Four Quay teams statebound

Four Quay County high school basketball teams will compete in the 1A-3A state basketball tournaments, starting Friday with two home games.

The Logan Lady Longhorns and Tucumcari Lady Rattlers will play a home game in the first round of the girls 2A and 3A state basketball tournament.

The six-seed Lady Rattlers (20-6) will host the 11-seed Newcomb Lady Skyhawks (16-13) at 5:30 p.m. Friday at the Snake Pit.

The Lady Rattlers won the District 5-3A tournament championship 58-45 on Friday at Texico.

The win was Tucumcari's largest margin of victory against Texico this season.

"The girls played with intensity from the very start of the game," said Gary Hittson, Lady Rattlers head coach.

At Texico, the second-seeded Lady Rattlers pulled away with a 24-point fourth quarter in the District 5-3A girls championship game. Texico, which trailed much of the way, had rallied to tie the score 34-34 after three quarters.

Tucumcari (20-6) won the game by going 19-of-21 from the free throw line - all by sophomore forward-guard Kalani French (11-for-11) and freshman guard Ashley Shipley (8-for-10). French finished with 17 points for the Lady Rattlers, while Shipley scored 16.

Hittson said the Lady Rattlers are preparing for a battle against the Skyhawks, adding that the team is aware that they can not look past anyone at this point.

"It's win or stay home," Hittson said. "Anything is possible in the state tournament. There are no sure win games, the Lady Rattlers know they have to be focused and ready to play."

Game time: 5:30 p.m. Friday at the Snake Pit.

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The two-seed Lady Longhorns will host the 15-seed Jal Lady Panthers at 6 p.m. Friday at Logan.

The Lady Longhorns (20-6) will need to put the 51-47 District 6-2A tournament championship loss to Fort Sumner/House behind them and focus on the game at hand, said Rhyan Daugherty, Lady Longhorns head coach.

Daugherty said the Feb. 24 loss to the Lady Vixens was hard, but the team has to take what they learned from that game and use it in the tournament. He said the Lady Longhorns are full aware that seeds mean nothing in the tournament. You get a home game with a higher seed but a lower seed can pull off an upset.

As was the case in the 2016 2A state tournament when the one-seed Lady Longhorns lost 48-47 to the seven-seed Melrose Lady Buffaloes.

Daughtery said the team is going to work on boxing out and ball control. He said there were too many loose ball turnovers against the Lady Vixens. The turnovers resulted in points and rebounds that gave the Lady Vixens second shot chances.

Game time: 6 p.m. Friday at Logan.

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The 16-seed Tucumcari Rattlers will have their work cut out for them Saturday when they take on the one-seed Panthers at Pecos.

"We've made the tournament; now it's time for the boys to take care of business," said John Span, Rattlers head coach.

The Rattlers (8-16) will travel in the first round of the 3A tournament to take on the Panthers (25-1).

"We have to play as a team and play a complete game," Span said. "We have to take care of the ball and avoid turnovers."

Turnovers and missed open layups hurt the Rattlers in their 58-51 loss to the Clayton Yellowjackets in the District 5-3A tournament on Feb. 21 at the Snake Pit.

"This is win or go home," Span said. "The Rattlers have been working all season to get to this point; it's time to pull it together and play."

Game time: at 6 p.m. Saturday at Pecos.

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The San Jon Coyotes will travel Saturday to play the eight-seed Coronado Leopards in the first round of the 1-A state basketball tournament.

The nine-seed Coyotes (12-8) were the district 4-1A runner-ups Saturday after losing 66-59 to the Melrose Buffaloes at Melrose.

The Coyotes beat the Floyd Broncos (14-11, 7-3) 48-45 on Feb. 16 at San Jon to advance to the championship game.

Coyotes Jake Thurman led the offense with 19 points.

"We need to do a better job of moving the ball around and finding the open man," Thurman said.

This district is so competitive that you have to take advantage of every opportunity, said Scotty Gates, Coyotes head coach.

Gates said the Coyotes will need to be more aggressive on defense to secure the rebounds.

Game time: 5 p.m. Saturday at Coronado.