Lady Rattlers handed first loss

By Thomas Garcia

QCS Staff Writer

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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. "Our goal has always been to make it to the state tournament and compete for a state championship."

Friday's game featured two teams with No. 1 rankings in Class 3A - Tucumcari in the New Mexico Overtime Sports Center weekly girls poll, Texico in Maxpreps' rankings.

Hittson said the girls now have a new sense of confidence, a drive that is pushing them even more than during the streak. He said the loss, heartbreaking as it was at the time, seems to have given the Lady Rattlers focus.

"I've told the girls, we can either let this one loss define us, or use it to build on and press forward," Hittson said. "Losing a district game is never a good thing. But in the grand scheme of it all, I'd rather the streak be broken now than say in the semi-finals of the state tournament."

Hittson said the team is preparing for Thursday's home district game against the Santa Rosa Lady Lions. He said the team will have a short turnaround playing the Lady Yellowjackets Saturday at Clayton.

At first, it seemed Saturday's District 5-3A match up was going Tucumcari's way.

The Lady Rattlers (22-1, 2-1) led 27-14 at half time and had not allowed the Lady Wolverines (19-3, 4-0) to score a single point in the second period.

"I told the girls at halftime, that we have to take advantage of the opportunity given to us," said Richard Luscombe, Lady Wolverines head coach.

Capitalizing on turnovers and rushed plays, Lady Wolverines cut the nine point lead down one at the end of the third period.

The two teams would exchange the lead throughout most of the final period, however, foul trouble limited the Lady Rattlers ability to pressure or contest the Lady Wolverines for rebounds under the basket.

"Our girls were in foul trouble, they couldn't play as aggressively on defense which led to second-shot opportunities for Texico," Hittson said.

In the end it was free throws Jasmine Davalos (1-2), Alexas Hill (2-2) and Kaylee Miller (1-2) that extended Texico's lead and put the game out of reach.

"We have to play smarter, move our feet on defense and not foul," said Kalani French, Lady Rattlers forward.

Game time:

Thursday: 6 p.m., Santa Rosa

Saturday: 3:30 p.m., at Clayton

Rattlers prep for district games

After Saturday's routing by Texico at home the Tucumcari Rattlers basketball team has a short week to shake off the loss and prepare for two tough District 5-3A games.

"There is not much you can do but put the loss behind you and prepare for your next opponent," said John Span, head coach, following Saturday's loss.

Span said Texico (22-0, 3-0) is a good team and they deserve to be recognized as the top team in the state. Span said during the 78-39 loss, the Rattlers were shots were just not falling.

"We had several shots that just wouldn't fall," Span said. "We also didn't do a good job of defending underneath the basket."

Span said the Rattlers were not aggressive driving in to attack the basket or boxing out for the rebound.

"We simply need to do a better job of boxing out," Span said. "You can not afford to give strong team like Texico a second chance at scoring."

The Rattlers (9-13, 0-3) will host the Santa Rosa Lions (14-6, 2-1) on Thursday then travel Saturday to Clayton to play the Yellowjackets (11-11, 1-2).

Game time:

Thursday: 7 p.m., Santa Rosa

Saturday: 4 p.m., at Clayton

Area teams lineup:

The Logan Longhorns (10-9, 1-2) will play at 7 p.m. Thursday against Mountainair at Logan

The Longhorns will play at 7 p.m. Saturday at Fort Sumner/House.

The Logan Lady Longhorns (16-5, 3-0) will play at 5:30 p.m. Thursday against Mountainair at Logan

The Lady Longhorns will play Saturday at Fort Sumner/House, with tipoff time to be determined

The San Jon Coyotes (4-13, 0-7) will play at 7 p.m., Thursday at Elida. The Coyotes' homecoming will be at 6:30 p.m., Saturday against Floyd.

The San Jon Lady Coyotes (1-14, 0-7) will play at 5:30 p.m. Thursday at Elida. The Lady Coyotes's homecoming will be at 5 p.m. Saturday against Floyd