No. 1-ranked Lions fight off Rattlers

Tucumcari's boys basketball team didn't quite scare No. 1-ranked Santa Rosa, but it at least caused some worry for the Lions and their fans.

Despite Tucumcari falling into a 17-point deficit to start the game, the Rattlers twice whittled their opponent's lead to six in the fourth quarter before the Lions made enough shots and free throws to prevail 73-58 in a district battle Saturday at Rattler Gymnasium.

The Rattlers (5-11) suffered their seventh straight loss despite a heroic effort by Luis Archuleta, who scored 36 points.

Santa Rosa, which improved to 15-3, earlier in the week leapfrogged over Texico (12-1) for the No. 1 spot in the Class 2A rankings on MaxPreps.com after the Wolverines lost to Portales.

For much of the first quarter, the Lions looked the part of a top-ranked team, surging to a 17-0 early lead and 25-6 after the first quarter.

Tucumcari coach John Span admitted some of this players might have been intimidated.

"Some of them looked like it," he said. "I called some of them out a little bit: 'We got to be ready to play.' We had guys that didn't handle the situation like I thought they would.

"But they got better as the game went on."

Tucumcari committed seven turnovers in the first quarter, but committed just six the rest of the game. The Rattlers also made 16 steals and frustrated the Lions.

The Rattlers whittled the deficit to 12 by intermission and eight by the end of the third quarter.

Santa Rosa coach Joseph Esquibel wasn't surprised Tucumcari mounted a comeback.

"Coach Span always has those guys playing hard, and they're never going to quit," he said. "That's what they're known for. We know the Rattlers fight till the very end."

Tucumcari twice reduced Santa Rosa's lead to six - 57-51 and 59-53 - early in the fourth period.

Indicative of Tucumcari's recent struggles were two sequences in the quarter.

One was a Rattler missing an uncontested layup after a steal. Another was Tucumcari missing four shots from under the basket in one possession.

The Lions closed the game with an 8-1 run to seal their victory.

Asked how he righted the ship, Esquibel replied: "Just trying to regain our focus and get our intensity back and try to get back how we started."

"I know district wars are tough on the road, and we're very thankful we pulled one out here," he added.

Span said he told Archuleta how appreciative he was of his effort. The junior scored 65 points in his last two games.

"The kid knows how to score. He's worked on his game, and he knows how to," Span said. "I told him I'd put at least two or three guys on him and make the other guys score. This late in the season, I don't understand how he's still getting (single defenders)."

Pecos 63, Tucumcari 52

Pecos' 14-5 run during a span late in the third and early in the fourth quarters secured a 63-52 victory over visiting Tucumcari in both teams' district opener on Thursday.

The Rattlers, who trailed for much of the game, rallied to within 40-38 in the third quarter.

But the Panthers responded with six unanswered points and led 48-41 at the end of the period.

Pecos kept surging early in the final period and seized a 54-43 lead.

Tucumcari, using pressure defense, tried to make a comeback but rarely got their deficit below double-digits.

Archuleta led the Rattlers with 29 points.

Span said if his team hadn't committed 23 turnovers, it probably would have won.

"We felt like it was a winnable game," he said. '"We're having that many turnovers and we're still in position to win the game. We have something; we just got to figure it out."

Span also noted two starters who played the whole game totaled just two points.

"If we can get some scoring from other people, we'll be all right," he said.

Pecos improved to 9-8.