Lady Rattlers dominate Colts

Three seniors on the Tucumcari girls basketball team played a sizable role in their team's dominating 64-29 district victory Friday over visiting New Mexico Military Institute.

On Senior Night where those athletes in winter sports and their parents were honored before the game, those three Lady Rattlers upperclassmen - Kirksey Smith, Alexis Ramirez and Haisley Huffman - combined for 18 points during the win.

That pleased Tucumcari coach Patrick Benavidez.

"It's big for our team right now to get those girls scoring," he said. "We need to get points from those kids. It's good to see them put the ball into the bucket."

July Lafferty, a junior, led the Lady Rattlers with 18 points and 10 steals. Junior Caylee Benavidez added 17 points, and sophomore Kyla Lopez totaled 10 points.

The win set up Tucumcari (17-3 overall, 2-0 in district play), ranked sixth in Class 3A by MaxPreps.com, with a key matchup Tuesday at Ruidoso (10-11, 2-0) with district-title implications. (The game was scheduled to be played after the Quay County Sun's deadline.)

"That will be a tough one," coach Benavidez said. "I think we match up well with them with our speed, but they have pretty good size."

NMMI coach Lawrence Hall Jr., whose team lost to Ruidoso 62-27 earlier that week, was asked how the Lady Rattlers would match up to the Warriors.

"They're two very good programs. Ruidoso has a good coach, and so does Tucumcari," he said. "I think whoever goes out there, plays harder and executes, that's who's going to come out on top."

The Lady Colts (1-8, 0-2) held a significant height advantage against the Lady Rattlers. But NMMI struggled to set up a basic halfcourt offense against Tucumcari's swarming defense, especially its press.

Midway through the first quarter, Tucumcari had surged to a 13-2 lead.

Buoyed by 14 unanswered points in the second period, the Lady Rattlers led 34-11 at halftime and 52-19 after the third quarter.

Coach Benavidez said he has changed his offense somewhat after perceiving an over-reliance on the 3-point shot last season.

The Lady Rattlers still pop a 3-pointer on occasion, but they have emphasized shots closer to the rim.

"You look at our stats and our shots, we're starting to come together," he said. "We're not shooting a lot of threes, which is what our goal is. The girls are really buying into that. And we're still scoring 64 points."

Once the gap hit 35 points early in the fourth period, officials began a running mercy clock.

Also honored on Senior Night were basketball managers Sariah Mardo and Aleeja Salvador, wrestlers Antonio Gonzales and Isaiah Jimenez and powerlifters Nolan Ryen and Amaya Roybal.