out strong and have intensity throughout the entire game," said senior Coltin Roach. Roach, scored 11 points against the Rattlers during Friday's 63-47 Homecoming loss at Tucumcari. Against the Rattlers, the Longhorns were unable to overcome a nine-point deficit. Tucumcari's Timothy Reid scored 8 of his 18 points in the first quarter. Roach...
The Tucumcari Rattlers varsity wrestling team is preparing for one of the hardest tournaments in the state after taking a week off to recover from illness and injury. “It was in the best interest of the team not to compete last week,” said Eddie Encinias, head wrestling coach. The Rattlers were scheduled to compete at the Gene Gagliard Invitational in Trinidad Colorado. Encinias said after assessing the team’s condition with injuries to Joe Martinez (concussion) and Julian Vargas (shoulder) and multiple wrestlers battling illnesses, he decid...
Coming off a week-long break from competition, the Tucumcari Lady Rattlers jump right into the fire with a road game at 10th-ranked Dexter followed by a homecoming match up against a top ranked Logan Lady Longhorns team. The Lady Rattlers (16-0) will travel Thursday to play the Lady Demons (7-5) at Dexter. They will play Friday against the Lady Longhorns at the Snake Pit. "The girls will have to be mentally prepared for these upcoming games," said Gary Hittson, head coach. Hittson said on top...
After a second-place finish as a team at Pecos, the Tucumcari Rattlers varsity wrestling team prepares for their next competition in the midst of illnesses and injuries. “We’ve got some sick, some hurt, right now were just trying to push forward,” said Eddie Encinias, wrestling head coach. Encinias said on Jan. 13, the Rattlers scored 163 points, just three points behind first-place Cleveland and 50 points ahead of third-place Pecos. He said the team performed well at the Pecos Duals, placing seven in the top five with three of them in first...
The Tucumcari Rattlers have a tough challenge Friday playing against a Pecos team that averages more than 60 points per game this season, said John Span, boys head basketball coach. "We need to be ready for the press and take care of the ball," Span said. "The Panthers are one of the top teams in the state and they like to put up points." The Rattlers, (7-7) will travel Friday to Pecos to take on the Panthers (12-2). Span said the Rattlers have been showing a lot of progress, with their strongest team play during their Jan. 6 win at Santa Fe...
PORTALES - For much of Saturday night's EPAC girls basketball championship game at Greyhound Arena, the Texico players seemed to be battling two opponents - themselves and a formidable Logan team. Missed opportunity after missed opportunity, easy shot attempt after easy shot attempt that didn't go down, punctuated the first half and some of the second for the Lady Wolverines. But, once they limited their opposition to just the Logan Longhorns and played with more confidence, it was just enough...
The Tucumcari Rattlers varsity wrestling teams improves to 3-0 in district standing and ends the weekend in third place at the Al Salazar Memorial at Santa Fe. “These athletes are at a level higher both mentally and physically than they have every been before,” said Eddie Encinias, Rattlers head wrestling coach. Encinias said the Rattlers finished just 20 points behind Cobre, one of the best teams in the state. He said along with placing third out of 14 teams at the tournament, the Rattlers won 64-18 over Pojoaque Valley and 57-29 over Sai...
TEXICO — The recent past indicates the Texico Wolverines would be a favorite to win the Eastern Plains Athletic Conference boys tournament Saturday, with titles in six of the last eight seasons. So does the present. The Wolverines, now 11-0 after winning their own tournament last week, go in as the top seed for the tournament entering its 61st year of featuring small-school basketball battles. The Texico girls enter as the No. 1 seed in the girls tournament, which runs Wednesday and Thursday at Texico High School before heading to Eastern N...
The Tucumcari Rattlers will try to shake of the Christmas break with two tough road games, said head coach John Span. The Rattlers came out of the break at 6-5 following their 1-2 finish of the Texico Wolverines Basketball tournament. “It has been tough with two of our starters down,” Span said. “We have had to rely on two younger players to fill the void.” Span said the younger players still lack confidence, though as they continue to play they are getting comfortable shooting the ball. He said the entire team has responded well to the nee...
CLOVIS - Staring out from his prison cell, Nikko Nathan could see more than just metal bars. He saw two Nikkos - the Nikko he currently was, the one wasting his life, another kid from a broken home, in and out of jail since age 11; and the Nikko he could be, if only he found his niche, some positive path for his life to take. He chose the latter Nikko, gave up the street life, found his way into mixed martial arts, made it his focus. Recently, the new Nikko took one of the biggest steps an MMA...
The Tucumcari Rattlers and Lady Rattlers added victories to their records Friday in games on the road against the Penasco Panthers and Lady Panthers. The Lady Rattlers kept up their winning streak with a 63-56 over the Lady Panthers. That makes 11 wins without a loss this season. The Lady Rattlers lead District 5 and are ranked second in the state behind only Eunice in Class 3A girls’ basketball standings. The Rattler boys won decisively, 78-43, leaving their record at 5-3 the Panthers at 2-8. The Rattlers outscored the Panthers in all four q...
The Tucumcari Rattlers and Lady Rattlers varsity squads chalked up nothing but victories in games played Thursday, Friday and Saturday. On Thursday, the Rattler boys beat the Dexter Demons 71-55. On Friday evening, they trounced the Raton Tigers by 40 points in a home game. The final score: 53-13. On Saturday, the Rattlers won another decisive victory, 68-38, over the Native American Community Academy (NACA) Eagles in Albuquerque. The victories leave the Rattlers with a record of four wins and...
The Rattlers finished strong before the winter break, placing six in the top six of their respective classifications at their own wrestling tournament Saturday at the Snake Pit in Tucumcari. "I feel like I earned this third -place finish," said Joe Martinez, 152 pound Rattler wrestler. Martinez said he had a lot of improvement during the tournament, as his performance in the first match was sluggish. "I feel the entire team improved from their performance a week ago during our district duel...
The Tucumcari Lady Rattlers edged the Lady Longhorns 61-60 in overtime Friday night during the round-robin basketball tournament at Logan. "I really can't say anything negative about the game," said Glenna Strand, Lady Longhorns head coach. "This was the first real challenge for the Lady Longhorns." Strand said the Lady Longhorns knew the Lady Rattlers were going to be a challenge. She said the team got a chance to see where it needs to make improvements, and also got a chance to match up...
Despite a district win last week against West Las Vegas, the Tucumcari Rattlers need to be more aggressive, focused for their upcoming home tournament, said Eddie Encinias, head wrestling coach. “We are going to have some of the toughest competition from New Mexico and Texas at this tournament; the boys can’t afford to start off slow,” Encinias said. Encinias said during the district dual on Dec. 13 with the West Las Vegas Dons, the Rattlers came out flat in the first period. He said the sluggish start led to a situation where pin fall victo...
The Tucumcari Lady Rattlers are on a four-game win streak following Saturday’s championship win against Tularosa at the Lady Lions basketball tournament at Santa Rosa. “The team was firing on all cylinders during the championship game,” said Gary Hittson, Lady Rattlers head coach. The Lady Rattlers beat Tularosa 66-43. They advanced to the championship game by beating Estancia, 77-33, and Fort Sumner/House, 51-39. Hittson said the team played a strong game on both fronts against the Lady Wildcats. He said the team overcame some struggles from...
The Tucumcari Rattlers are scheduled to compete today in a district duals wrestling competition against West Las Vegas at the Snake Pit. “After our performance at Los Lunas, I am very excited about the season,” said Tucumcari coach Eddie Encinias. Encinias said the Rattlers placed sixth out of 13 at the Los Lunas duals. He said the team finished above Bernallilo, tied with Farmington and lost to Capital and Kurtland. “This was a great way to see where the guys were at mentally and physically,” Encinias said. “Even though many of the wrestlers...
The Tucumcari Rattlers and Lady Rattlers seek to eliminate turnovers as they prepare to enter into tournament action this weekend. "We had 30 turnovers in our loss to Floyd" Rattler boys coach John span said. "You can't beat anyone with 30 turnovers." Span said the Rattlers simply didn't take care of the ball during their 55-42 Nov. 21 loss to the Broncos. He said the team will have time to work on ball control in anticipation of a first-round game with Hatch Dec. 7 at the Johnny May Classic...