Serving the High Plains
Serving the High Plains
Tucumcari will sport familiar faces from last year's state-ranked girls basketball team, but its primary offense will be entirely new.
Coach Gary Hittson, in his 17th year of guiding the Lady Rattlers, changed his squad's setup from motion to a read-and-react offense after seeing it demonstrated during a coaches clinic earlier this summer.
"You read what the defense gives you, and you go off of that," he explained the concept. "It's like a spread offense in football. It gets everybody involved with the offense. The girls love it. They've really enjoyed it."
The concept may sound simple, but Hittson showed a playbook a half-inch thick detailing the read-and-react. He said it contains 17 layers. A boys basketball team in Clovis that used the offense last year went through only four layers, he said.
Hittson said he wouldn't use read-and-react to the exclusion of everything else. He said he'd occasionally use set plays to keep defenses off-balance.
Tucumcari will test its new offense about 5:30 p.m. Friday against Laguna Acoma at the Snake Pit.
Hittson said he decided to change things up because his team's overall quickness is a good fit for read-and-react. The Lady Rattlers (25-5) last season also were disappointed after falling in the state quarterfinals to Clayton.
"We thought we should have won (the state title)," he said. "We thought we had the team to do it. But sickness got us at the wrong time during district and at the state tournament."
Returning this year is guard Aliyah Herrera, who averaged more than 21 points a game and was one of the state's leading 3-point shooters. Another guard, Ashley Shipley, was among the team leaders in points, assists, rebounds and steals; she has received interest from Division I universities.
Rounding out the rest of the starting roster are forward Jasmine Jones, forward Aaliyah Brown and forward-guard Kalani French.
Hittson said he also has more team depth this year and anticipates using up to nine players during varsity games.
Tucumcari's foes in district play are Dexter and Tularosa. Hittson said he doesn't expect many easy nights for his team.
"We have a very, very tough schedule this year," he said. "We have no cupcakes."
Grady-San Jon
For a second time in four months, Grady coach Rebecca Burns has seen a team she's coaching adjusting to a new influx of players from San Jon due to a cooperative agreement.
Burns, who also is Grady's volleyball coach, said the adjustment has been easier with girls basketball.
"I think we're not having to break down the barrier as much," she said about recent practices. "It's been smoother than in volleyball."
House also was included in the cooperative agreement, but no athletes from there came out for the Grady program. The Grady girls were 17-12 last season; San Jon was 1-18.
Grady's first game will be at home against Class A defending state champion Elida. Tip-off probably will be about 6 p.m. All home games will be at Grady except for a Roy/Mosquero matchup at San Jon on Jan. 17.
Burns said the Lady Bronchos likely will use a guard-dominated offense.
"I think we'll be able to use our speed a bit," she said. "We've got some shooters and some ball handlers. But once we have some more practices under our belt, we'll know better what kind of team we have."
Burns heaped praise on senior Tamia Northcutt during early workouts.
"She's so aggressive, and she helps everyone else get better," she said.
The district schedule includes Class A runner-up Melrose, Class 2A semifinalist Logan and Clovis Christian.
Logan
Third-year coach Glynna Strand brings back a Logan team that went 21-6 last year and advanced to the Class 2A semifinals.
The Lady Longhorns should be strong again, as they lost only one senior from last season's squad.
Their first game is Friday at Clayton.
Because of realignment, Logan's district schedule has been toughened. It includes Class A runner-up Melrose, a cooperative-fortified Grady-San Jon team and Clovis Christian.
