Lady Rattlers hold their own against Texico

TEXICO - As opening nights go, Tuesday's could have gone better for the Texico girls basketball team.

And yet, head coach Richard Luscombe wasn't overly disappointed. Considering it was just one game in and his team had to replace some key starters from last season and wasn't even at full strength Tuesday, Luscombe thought losing only 37-35 to Tucumcari at Texico High School, especially after trailing by seven at halftime, wasn't too bad a start.

"With the team that we have this year and with everything that's happened - the (player) changeover, and having three kids injured that didn't play tonight - overall I'm happy with what we got done. I think we're a little bit out of shape right now and our conditioning showed at certain parts of the game. ... I knew we were going to struggle in some spots, just because of mostly inexperience. We've got a lot of kids playing that saw very limited to no minutes on the varsity last year, so when that situation happens, this is a bigger stage, and sometimes they're ready, sometimes they're not."

Tucumcari has had its own player turnover and its own inexperience. So Lady Rattlers head coach Gary Hittson was pleased that his team won in general, especially on opening night.

"We lost four seniors last year," Hittson said, "and I'm starting a freshman and a sophomore this year - Reece Goldston (sophomore guard/forward) and Alexus Lafferty (freshman point guard). It was a tough game, but they held their own out there."

Tucumcari does have some experienced players, including 5'7" senior forward Aaliyah Brown, who drove for what turned out to be the game-winning layup with roughly 30 seconds to go in the fourth quarter. Brown slashed in from the right side, shot, and saw the ball roll around and in, giving Tucumcari a 37-34 lead.

"We were supposed to just run five out, wait until something was open," Brown said. "But I knew I could beat her, so I went in for the shot."

Texico forward Riley Rohrbach sank the first of two free-throw attempts with 19.9 seconds left in the fourth, and after Rohrbach missed the second attempt, Lafferty scrambled for the rebound. Lafferty was fouled and sent to the line with 15 seconds left, but missed the front end of a 1-and-1, which was rebounded by Hill.

After a Texico timeout with 9.4 seconds left, the Lady Wolverines ran one more play, which ended with Hill having to take a hurried shot that missed. Lafferty grabbed the rebound to preserve Tucumcari's victory.

Momentum swings

Both teams, despite their youth, played impressively at different points of the night - Tucumcari in the first half when jumping out to a 19-12 lead by the break, Texico early in the second half when quickly erasing that seven-point deficit and pulling ahead.

Ashley Hill's inside shot on Texico's first possession of the new half made it 19-14, and after a Rachel Phipps defensive rebound on the other end, the possession she created ended when her three-point shot attempt bounced home to slice the difference to 19-17.

After a Tucumcari turnover, Hill scored on the other end off a slick feed from Phipps to tie the game at 19, just two minutes into the third quarter.

And on the ensuing Rattlers possession, a Hill steal and layup handed Texico a 21-19 lead, making it a 9-0 run to start the third.

Tucumcari tied it with a pair of Jasmine Jones free throws as 5:19 remained in the quarter, and took a 22-21 lead when Jones was back at the line 33 seconds later and went 1-for-2 from there.

With just under four minutes left in the third period Hill gave Texico a 23-22 advantage off another Phipps assist, but two minutes later Brown put Tucumcari back up by one.

The game stayed close into the fourth quarter, and was tied 27-all just inside the final period's seven-minute mark before a 5-0 Rattlers run - including a Jones bank shot, and an Ashley Shipley steal that began a possession ending with a Jones trey - made it a 32-27 game.

Again, though, Texico raced back to wipe out another deficit, this time thanks to a Phipps baseline jumper, and after a Rattlers turnover, a left-corner three from Phipps to tie the game at 32.

A Jones field goal and Goldston free throw put Tucumcari ahead 35-32 by the fourth quarter's three-minute mark, and after that score held for a while, the difference was shaved to 35-34 by a smooth leftside jumper from Phipps with less than a minute and a half to go in the fourth.

About a minute after that, Brown's layup gave the Lady Rattlers a 37-34 cushion.

After Tucumcari held on for the 37-35 win, Brown had a few moments to savor it.

"It was big," she said. "We don't beat Texico too often; we've only beaten them one other time that we've played them. And it was kind of nerve-racking because we lost some big players from last year. But it's great, especially since this was our first game."

Mescalero Apache 67, Tucumcari 48

The Tucumcari girls ended a mostly successful week tinged with disappointment after a 67-48 loss to Class 2A defending runner-up Mescalero Apache in the championship game Saturday of the Lady Lion Classic tournament in Santa Rosa.

The Chiefs (4-0) jumped out to an 18-7 lead in the first quarter and led 39-21 at halftime. Tucumcari (3-1) rallied with an 18-8 surge in the third period, but Mescalero sealed the game with a 20-9 final quarter.

Jasmine Jones led the Lady Rattlers with 19 points, and Ashley Shipley added 15.

Tucumcari coach said his team suffered a "big-game hangover" from an emotional win Friday over Tularosa, a team that eliminated the Lady Rattlers during last season's state quarterfinals.

"We missed a lot shots in the paint, and from the 3-point line, we were 2 of 19," he said. "Also, free throws really hurt us; we shot 16-of-29.

"This week, we will really work hard on shots inside, and we'll shoot a ton of free throws."

Making the all-tournament team from Tucumcari were Shipley, Jones and Reece Goldston.

"The girls showed a lot of heart at the tournament," Hittson added.

Tucumcari 61, Tularosa 57

The Lady Rattlers survived a stiff challenge Friday during the Lady Lion Classic semifinal against Tularosa despite troubles with fouls and free-throw shooting.

Shipley led Tucumcari with 19 points, and Jones added 14.

Hittson said Jones had to sit much of the most of the second quarter and all of the third because of fouls. Shipley and Brown also fouled out late in the game.

Tucumcari outscored Tularosa 22-14 in the final period, with 10 points by Jones, to seal the victory.

"We still missed too many easy shots under the basket," Hittson said. "We shot 12-for-21 from the line; we need to get better from the line. The fourth quarter was the best we have played so far."

Tucumcari 40, Mora 20

The Lady Rattlers outscored Mora 19-4 in the second half to seal a 40-20 victory Thursday in the first round of the Lady Lion Classic tournament.

Shipley scored 20 points to lead the Rattlers.

Hittson wasn't happy with his team's effort.

"The first half we played sloppy, would not rebound and stood around on defense," he said. "The second half we played better defense and rebounded. We missed 16 layups in the game."

Mora fell to 0-2.