Serving the High Plains
Serving the High Plains
The team starts Class 2A play at home 6 p.m. Friday.
Logan's Harlie Roach goes up for the contested jumper during Friday's 59-50 win against the Vixens.
Four area high school basketball teams will participate in the 2018 state basketball tournaments, with three having a first round home game.
The Logan Lady Longhorns (19-5, 7-0) and the Tucumcari Lady Rattlers (24-4, 3-3) will host home games at 6 p.m., Friday.
Coming off a District 6-2A tournament championship win over Fort Sumner/House, the Lady Longhorns enter the Class 2A girls tournament with the top seed.
The Lady Longhorns beat the Vixens 59-50 Friday at Logan. Against the Vixens the Lady Longhorns offense was led by the trio of Harlie Roach (19-points), Kaylee Foote (18-points) and Jordan Hines (12-points).
While the Lady Longhorns were on point in the first half, they were outmatched by the Vixens in defensive rebounds.
"We can not give teams second chance shots," Roach said. "We need to do a better job of boxing out."
There are times that the girls, who normally have a height advantage, forget they have to box out, said Glynna Strand, Lady Longhorns head coach.
Strand said she has stressed the importance of boxing out to the team, who understands securing the loose ball on defense is vital to winning games. She said another issue that came into play against the Vixens and will need to be addressed is free throws.
Against the Vixens, the Lady Longhorns were 24-40 from the foul line. In the fourth period the Lady Longhorns were 18-31, with several of those missed free throws being the front end of 1-1 penalty shots.
"We have worked on free throws all week," Roach said. "I am not sure what happened against Fort Sumner."
Roach said the team will work to correct the issues as they work towards their main goal, winning a state championship.
The Tucumcari Lady Rattlers have earned the 4 seed in the Class 3A girls state tournament.
The seed sets the Lady Rattlers with a home game at 6 p.m., Friday against the 13 Rehoboth Christian (19-10).
"We are going to have to play as a team and play with intensity every game," said Gary Hittson, Lady Rattlers head coach.
Hittson said the Lady Rattlers are focusing on the game at hand, a match up with a team they played earlier in the season at the Bean Valley Tournament at Estancia.
The Lady Rattlers find themselves on the same side of the bracket as three of their District 5-3A opponents - Texico seeded first, Clayton fifth and Santa Rosa 16th.
"You never want to look past the game in front of you," Hittson said. "All we can say about this bracket is, it's going to be interesting."
The No. 6 seed Logan Longhorns (13-1, 3-4) will play 11 seed Tse'yi'Gai at 6 p.m., Saturday at Logan.
The No. 13 Tucumcari Rattlers (10-17, 1-7) will play at 6 p.m., Saturday at No. 4 Santa Rosa.