Rattlers go 2-3 in busy week

The Tucumcari boys basketball team finished a disappointing 1-2 during the Citizens Bank Classic tournament at Texico but salvaged the weekend with a 56-45 win Saturday over Tatum.

The finale ended a grueling week for the Rattlers (4-5), who played five games in six days and won two.

Against Tatum, Kamren Apodaca led the Rattlers with 21 points. Julian Griego and Curtis Gonzales each scored 10.

The Rattlers raced to a 31-17 lead at halftime.

“I thought that was a good win for us,” Tucumcari coach John Span said. “Tatum is a veteran ballclub.”

Despite the win, Span said he wasn’t happy with his team’s showing at Texico.

“It wasn’t a good tournament for us. Anytime we get to a tournament, if we don’t win two games, it’s not a good tournament for us.

“But we got some valuable experience and found out a lot about ourselves. I’m hoping that’s something that will help us later on.”

Tatum finished the weekend with a 4-7 record.

Texico 64, Tucumcari 52

Texico took an early double-digit lead during the second round Friday of the Citizens Bank Classic and made it stand up in a 64-52 win over the Rattlers.

The Wolverines commanded a 17-6 lead after one quarter.

“We never were really able to overcome that deficit,” Span said. “We didn’t match their intensity at the start of the game.”

Gonzales scored 26 points to lead the Rattlers. Luis Archuleta added 12 points.

Texico ended the week with a 7-4 record.

Newcombe 53, Tucumcari 48

Too many mistakes led to the Rattlers losing 53-48 to Newcombe in the first round Thursday of the Citizens Bank Classic tournament at Texico.

“Too many missed shots, didn’t take care of the ball,” Span said. “In the third quarter, we were up by four but had a couple of turnovers. But (Newcombe) did a good job hitting big shots when they needed to.”

Apodaca led Tucumcari with 21 points, and Gonzales added 17.

Newcombe finished the week with a 5-4 record.

Tucumcari 40, East Mountain 38

Gonzales scored the final two points of the game on free throws and intercepted East Mountain’s long desperation pass at the buzzer to secure a 40-38 non-district victory last Tuesday at the Snake Pit.

Kaden Brown also scored a key inside bucket midway through the fourth quarter to give the Rattlers a four-point lead — their largest of the game — and blocked a Timberwolves shot with 30 seconds left.

Julian Griego led the Rattlers with 10 points, and Gonzales added eight.

The loss dropped the Timberwolves to 0-7.

Both teams committed multiple turnovers down the stretch, but Tucumcari made enough plays to eke out the win.

“We have to do a better job taking care of the ball, especially down the stretch,” Span said. “We were up by four, and we rushed the ball down there when we could have taken off some time. It was a learning mistake where we turned the ball over, they scored and were down by two.”

East Mountain stunned Tucumcari in the first half when Isaac Madrid unexpectedly scored 14 of his team-high 17 points, mostly on 3-pointers.

That briefly gave the Timberwolves a double-digit lead until the Rattlers scored eight unanswered points to close the first half and reduce East Mountain’s lead to 22-19.

“The scouting report told us No. 1 (Evren Neal) and No. 11 (Scott Hofmann) were the scorers. No. 4 (Madrid) wasn’t mentioned,” Span said. “We had to make an adjustment there, and our defense got a little better.

“We told the guys at halftime, it’s going to be one of those grind games. We grinded away and did a little better than they did.”

A 7-0 scoring run late in the third quarter and early in the fourth gave Tucumcari the lead for the first time — one the Rattlers would not relinquish.

Gonzales made one of two free throws with 6.5 seconds left for a 40-38 lead. East Mountain was whistled for traveling three seconds later.

The Timberwolves took a timeout with 0.6 seconds left after the Rattlers missed a free throw. East Mountain threw a long pass to halfcourt to attempt a final heave, but Gonzales picked it off to secure the win.

Raton 54, Tucumcari 49

The Tigers inched away from the Rattlers in the second half during a 54-49 non-district victory last Monday at Raton.

Both teams were tied 30-30 at intermission, but Raton outscored their foe 24-19 the rest of the way.

“They just made more plays than we did. It could have gone either way,” Span said.

Span said his team wasn’t prepared for the Tigers’ rugged style early in the contest.

“We didn’t adjust well to the physicalness of Raton,” he said. “We had some layups we missed early, and you don’t know how important those are until you get near the end of the game.

“That’s what we have to do — not miss easy shots right underneath the basket. Those are things we need to work on: When our bigs catch the ball in a certain spot, they should know what to do with it.”

Gonzales scored 17 points to lead Tucumcari, and Apodaca added 16.

Raton improved to 5-2.