Free throws sink Rattlers

The Tucumcari boys basketball team regularly practices its free-throw shooting. Honest.

Regardless, the Rattlers' performance from the foul line proved to be a glaring shortcoming during a 66-54 non-district loss Thursday to Robertson at the Snake Pit.

Tucumcari (3-8) made just 12 of 27 free throws, and coach John Span could be heard repeatedly muttering to his players about that.

"We missed enough free throws, we could have won the game ... again," a mystified Span said after the game. ""We do pretty good in practice. And this year, we've done more shooting and shooting and shooting."

Span said free-throw woes are indicative of his team's erratic shooting in the last few seasons, also citing close-range shots missed against the Cardinals (7-5).

"If we'd made some chippies inside and free throws ... I don't know; it's the same old song," he said. "Are we losing games because we don't get enough shots, or are we losing games because we're not putting in the ball? We're not putting the ball in. We've got shots where we have people who we want shooting the ball, and they're not hitting. You've got to make shots. Hopefully, we'll figure it out."

Span expressed optimism his team would turn the proverbial corner and begin piling up victories.

"I think it's coming. We've got the blinker on. We're close to the corner, we've got to make that turn and hopefully things will get better at the end," he said.

Dominick Jasper led the Rattlers with 18 points, while Curtis Gonzales added 17 and Andrew Henderson-Clark 16.

Mateo Contreras and Kenneth Montoya each scored 19 points for Robertson.

Robertson coach James Branch said his team was down two starters Thursday, including all-state guard Matthew Gonzales due to a rotator cuff injury from football.

"We're resting him," Branch said. "We're going to rest him as long as we can going into district."

Span knew Robertson was without two key players, but the players on the floor left an impression.

"I was impressed with the kids that they had," he said. "They're tough, and I like to play teams that are tough, because the way our record is right now, we need to play somebody like that so when you beat them or play them close, people think, 'Man, what's going on there?'"

The Cardinals stormed to a double-digit lead midway through the first quarter. The Rattlers answered with 15-2 run in the second period to take a brief 29-27 lead.

"We jumped on them really well, and I thought we'd take off and have a comfortable win," Branch said. "But they made some good adjustments and played very aggressively going to the basket."

Branch cited Gonzales and Henderson-Clark as key to Tucumcari's surge.

"They gave us some problems," he said. "We had a hard time with them, and they got back in the game."

Robertson rallied a bit for a 39-32 advantage at intermission and several times nearly took a double-digit lead in the third quarter.

Early in the fourth quarter, Jasper scored on a three-point play to narrow Tucumcari's gap to 50-48. Gonzales kept the Rattlers close with two free throws to make it 56-52 with about four minutes left.

After a Tucumcari turnover, Robertson essentially secured the win when Contreras scored a three-point play to give his team a 61-52 lead with 3:37 left.

A charging call gave the ball back to the Cardinals, and Contreras scored again to give his team a 63-52 advantage with 2:20 left.

"Ultimately, it came down to getting some defensive stops, and we got a few more than they did," Branch said. "We ran and executed our offense, running clock and got some layups near the end to get some separation."

After Robertson burned some clock with less than a minute remaining, Montoya drained a 3-pointer at the buzzer to give the Cardinals their final margin of victory.

Tucumcari plays later this week at the Mighty Lion Basketball Classic at Santa Rosa. The Rattlers play Estancia in the tournament's opener at 3:30 p.m. Thursday. Other teams at the event include Rehoboth, Mora, Santa Fe Prep, Gateway Christian, Monte del Sol and host Santa Rosa.