Serving the High Plains
Serving the High Plains
Tucumcari's Curtis Gonzales tries to shoot past a New Mexico Military Institute defender as teammate Kamren Apodaca watches during a district tournament game Thursday at Rattler Gymnasium.
One bad quarter by the Tucumcari boys basketball team was all that host Ruidoso needed to secure a 57-45 victory on Saturday and a District 3A-4 tournament title.
The Rattlers played well in the first period, getting points from all five starters and holding a 13-12 lead against the top-seeded Warriors.
But Tucumcari (9-16) scored only one field goal during the second quarter. Meanwhile, Ruidoso (15-9) scored 16 to give it a 28-15 lead at intermission.
The Warriors never trailed by double digits the rest of the game.
"That really killed us," Tucumcari coach John Span said of the second period. "You can't play a team like that under those situations and expect to win."
Senior point guard Curtis Gonzales, in his final game at THS, scored 22 points to lead the Rattlers.
Span said he had to bench starting center Kamren Apodaca, who scored 15 points, during that period because of foul trouble. He said that probably played a role in his team's offensive woes at the time.
"With him on the floor, we're a better team," he said.
Another aspect that hurt the Rattlers was free-throw shooting. Tucumcari went just 6-for-18 from the line and missed eight in a row at one point.
"I don't understand it. As much as we work on free throws, that shouldn't happen," Span said. "That's been our problem all year, and it didn't change."
The Rattlers earned a surprise berth in the Class 3A tournament and will play at top-seeded St. Michael's at 6 p.m. Saturday. (See other story in this edition.)
Tucumcari 47, NMMI 31
The Rattlers vaulted themselves into the district tournament final with a solid 47-31 victory Thursday over visiting New Mexico Military Institute.
Tucumcari stormed to an 11-1 lead in the first quarter and outscored the Colts 26-16 in the second half to seal the win.
Span said his team missed several close-range shots in the first half that would have made the victory easier, but his team's defense carried the day against NMMI.
"We played defensively really well, especially late in the ballgame," he said. "When (NMMI) needed to score fast, we made them burn almost a minute with our defense. They couldn't get room to get a shot off.
"We've concentrated a lot of defense. Hopefully, that's coming together right now."
Gonzales scored 20 points to lead the Rattlers, and Apodaca added 12.
NMMI fell to 9-12 overall.
