Serving the High Plains
Serving the High Plains
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Tucumcari girls basketball coach Patrick Benavidez was reluctant to use the words "moral victory" when he prefers the real thing, but the term came up after the Lady Rattlers' 45-35 loss Friday to Robertson. That's because the Lady Rattlers had lost their last three matchups against perennially state-contending Cardinals by an average of more than 31 points. On Friday, it was a more even matchup on paper and with the result. Tucumcari (12-3) was ranked fifth in Class 3A by MaxPreps.com coming in...
The Tucumcari boys basketball team won the consolation championship at Mighty Lion Basketball Classic tournament in Santa Rosa with a 60-45 victory Saturday over Mora. The Rattlers (6-7) went 2-1 at the tourney, losing only to Class 2A power Rehoboth Christian in the opening round. Luis Archuleta earned all-tournament honors for the Rattlers after scoring a total of 86 points in the three games. Against the Rangers, Tucumcari took control in the second half, outscoring them 34-20. “Our defense was the key in that,” THS coach Gary Hittson sai...
One boy and one girl from Tucumcari High School’s wrestling teams each won a title Saturday during the Spencer Cole Invitational tournament in Las Vegas. Sophomore Fernando Ureste (20-2) notched five victories by pin at the six-team tourney, including against Nico Ulibarri of West Las Vegas in the final of the 133-pound class. “He’s like a magician,” Tucumcari coach Tim Clark said of Ureste. “He’s down, and the next thing you know, the other kid is on his back.” It was the third tournament crown that Ureste has won this season. In girls comp...
A slow start doomed the Logan girls basketball team against Fort Sumner during a 57-38 loss Saturday in the championship game of the Reserve Tournament. The Vixens made seven of their 11 3-point shots in the first half to surge to a 30-11 lead at halftime. Allyssa Casaus led the charge for Fort Sumner, scoring 17 of her game-high 21 points during the half. The Lady Longhorns, meanwhile, went seven minutes without a field goal. “We looked tired, sluggish and worn out,” Logan coach Dustin Robertson said. “The weekend and the long trip caugh...
Tucumcari’s girls basketball team surged to a 14-point lead in the fourth quarter and repelled host Estancia’s comeback bid during a 44-35 victory Saturday in the finals of the BVC Tournament. Kyla Lopez scored 19 points to lead the Lady Rattlers. She earned Most Valuable Player honors in the tournament. Fellow Tucumcari players Caylee Benavidez (11 points), July Lafferty (12 points, 14 rebounds) and Kirksey Smith also earned all-tournament honors. Tucumcari improved its record to 12-1 with its ninth win in a row. The Lady Rattlers did...
The Longhorns couldn't pull off a comeback victory from a double-digit deficit twice in two days. The top-seeded and previously unbeaten Logan basketball team rallied from a 14-point deficit in the fourth quarter to take a brief lead, only to lose 57-56 in the final seconds to No. 2-seeded Melrose in the championship game Saturday of the 66th Plateau-EPAC Tournament at Melrose. Logan (14-1), which rallied from a similar deficit to defeat Texico in the semifinals Friday, suffered its first loss...
Melrose held the Logan girls basketball team scoreless in the final four minutes, enabling the Lady Buffs to notch a 44-43 comeback victory Saturday in the finals of the 66th annual Plateau-EPAC Tournament at Melrose. The Lady Longhorns led by as much as 12 and still held a 43-36 advantage with 4:09 left after Camryn Cantrell made a free throw. Melrose senior guard Graci Odom scored six of her team-high 18 points in the final four minutes, including the eventual game-winner on a slashing move...
Despite her team's recent struggles and not meeting her own lofty expectations, former Tucumcari High School girls basketball star Ashley Shipley holds no regrets in playing what may be her final season at Eastern New Mexico University. The Greyhounds (5-9) had been a seven-game losing streak under first-year coach Blake Huber until a 65-61 victory Saturday over Midwestern State. Shipley, a senior, attributed several things to the recent skid during a telephone interview last week. "We have a...
Tucumcari sophomore wrestler Fernando Ureste captured the 133-pound championship at the 19-team Sammy Vivian Invitational tournament Saturday at Socorro. Ureste won all four of his bouts, including a pin on Alan Dominguez of Tierra Encantada in the final. Tucumcari coach Tim Clark said Ureste’s big moment was an upset win over Sevastian Madrid of Capital in the semifinal. “Fernando was down throughout, and he ended up turning the kid and pinning him,” Clark said. “I think he was kinda surprised: ‘What? That wasn’t supposed to happen.’” U...
LOGAN - If any team hopes to conquer Logan's unbeaten boys basketball team at this week's EPAC tournament, it had better slow the Longhorns' high-octane offense. The Longhorns (12-0) rang up 32 points in the first period to take control during a 97-33 non-district victory Saturday over Springer (4-7). Logan led 56-29 at intermission and held a 45-point advantage after three quarters. Logan scored almost 100 despite plenty of substitutions and a running clock in most of the second half. Springer...
Tucumcari junior cheerleader Nevaeh Montoya had a once-in-a-lifetime experience when she performed in the nationally televised London New Year's Day Parade as part of the Varsity Spirit All-Americans cheer group. Accompanying was her THS coach and chaperone, Jolene Marroquin, who also had performed as a cheerleader on New Year's Day in London more than a decade ago and never thought she'd return to the British Isles. Montoya, New Mexico's only representative on the Varsity Spirit team, earned...
LOGAN - An injury-depleted Springer girls basketball team fell victim to Logan's new, get-tough attitude during a 62-32 non-district loss to the host Lady Longhorns. Logan and Springer sported nearly identical win-loss records going into Saturday's game. But the Lady Longhorns - especially on defense - took control early. Logan surged to a double-digit lead by the end of the first quarter and built on it. The Lady Longhorns led by 13 points at halftime and by 19 at the end of the third quarter....
A Tucumcari High School girls wrestler took home a title during the Academy Invitational tournament in Albuquerque. Four THS boys wrestlers finished runner-up during the eight-team tournament Saturday. Sarah Vallejo, a senior, rampaged through the 120-pound weight class with victories by pin, including Myra Ortega of Highland in the finals. Vallejo’s teammate, junior MiKayla Klinger, finished second in the 152-pound class, losing only to Albuquerque’s Jazzlyn Atwood. Sarah Sanchez and Jocelyn Lopez also competed for the Lady Rattlers. The Tuc...
The Lady Rattlers never gave up. The Tucumcari girls basketball team, outplayed for much of the game, overcame a 14-point deficit in the fourth quarter to edge Thoreau 45-44 on Saturday in the championship game of the second annual Lady Rattler Invitational. July Lafferty, named the tournament's Most Valuable Player, scored after an offensive rebound with 1 minute, 19 seconds left to give her team the winning margin. Lafferty scored a total of 62 points during the tournament's three games....
FLOYD – Nevaeha Brown and Jona Baros combined for 32 points on Friday night as Floyd's girls basketball team picked up its first win of the season with a 41-38 triumph over San Jon. Senior Sarah Archuleta led the Lady Coyotes (1-5) with 15 points. Brown scored 17 points and Baros added 15 for the Lady Broncos (1-6), who erased a seven-point halftime deficit with a 16-9 surge in the third frame. In the boys' half of the twinbill, the Floyd boys basketball team overwhelmed the Coyotes from the s...
The Tucumcari boys basketball team overcame an eight-point deficit early in the fourth quarter to rally for a 66-62 victory over state-ranked Raton in the Rattlers' home opener on Thursday. Luis Archuleta scored 10 of his team-leading 19 points in the fourth quarter for Tucumcari. Julian Griego, who added 11 points and eight rebounds, scored a critical three-point play to tie it with two minutes remaining, then sank two free throws with nine seconds left to secure the victory. Kamren Apodaca...
It took almost a month, but the Lady Rattlers basketball team finally played its home opener. And what a happy home opener it was. Tucumcari took control early Thursday against a mismatched Raton squad during a 66-14 victory at Rattler Gymnasium. The Lady Rattlers scored the first 25 points of the game and didn't allow the Tigers a field goal until late in the second period. The Rattlers originally were scheduled to hold their home opener against Robertson in late November, but that was...
Storming to a 20-2 first-quarter lead, the Logan boys basketball team cruised to an 86-48 victory Friday over county rival Tucumcari to improve to 10-0 on the season. The Rattlers went through long periods of shooting woes during the game at Logan. THS coach Gary Hittson attributed his team’s erratic scoring to all the effort expended during a comeback win over state-ranked Raton the night before. “I think we had a big-night hangover after the win against Raton,” he said. “We could not buy a bucket.” Hittson said his team rebounded well again,...
The Tucumcari girls basketball team secured bragging rights against Quay County rival Logan for another year. The Lady Rattlers overcame a double-digit deficit in the first half to notch a 61-53 victory Friday at Logan. Tucumcari capped the last four minutes of the game with a 15-6 run. Tucumcari’s Caylee Benavidez had a monster game, with 37 points and 15 rebounds. It was the highest-scoring game for a Lady Rattler since Ashley Shipley scored 38 in a state tournament game against Navajo Prep in 2020. Kyla Lopez added 13 points and nine r...
Tucumcari's wrestling coach has touted Fernando Ureste all season as one of his best grapplers, and the sophomore proved it by winning the 133-pound title Saturday at the 12-team Tucumcari Rattler Invitational. But it wasn't easy. In the title match, Ureste fell behind 5-0 and nearly was pinned by Amarillo Tascosa's Izaiah Herrera in the first period. "My shots weren't there in the beginning," Ureste said. "But I thought I would be able to pull through." Ureste rallied to within 5-4 in the...
The Tucumcari boys basketball team salvaged a rough showing at the Citizens Bank Classic tournament with a 61-39 victory Saturday over Tatum in the seventh-place game. Luis Archuleta led the Rattlers with 21 points, and teammate Daymion Urioste, back on the squad last week after a football-related injury, added 15 points. Kamren Apodaca totaled eight points, nine rebounds and four blocked shots, and Jordan Rincones added seven points and eight rebounds. Tucumcari finished 1-2 at the Texico tournament and ended the weekend 2-5 overall. The...
The Logan boys basketball team improved to 8-0 on the season, but Des Moines didn’t make it easy. Brock Burns scored four points in the final minute to secure a 56-53 comeback victory Saturday at Des Moines. Burns finished with 18 points. Teammate Hayden Bruhn also scored 18 points. The Demons (6-2) led by as much as 16 points in the second quarter. “They came out in the first half and really outplayed us,” Logan coach Kyle Griffiths said. The Longhorns closed the gap to 33-27 with a 10-0 run, including two straight buckets after steals durin...
Logan High School totaled 12 picks in the New Mexico High School Coaches Association’s all-state selections for eight-man football. Senior Brock Burns boasted a total of four selections, with his being a first-team defensive end, a first-team kicker, a first-team punter and an honorable mention quarterback. Izaiah Kneitz was a second-team pick as running back and outside linebacker. Payson Nials was a second-team selection as inside linebacker and outside linebacker. Aydin Kotara was a second-team pick as receiver and defensive secondary. D...
The Logan girls basketball team struggled during two losses last week, including a 58-46 loss Thursday at defending Class A champion and unbeaten Roy-Mosquero. The Lady Longhorns had the lead in the fourth quarter, but the Lady Blue surged late to earn the win. Desta Rose led Logan with 15 points, and Camryn Cantrell added 13. “We played hard,” Logan coach Dustin Robertson said. “We didn’t hit as many shots as we needed to beat a team of that caliber. But we seem to be progressing in the right direction. Hopefully these tougher opponen...
The Tucumcari girls basketball team's inability to make 3-pointers and free throws proved decisive during a 45-34 loss Saturday to unbeaten Jemez Valley in the championship game of the Lady Lion Classic tournament at Santa Rosa. Caylee Benavidez and July Lafferty each were named to the all-tournament team for the Lady Rattlers. Benavidez scored a team-high 16 points with 10 rebounds and seven steals Saturday. Lafferty totaled eight points, 11 rebounds and four assists. "Caylee and July really...