Serving the High Plains
Serving the High Plains
The fourth-seeded Santa Fe Indian School girls basketball team pulled away late, handing fifth-seeded Tucumcari a 49-40 loss in the Class 3A quarterfinals last Tuesday at the Rio Rancho Events Center.
The Lady Rattlers cut their deficit to two points with less than three minutes left, but the Lady Braves finished with an 8-2 run.
Caylee Benavidez led Tucumcari with 18 points and added 11 rebounds. Kyla Lopez added 10 points and 13 rebounds for the Lady Rattlers, who finished 23-4. July Lafferty totaled 10 rebounds.
Emma Lewis scored a game-high 25 points – including 17 in the second half -- and made five steals for Santa Fe Indian, which improved to 19-9.
Santa Fe Indian lost in the 3A semifinals to top-seeded Tohatchi 44-39. Third-seeded Navajo Prep defeated Tohatchi 41-26 in the championship.
SFIS forced 23 turnovers against Tucumcari.
“Our defense is what carried us, for sure,” Lady Braves coach Khadijha Jackson said.
The game was closely fought during much of the first half until the Lady Braves scored six unanswered points just before intermission for an 18-11 lead. Tucumcari shot a woeful 5-for-32 from the field during the half.
“We started the game struggling to finish shots,” THS coach Patrick Benavidez said. “We were getting good looks but just couldn’t get them to fall.”
Tucumcari rallied to tie it late in the third quarter and briefly held a one-point lead in the second half.
“We did a good job in the second half to tie the game up, and from there it was a close game that could have gone either way,” he said. “We had a few errors that they capitalized on, and then they were able to use the clock against us.”
Benavidez said his team’s 23-4 campaign “is something to be proud of.” The Lady Rattlers reeled off 11 straight wins and went undefeated in district play, despite the loss of starting freshman forward Cambree Benavidez to a knee injury early in the season.
“All season, I just asked them to leave everything they have on the floor, and I think that’s exactly they did,” he said.
Tucumcari loses three seniors from the team – Kirksey Smith, Haisley Huffman and Alexis Ramirez.
“Haisley and Alexis have been part of my teams for a lot of years, and it won’t be the same without them,” he said. “This was Kirksey’s first year she was able to play varsity, and she really came along, fit right into our team and had a great season.”
Benavidez also mentioned two senior managers – Aleeja Salvador and Sariah Mardo.
“They put in a lot of time and work and took care of our team,” he said.