Struggling Rattlers have rough week

The Tucumcari boys basketball team endured a tough week, including three losses at the Mighty Lion Basketball Classic tournament at Santa Rosa.

The Rattlers closed the tournament Saturday with a 66-51 loss to Mora in the seventh-place game.

THS coach John Span said the second and third quarters proved critical in his team’s loss. Mora outscored Tucumcari 40-23 during that span, turning the Rattlers’ three-point lead early into a double-digit deficit.

Span also noted Mora was whistled for only four fouls the entire game.

“Both teams played hard, but (Mora) did a little better job of executing. They shot the ball well,” he said.

Daymion Urioste led the Rattlers with 20 points. Luis Archuleta and Eric Acosta added 12 and 11 points respectively.

Span said he had two senior starters out of the lineup due to injuries. Julian Griego had a sore back after the Tularosa game, and Alijah Martinez suffered a dislocated shoulder.

Mora improved to 8-8.

Host Santa Rosa won the tournament with a 71-67 victory over Fort Sumner in the final.

Tucumcari suffered its fourth straight loss, dropping it to 5-9.

“It was a bad tournament for us, but we did learn a lot of stuff — stuff that we need to work on and, hopefully, it will pay off when we start district starting this coming week,” Span said.

“We’re back at 0-0 (record),” he said of upcoming district play. “This is the second season. All these games were to get us ready for the second season. Hopefully we’ve learned from it and hopefully we’ll have some success in district.”

When asked what the Rattlers needed to improve, Span said reducing turnovers, making free throws and converting open shots close to the basket.

“The bunnies are killing us,” he added. “If we can correct those three things, I think we’ll be OK.”

Gateway Christian 66, Tucumcari 57

A second-period scoring drought doomed Tucumcari during a 66-57 loss to Gateway Christian in the consolation round Friday of the Santa Rosa tourney.

The Warriors outscored the Rattlers 25-8 in the second period, giving Gateway a 39-23 lead at intermission.

“We just weren’t able to overcome that deficit,” Span said. “The second quarter has been a bad quarter for us. I don’t know why, but we are conscious of it now. So we’re definitely going to be working to try to change that.”

Archuleta scored 29 points to lead the Rattlers, including 20 in the second half when THS tried to rally. Urioste added 14.

Gateway, ranked sixth in Class 1A by MaxPreps.com, improved to 9-4.

Tularosa 71, Tucumcari 41

Tucumcari started slow and didn’t get much better during a 71-41 loss Thursday to state-ranked Tularosa in the first round of the Mighty Lion Classic.

The Rattlers trailed 31-17 at intermission and 54-29 after three quarters.

“The score shouldn’t have been that bad,” Span said. “We got to figure out how to put the ball in the basket.”

Urioste led THS with 12 points, and Archuleta added 12.

Tularosa, ranked sixth in Class 3A by MaxPres.com, improved to 11-3.

Cimarron 70, Tucumcari 62

A slow second quarter doomed the Rattlers during a 70-62 loss on Jan. 14 at non-district foe Cimarron.

Tucumcari trailed just 13-11 after the first quarter, but a 23-10 surge by the Rams — fueled by Urijah Martinez’s three 3-pointers — gave them a 36-21 lead at intermission.

The Rattlers responded with a stronger second half, including a 25-point effort in the fourth quarter, but it wasn’t enough.

Archuleta led the Rattlers with 25 points. Acosta added 10 points, and Jermy Jones and Martinez each scored nine.

Cimarron improved to 6-5.