Serving the High Plains
Serving the High Plains
The Tucumcari boys basketball team captured its first postseason berth since 2016 by overcoming a double-digit deficit to defeat host Dexter 64-55 in the title game of the District 4 tournament Friday.
Andrew Henderson-Clark scored 23 points to lead the Rattlers, and Curtis Gonzales added 15. The two combined for 10 points in the game’s final minute. Santiago Montano added eight points for the Rattlers.
Tucumcari, a third seed in Class 3A’s District 4, improved to 8-15. The Rattlers, a No. 16 seed in the Class 3A tournament, travels top-seeded Socorro in their first-round game later this week.
Dexter, the top seed and winner of the regular-season district title, fell to 6-13.
With the Rattlers down 44-34 with 1:20 left in the third period, a full-court press defense that Tucumcari coach John Span used after halftime started paying dividends with turnovers. The Rattlers tallied 10 unanswered points and outscored the Demons 40-23 in the second half.
“That 1-2-1-1 press we added at the beginning of the second half really bothered them,” he said. “We decided at halftime we’re going to win it or lose it (with the press), but that’s what we’re going to do the rest of the game.”
Span said the addition of eighth-grader Daymion Urioste added potency to that press.
“We worked with him on that press on Thursday, and I was kind of impressed how he was moving back there,” Span said. “He’s a defensive back (in football); he knows how to do that stuff back there.”
Henderson-Clark scored a traditional 3-point play with 42 seconds left to give his team a 58-53 lead.
Gonzales made two free throws, then scored on a steal to make it 62-53 with less than 30 seconds remaining to seal the win.
Span said his team was motivated after falling to Dexter in their two previous matchups.
“I was really disappointed we lost those games in the regular district (schedule) because I thought we were the better team,” he said. “There was no doubt in my mind we could come back in time and win it. We had just put ourselves in a tough situation (with the early deficit).”
Tucumcari won despite another subpar performance at the free-throw line, going 12-for-28.
Span said his team, fighting inconsistency all year, might have turned a corner after defeating New Mexico Military Institute 40-25 during the regular season district finale.
“We’re starting to gel right now, and we’re where you want to be at this time,” he said. “We lost some close games and we lost some overtime games. Now we’re starting to pull them out a little bit.”
Tucumcari 53, NMMI 51 (OT)
Henderson-Clark scored 28 points, including all four of the Rattlers’ in overtime, to boost his team to a 53-51 victory over New Mexico Military Institute on Feb. 22 at Roswell.
Dominick Jasper added 13 points for Tucumcari in the first-round game of the district tournament.
Though grateful his team defeated the Colts for the second time in a week, Span said his Rattlers made it harder on themselves by going 10-for-17 from the free-throw line.
“If we’d taken care of free throws, there would have been no need for overtime,” he said. “It’s a shame we shoot so bad from the free throw line because we work on them.”
“We’re doing what we want to do if we’re going to the free-throw line more than the other team; that mean’s you’re being aggressive. But you have to cash them in.”
NMMI fell to 5-14 overall.