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Tucumcari boys finish fourth

The Tucumcari boys basketball team finished fourth at the Brian Gallegos Tournament at West Las Vegas after a 59-40 loss Saturday to Tularosa in the third-place game.

The host team won the tournament title with a 63-51 win over Santa Rosa on Saturday night.

TJ Lampkin led the Rattlers (1-3) with 15 points. Teammates Jesus Ramos and Robbie Hartmann added nine points.

Tucumcari coach John Span said his team didn't shoot well Saturday, but it was the lack of rebounds that hurt the most – especially in the second half when the Wildcats (2-1) outscored the Rattlers 30-19.

“They hurt us on the boards,” Span said of Tularosa. “We didn't box out well. They'd get two to three shots to our one, and they pulled away.”

Tucumcari also performed poorly at the free-throw line, making 12 of 26 shots. Tularosa was 4-for-10 from the line.

Span said he also saw two players foul out, hurting his squad down the stretch.

“We need to play smarter,” he said. “It was a game where they knew us and we knew them, and they executed better than us.”

West Las Vegas 59, Tucumcari 54

A big 25-point performance by Tucumcari's Ramos was spoiled by West Las Vegas' 59-54 victory in the tournament semifinals Friday.

Free throws proved to be the difference in a nip-and-tuck game. West Las Vegas made 12 of 18 attempts. Tucumcari went to the line just eight times and made four. West Las Vegas outscored Tucumcari 18-14 in the final quarter.

“It was one of those games where our kids were getting more (foul) calls than they were,” Span said.

Hartmann added 11 points for the Rattlers.

Tucumcari 60, Dexter 51

Hartmann scored 22 points as Tucumcari came from behind in the second half to defeat Dexter 60-51 during the first round Thursday of the tournament.

Ramos added 15 points for the Rattlers (1-1), and Lampkin added 14.

Tucumcari outscored the Demons 20-11 in the fourth quarter to secure the win.

“We did a better job taking care of the ball and making better shots than we did the first game,” Span said, noting a season-opening loss to Laguna Acoma the previous week. “We also didn't have as many turnovers.”

The Rattlers also performed better at the free-throw line, making 21 of 30 shots.

Dexter fell to 1-5 overall.