Lady Rattlers claim victory over Pecos

Tucumcari's defense put the clamps on a state-ranked Pecos team during an unexpectedly easy 62-37 girls basketball victory Saturday night at the Snake Pit.

The Lady Rattlers (13-4) seized leads of 20-7 in the first quarter and 35-12 at halftime while knocking off their second ranked team in three days - the other being Clayton.

Kalani French led Tucumcari with 23 points, and Ashley Shipley added 15.

Tucumcari coach Gary Hittson wasn't entirely pleased with his team's performance on defense against the Panthers, but it was good enough.

"Our defense looked good at times; other times, it looked sluggish," Tucumcari coach Gary Hittson said. "But Pecos never got into any rhythm. I've seen game film on them; they like to shoot the three. But we shut them down on that."

Pecos (13-3 and ranked No. 3 in Class 2A by MaxPreps.com) converted just one 3-point shot. Tucumcari made six. Brittany Martinez led Pecos with 16 points.

"Our offense was sluggish; we had only four field goals in the first half," Pecos coach Ron Drake said. "That's not like us. We average about 65 points a game. But we couldn't hit a basket, and that domino effect came about and we couldn't play defense, either."

Tucumcari's full-court press also forced Pecos turnovers that were turned into points.

"It was just a bad night. We're a better team than that," Drake said. "I'm not taking anything away from Tucumcari, because they're a great team and they're well-coached."

The Lady Rattlers won going away despite problems of their own, including foul trouble and missing easy shots from under the basket.

"Gosh, in the first half, I think we missed nine layups," Hittson said. "That's a lack of concentration, and we knew their big girl could jump. I think the girls were worried about her blocking them. It can change the shot if they have a shot-blocker out there."

Tucumcari received a lift in the third quarter when Lenora Trujillo came off the bench for a foul-plagued Jasmine Jones and scored eight points to help maintain the lead.

Tucumcari 62, Clayton 34

The Lady Rattlers turned a close game into a blowout by outscoring host Clayton 36-12 in the second half en route to a 62-34 victory Thursday.

Tucumcari held just a 26-22 lead at intermission but made a key adjustment to ignite the rally.

"In the first half, we were trying to run too much and were turning the ball over," Hittson said. "At halftime, we talked about slowing the ball down and working it, working it, working it. We came out and hit four threes in a row. It was over. They just kind of folded."

Shipley scored 24 points to lead the Lady Rattlers. Aliyah Herrera added 17 and French 10. Tucumcari torched the Yellowjackets with 11 3-point shots.

Melanie Crisp led Clayton (10-6), ranked fourth in Class 2A, with nine points.

Tucumcari 74, Raton 24

The Lady Rattlers scored 23 unanswered points in the first quarter during a 74-24 win over Raton on Jan. 15.

Shipley and Herrera led Tucumcari with 20 points apiece, while French added 16. Freshman Reece Goldston scored 10 points off the bench during a game in which the Lady Rattlers led by 50 early in the third period.

Raton (5-9) had trouble even advancing the ball past the half-court line against Tucumcari's press, with the Lady Rattlers scoring many points off turnovers.

"They couldn't handle our press, and our man-to-man defense was good," Hittson said. "And we got to work on a few things with our offense, also.

"We came out with a bit of fire today," he added, "better than what we did at the (Estancia) tournament last weekend. We didn't play as hard there. Maybe we played harder tonight because we were at home, or maybe the travel made them tired."

Tucumcari converted six 3-point shots and went 12-of-13 from the free-throw line.

Baylor Walton led the Lady Tigers with nine points.