Serving the High Plains
Serving the High Plains
In the end, Tohatchi was just too tall.
The fifth-seeded Tucumcari girls basketball team struggled mightily against fourth-seeded and eventual state champion Tohatchi’s height and length during a 48-23 loss last Tuesday in the Class 3A quarterfinals at the Rio Rancho Events Center.
Tucumcari freshman center Kyla Lopez led Tucumcari with eight points.
Meanwhile, a total of 11 Cougars scored for Tohatchi (22-9), with junior guard Brooke Badonie leading the way with 10 points.
The Cougars’ roster listed two players at 5-foot-10 and another at 5-foot-9. Tohatchi’s superior size took away much of Tucumcari’s inside game, kept pushing back their outside shooters and made it difficult to grab rebounds.
The Cougars raced to a 13-4 lead in the first quarter and took a double-digit lead in the second period.
A 9-0 run by the Lady Rattlers late in the second period and early in the third reduced their deficit to 22-19.
After that, Tohatchi scored 18 unanswered points the rest of the period to grab a 40-19 lead and seize control.
“The girls on Tuesday gave it their all; just couldn’t get shots to fall,” Tucumcari coach Patrick Benavidez said.
“It was the first time playing on the big stage for most of the girls. We kept it close for a little while, but Tohatchi’s experience overcame the game.”
Tohatchi went on to edge top-seeded Robertson 51-39 in the semifinal and dominated Santa Fe Indian 46-24 in the championship.
The loss Tuesday ended the Lady Rattlers’ season and their nine-game winning streak. They finished the year with a 20-7 mark and a district championship.
“We played at a high level of basketball, and I am proud of how the season went,” Benavidez said.
Tucumcari loses just one starting senior from this year’s squad, but it’s a significant loss — three-year starting point guard Alexus Lafferty. She led the team in points, steals and assists.
Benavidez said Lafferty showed “great poise” in games, adding: “She always will be a huge part of Lady Rattler basketball.”
Lafferty finished just 10 points shy of 1,000 in her career, despite one of those seasons being substantially shortened by the COVID-19 pandemic.