Rattlers go 1-2 at Santa Rosa tourney

A hot-shooting Rehoboth Christian boys basketball team outscored Tucumcari 23-9 in the second quarter during its 53-37 victory in the consolation title game Saturday of the Mighty Lion Basketball Classic tournament at Santa Rosa.

The Lynx made five 3-pointers during the critical second quarter, giving them a 31-13 lead at halftime. Rehoboth made 10 shots from behind the 3-point line during the game.

"They were hitting some big shots, and they were hurting us with their team speed," Tucumcari coach John Span said. "They played well, and we didn't play as well as I thought we should play. It just seemed we weren't mentally ready to play."

Curtis Gonzales led Tucumcari with 17 points, and Kamren Apodaca added nine.

Tucumcari ended the weekend with a 5-9 record. Span said his team needs to work on situational awareness.

"The kids played hard; they always do that," he said. "We just have to eliminate a lot of things."

Rehoboth Christian improved to 6-7.

Fort Sumner won the tourney with an 80-51 victory in the title game over Santa Rosa.

Tucumcari 65, Estancia 60 (OT)

Gonzales scored 16 of his game-high 22 points during the fourth quarter and overtime to lead the Rattlers to a come-from-behind 65-60 victory in the consolation round Friday of the Mighty Lion Basketball Classic.

Apodaca added 21 points and Daymion Urioste 11 points for the Rattlers.

The Bears (5-7) led by as many as eight points early in the fourth quarter. But Gonzales scored nine points during the period to rally his team.

Apodaca's inside bucket with 35 seconds left tied it, and Tucumcari fended off several Estancia shots during the final seconds of regulation.

In overtime, Gonzales scored seven more points and Urioste four. Julian Griego also made two free throws in the final 10 seconds to seal the win.

Span was pleased with his team's tenacity but mentioned mental errors his team made that made its comeback more difficult.

"We made some mistakes that we overcame," he said. "These are things we need to learn from. But it's nice to have a teachable moment when you win.

"That's an athletic team we beat. We're not as experienced as they were, but we battled."

Aiden Boyle led the Bears with 26 points, including five 3-pointers.

Tularosa 56, Tucumcari 44

A slow start doomed the Rattlers during a 56-44 loss to Tularosa during the opening round Thursday of the Mighty Lion Basketball Classic.

The Rattlers could not buy a basket during the first quarter, while the Wildcats jumped to a 12-2 lead.

"When you start off against a good team like that with just two points in the first quarter, that killed us," Span said. "We had the play catch-up throughout."

Tucumcari also shot a mediocre 12-for-22 from the free-throw line, hurting its chances for a second-half comeback. Tularosa's Dillon Salazar also made four 3-pointers during a brief stretch.

"Two or three of those were uncontested," Span said. "You don't leave a man open for an uncontested shot."

Apodaca scored 24 points to lead the Rattlers, and Gonzales added 15.

Tularosa improved to 7-6.