Serving the High Plains
Serving the High Plains
The Tucumcari girls basketball team secured third place Saturday in the BVC Invitational tournament at Estancia in resounding fashion by draining 13 3-point shots and walloping Mountainair 66-37.
Caylee Benavidez accomplished a triple-double for Tucumcari with 22 points, 10 assists and 10 rebounds. Alexus Lafferty added 15 points and seven assists, and Haisley Huffman also scored 15 points.
Tucumcari went 2-1 in the event, with its only loss to tourney champion Santa Rosa, which blasted Cottonwood Classical Prep 63-30 in the final.
Benavidez, Alexus Lafferty and July Lafferty each made the all-tournament team.
The Lady Rattlers (7-6) stormed Mountainair with seven 3-pointers in the first quarter.
“It was good to have a game where we could work on the offense,” coach Patrick Benavidez said.
He also praised Kyla Samaniego and Alexis Ramirez for their defense on Mountainair’s 6-foot center, Alyson Dew, held to 13 points.
“They did a good job boxing her out and drawing some fouls on her,” he said.
Mountainair fell to 2-6.
Santa Rosa 42, Tucumcari 37
Santa Rosa made enough free throws in the fourth quarter to fend off a late charge by Tucumcari in a 42-37 Lady Lions victory Friday in the semifinal of the BVC Invitational.
Benavidez scored 12 points to led the Lady Rattlers, while July Lafferty added 11 points.
Tucumcari had a five-point led at intermission but struggled offensively in the third quarter. They trailed by as many as nine points in the fourth quarter.
Coach Benavidez said his team rallied to within one point on two 3-pointers by Benavidez and a putback basketball by July Lafferty. But the Lady Rattlers drew no closer.
“We had a couple of good shots in the last minute but eventually had to foul,” coach Benavidez said. “Santa Rosa was a good free-throw shooting team, and they were able to seal the game from the free-throw line.”
Santa Rosa improved to 6-6.
Tucumcari 31, Capitan 30
The Lady Rattlers survived a late surge by Capitan during a 31-30 victory Thursday in the opening round of the BVC Invitational.
Huffman scored a critical fastbreak basket with less than a minute left, and Alexus Lafferty made a free throw with 31 seconds left for the final margin of victory.
Lafferty led Tucumcari with 11 points, while Benavidez added 10.
“It was a defensive battle,” coach Benavidez said. “Capitan was very big, and we had a hard time getting a basket on them and even getting shots because they were so long. But, again, our defense kept us in the game … gave ourselves a chance to win.”
Tucumcari took a nine-point lead in the fourth quarter but Capitan stormed back, including a four-point play after a foul during a 3-point shot.
Capitan fell to 9-2.