Serving the High Plains

Rattlers, Longhorns, Lady Longhorns and Coyotes at state tourney

link Rattler Michael Eldridge shoots a jump shot over

a Skyhawk defender who fell during the struggle

for a rebound during Saturday’s first round game

of the 3A state basketball tournament at the

Snake Pit. Tucumcari beat Newcomb 74-52 and

will play Santa Fe Prep in the quarterfinals at

11:30 a.m. today at Bernalillo High School in Albuquerque.

By Thomas Garcia

and Steve Hansen

The fourth-seed Tucumcari Rattlers, 23-5, plays today against the Santa Fe Prep Blue Griffins in the quarter-finals of the 3A state basketball tournament at Bernalillo high school in Albuquerque.

To advance to the quarter-finals, the Rattlers beat the 13th-seed Newcomb Skyhawks 74-52 Saturday night at the Snake Pit in Tucumcari. Newcomb had 20 wins and six losses for the season.

While the final spread was 22 points, the Skyhawks gave the Rattlers a test of their composure as they cut a 20 point lead down to four points in the opening minutes of the third period.

“We fouled when we had already been beat and that gave them opportunities to turn their score into a three point play,” said John Span, Rattlers head coach.

Span said he stressed to the Rattlers that if they are beat on the basket, it’s better to let them score two points than to give them three.

The Skyhawks scored nine points as a result of the two-and-one call following a lay-up. Six of those nine points that cut the Rattlers lead down to 34-30 were scored back-to-back by Newcomb’s Nicholas Thomas.

Just as it seemed the Rattlers’ morale had come undone, freshman Michael Eldridge made a three-pointer, his fourth of the night, that was followed up by a 3-pointer and one by Junior Tyler Ferguson.

“I just let it fly hoping it would go in,” Ferguson said.

Ferguson said giving Newcomb a chance at foul shots after the bucket hurt the Rattlers, adding that both he and the Rattlers should be more disciplined on the court.

Span said fouls got some of the starters in trouble early in the game which kept them from playing as aggressively on defense. He said there were also some loose-ball turnovers and bad passes that gave the ball to Newcomb.

“We’ve got to do a better job of taking care of the ball and getting it to our outlets,” said Eldridge.

The Rattlers regained the lead and while they and Newcomb scored 17 points in the third period they pulled ahead and took the win outscoring them 25-16 in the final period.

Eldridge who led the Rattlers with 23 points along with John Paul Garcia 19 points, D’Ontee Sandoval 12 points, Zedric Henderson Green 10 points and Ferguson, 9 points secured Saturday win over Newcomb.

Wednesday’s quarterfinal game against the Blue Griffins will be the second meeting of the teams. The Rattlers beat Santa Fe Prep 62-60 in overtime on Jan. 10 at Tucumcari.

Span said the Rattlers are going to have to do a better job of doubling up on defense against Santa Fe Prep. He said the Blue Griffins have a lot of height and will be attacking the basket aggressively.

“We are going to have to do a better job of boxing out and getting the rebound,” Span said. “We can not let them have second chance shots.”

Span said a low percentage of free-throws made against Newcomb also concerned him. Scoring only 13 of 23 free throws, 56 percent, is a major problem, he said.

“There is no excuse for us to shoot like that,” said Eldridge. “We are too good a team to have such low numbers from the free-throw line. We need to be at 80 percent.”

Eldridge said the Rattlers need to concentrate on the fundamentals and play as a team.

Scoring by periods:

Period 1 2 3 4 Total

Newcomb: 7 12 17 16 52

Tucumcari: 16 16 17 25 74

Game time: 11:30 a.m. Wednesday at Bernalillo High School in Albuquerque.

2A

Following a 77-30 rout of the Jemez Valley Warriors Saturday, the Logan Longhorns have advanced to today’s 2A quarter-finals game against another batch of Warriors from To’hajiilee, the team that beat them in the first round of last year’s state basketball tournament.

“We need to bring our A-game and play to the best of our ability,” said Michael Estrada, Lognhorn junior.

Against the Warriors, the Longhorns, 22-6, were outstanding on defense, said Randy Robertson, Longhorns head coach. That started in the first period, as the Longhorns allowed Jemez Valley only four points.

Before Saturday’s game, Robertson did not know whether the Longhorns would face the Tatum Coyotes or Jemez Valley, but he said he was expecting to face Jemez Valley.

He said the To’hajiilee Warriors, 21-3, are a well-coached ball club with talented players who have inside and outside scoring threats.

The Warrior team is young but will be ready to respond to what Logan will bring, said Roberta Secatero, Warriors head coach.

The Warriors have three seniors, two juniors, sophomores and freshmen and an eighth-grader on their roster. Four of them are returning starters.

Secatero said Logan has some tall players who can penetrate and drive to the basket so the Warriors will need to protect the inside. She said throughout the season the Warriors have done a good job with boxing out and rebounding which will be crucial against the Longhorns.

Robertson said the Longhorns will also box out under the goal and work on controlling the rebounds against To’hajiilee much as they did against Jemez Valley.

By controlling the rebound the Longhorns limited the second and third chance opporutinites for Jemez Valley. The Longhorns also stole the ball several times from ball handlers and intercepted several passes. Stout defensive pressure by the Longhorns limited Jemez Valley to 15 points per half.

Robertson said similiar defensive pressure against the To’hajiilee will be key in today’s quarterfinal game.

“We may be young, but our players have come together to form a close knit team,” Secatero said. “We are going to do our best to be ready for the Longhorns.”

The 2014 60-58 loss to the Warriors was a heartbreaker for the Longhorns, going down to the last minute and ending with a desperation three-pointer that missed its mark.

“We need to go out and play as a team,” Estrada said. “We have the ability and talent but we must work together as one that is the only way we succeed.”

Scoring by period.

Period 1 2 3 4 Total

Logan: 20 30 13 14 77

Jemez Valley: 4 11 11 4 30

Offensive leaders for the Longhorns

Wyatt Strand, 23 points

Wesley Gudgell, 19 points

Brinton Roach, 12 points

Colton Roach, 10 points

Game time: 6:30 p.m. today at Bernalillo High School in Albuquerque.

1A

The San Jon Coyotes advanced to the quarter-finals of state 1A basketball championship competition with a 62-54 win over a scrappy Wagon Mound Trojans team Saturday at San Jon.

The eight-point lead at the end did not accurately reflect the pressure that the teams poured on each other throughout the game.

The lead changed hands several times in each period until the final quarter, when San Jon started with a 45-44 lead that kept widening as the quarter advanced.

The key in the final quarter seemed to be in shooting from the free-throw line. San Jon was hitting consistently, while the Trojans missed on free throw opportunities.

After the game, Coyotes senior Dylan Bradley said the key to the game was “us coming up and making the shots that counted. We were making free throws and we played as a team.”

Jory Byrd, another Coyotes senior, said the key was “defense.”

Coyote senior Gage Conway agreed that defense was the key, but said the win was also due to “keeping it calm and not making any stupid fouls.”

D.C. Lee, a sophomore, led the Coyotes in scoring.

“We kept our composure,” he said, and “we made the free throws at the end.”

The Coyotes continue their quest for championship today against the Springer Red Devils at Bernalillo High School, Bernalillo.

Game time: 11:30 a.m.

 
 
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