Serving the High Plains
Serving the High Plains
Tucumcari’s girls basketball team surged to a 14-point lead in the fourth quarter and repelled host Estancia’s comeback bid during a 44-35 victory Saturday in the finals of the BVC Tournament.
Kyla Lopez scored 19 points to lead the Lady Rattlers. She earned Most Valuable Player honors in the tournament.
Fellow Tucumcari players Caylee Benavidez (11 points), July Lafferty (12 points, 14 rebounds) and Kirksey Smith also earned all-tournament honors.
Tucumcari improved its record to 12-1 with its ninth win in a row.
The Lady Rattlers didn’t use its press defense much against the Lady Bears, and that was by design.
“We went into the game not pressing and just trying to make sure we stayed out of foul trouble in the first half,” THS coach Patrick Benavidez said. “At times we pressured the ball just to keep them off-balance.
“Coach Tapia made some good adjustments defensively from the first time we played them in the Santa Rosa tournament. We felt that we could get out ahead early and keep out of foul trouble, we could outplay them in a halfcourt game.”
The Lady Rattlers broke open a close game with three 3-point shots in the second quarter to give them a 26-19 lead at intermission.
Tucumcari mostly maintained a double-digit lead in the second half, including a 41-27 advantage with about five minutes left.
The Lady Bears scored eight unanswered points — mostly on steals or fastbreaks — to narrow their gap to 41-35 with 1:01 left.
“We played a solid game until the last three minutes and got a little careless with the ball and let it be a closer game than it should have been,” coach Benavidez said. “But I was happy to get out of there with a first-place finish. I was able to see some good things from some of the players that came off the bench, which is going to be important as we near district play.”
An Estancia player was whistled for a technical foul with less than a minute remaining after a struggle for a loose ball. Caylee Benavidez made one of the two shots, then added two more after a regular foul, to seal the victory.
Estancia, ranked seventh in Class 2A by MaxPreps.com, fell to 8-4. The Lady Bears will be part of Tucumcari’s district next season as part of realignment.
Tucumcari 55, Capitan 32
Eleven unanswered points in the first quarter gave Tucumcari a 13-5 lead en route to a 55-32 victory Friday over Capitan in the BVC semifinals.
The Lady Rattlers continued to build on their lead throughout, taking a 25-14 advantage at intermission and 41-21 after the third quarter.
Caylee Benavidez scored 23 points to lead THS, with teammate July Lafferty adding 18.
“July and Caylee really managed the game on the offensive side of the court,” coach Patrick Benavidez said. “We showed more patience on our halfcourt offense and did a great job getting to the basket and the offensive boards.
“Defensively, we did a good job pressuring the ball without getting into foul trouble.”
Capitan fell to 4-9.
Tucumcari 63, Navajo Pine 12
The Lady Rattlers jumped to 10-0 early lead, setting the tone in a 63-12 victory over an overwhelmed Navajo Pine team in the opening round of the BVC tourney on Thursday.
Tucumcari led 39-8 at halftime against Navajo Pine, which fell to 1-15 on the season.
Kyla Lopez scored 19 points to lead the Lady Rattlers, while July Lafferty added 16. Caylee Benavidez totaled 14 points and 12 rebounds.