Rattlers, Coyotes to play at home, Logan attends Clayton tourney

link Tucumcari Lady Rattlers work on their defensive assignments and anticipating

the pass during Monday night’s practice. The Lady Rattlers and Rattlers will

host the Dexter Demons Thursday at the Snake Pit.

By Thomas Garcia

QCS Senior Writer

Tucumcari and San Jon boys and girls basketball teams will be in single game competition at home this week while Logan will be competing in the Orange and Black Classic tournament at Clayton.

The Tucumcari Rattlers (6-2) and Lady Rattlers (2-3) will host the Dexter Demons on Thursday at the Snake Pit.

John Span, Rattlers head coach, said, “The guys know that Dexter’s record of 1-4 can be deceiving due to the fact that they have played some high caliber teams early in the season.”

Span said the Demons have had some losses in tournament play to some 5A schools and just recently to 4A Hatch Valley.

From the film he has watched, Span said, the Demons will come in and play hard, so the Rattlers will need to be ready to play to ensure they don’t have one stolen from them at home.

The Rattlers are coming off a third-place finish last weekend at the Lordsburg tournament where they played some strong competition and beat the host team 75-65 in overtime.

“It gave us a chance to see some teams that we ordinarily wouldn’t see during the season and could run into come the state tournament,” Span said.

The Rattlers benefit when they play against teams from the other side of the state, Span said. He said it gives the Rattlers a chance to make adjustments to other teams’ style of play when they meet the same foes down the road.

“The guys did a great job during the tournament and got a lot of valuable court time against some quality teams,” Span said.

The Rattlers lost to the Magdalena Steers, the tournament winner. Magdalena took the title with a 47-40 win over the Santa Rosa Lions.

“They were a tough team and made some three pointers late in the final period that gave them that push to the win,” Span said.

The Rattlers secured third place in the tournament with a 59-42 win over Tularosa.

The Lady Rattlers have had a week off to prepare for the Lady Demons, much needed time for them to work on offensive and defensive transitions and fundamentals, said Gary Hittson, Lady Rattlers head coach.

Hittson said the girls have been working on their offensive rotations and learning how to execute their defensive assignments. Against the Lady Demons, he said, the Lady Rattlers will need to keep the Dexter girls from running the length of the court at will.

“They are going to pressure us and will run the ball if we don’t shorten the court and limit their running lanes,” Hittson said.

Hittson said the Lady Rattlers have been progressing well during the week off. He is not concerned about the lack of actual game time affecting the young Lady Rattlers squad, he said.

“These girls showed me at the beginning of the year with their fast-paced game play against Floyd that they can run the court,” Hittson said. “We are putting together all the aspects we need to be a solid team as the season progresses.”

Game time: 5 p.m. Thursday at the Snake Pit.

The San Jon Coyotes (7-1) and the Lady Coyotes (1-7) will host the Channing, Texas, at 4:30 p.m. Friday at San Jon.

Game time: 4:30 p.m., at San Jon.

The Logan Longhorns (5-1) and Lady Longhorns (5-1) will be competing in the Orange and Black tournament at Clayton.

The Lady Longhorns won first place in their Round Robin tournament this weekend with a 62-36 win over Clovis JV.

The Longhorns took second place losing in the first round 55-50 to the Clayton Yellowjackets and winning 84-54 Saturday against the Clovis JV team.

“If we play our game we will have a chance at a rematch with Clayton,” said Randy Robertson, Longhorns head coach, and “return the favor of beating them in their home tournament.”

He said tournament may pit the Longhorns against teams from Boise City, Oklahoma and Stratford, Texas, both considered strong opponents.

The tournament will show the Longhorns some different styles of offensive and defensive presses.

Game Time: 2:30 p.m.- 8 p.m., Thursday-Saturday.