Rattler teams prep for tourneys

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 tournament in Tularosa.

"We are going to play some tough teams, teams that will take advantage of turnovers," Span said. "We need to be mentally focused and ready to play."

The Lady Rattlers have less time to address their issues as they are preparing to play Estancia on Thursday at the Santa Rosa Invite, said Head Coach Gary Hittson.

"There were too many unforced turnovers against the Lady Broncos," Hittson said. "We had balls bouncing off of shoes, we have practiced to hard for errors like that to be committed."

Hittson said despite the 74-26 win at Floyd, the Lady Rattler defense still needs work.

"The girls were flat-footed at times, they were just standing there rather than being aggressive," Hittson said.

Hittson said the girls also need to work on their transition from defense to offense. He said the girls are still not running the offensive plays as well as they should.

"At times it seemed as if a different team was on there when they hit half court," Hittson said.

Hittson said the errors can be corrected, though the team needs to work harder to address the problems before they become a bigger issue.

Upcoming games

Girls

Nov. 30-Dec. 1 at Santa Rosa Tournament

Boys

Dec. 7-Dec. 9 Johnny May Classic at Tularosa