Serving the High Plains

Lady Rattlers suffer loss to Melrose

If the Tucumcari girls basketball team had held a state-ranked foe to just 18 points in the first half, you would think it'd be in great shape.

You would be wrong.

Instead, the Lady Rattlers suffered a 47-34 home loss Thursday to Melrose, ranked No. 2 in last week's Class 1A polls, in a performance marred by turnovers, poor shooting and squabbling that dismayed longtime Tucumcari coach Gary Hittson.

The 34 points scored by Tucumcari (14-9) was the team's worst offensive outing since a 46-33 loss to Dexter on Feb. 7, 2015 - back when the Lady Rattlers experienced a 10-17 season.

After the game, Hittson emerged from the team's locker room after an unusually long closed-door session. He said his players became frustrated with their offensive woes against the Lady Buffaloes and "started taking it out on each other" during the game.

"When you're not getting along, yelling at each other on the court, it ain't going to work," he said. "I told them we'd better start playing as a team and start getting along. If not, there's going to be a whole bunch (of games) like this.

"The last two years, (infighting) has cost us the state championship, and I told them that," Hittson added.

A Lady Rattler's raised voice could be heard from behind the closed door of the locker room shortly before Hittson emerged. He confirmed it was senior all-state guard and co-captain Ashley Shipley, who scored a game-high 20 points.

Melrose coach Caleb King, whose team improved to 18-4, said one of his team's defensive strategies was keeping a watch on Shipley.

"Normally, we're a press and run-and-gun style, but we knew we had to pull back on defense to keep her in front of us," he said. "But she still managed to get some good shots.

"It was one of the slowest-paced games we played all year," King added. "We average about 60 points. But we knew what we had to do to beat them."

Both teams struggled to get anything going offensively in the first quarter, with Melrose leading 6-4. Three-pointers by Johanna Roybal and Nataley Mondragon and a traditional three-point play by Hailey Martin, who scored a team-high 14 points, helped the Lady Buffs take an 18-10 lead by intermission.

Tucumcari didn't mount much of a rally until early in the fourth quarter, when inside buckets by Aaliyah Brown and Jasmine Jones reduced the deficit to 35-28.

But King said he saw a flaw in the Lady Rattlers' defense and took advantage with two straight backdoor layups by Martin and Shannon May to rebuild Melrose's lead to double digits.

"In their zone, their backside girl is coming up; we kind of read that, flashed a girl to the high post and cut a girl behind them," King said.

"When we cut it to seven points, I thought we were OK," Hittson said. "But we let them get two layups in a row - boom, boom - back to 11."

Tucumcari 72, Dexter 37

Dexter's 16-6 record going into Wednesday's district game at the Snake Pit may have looked impressive, but it turns out the Lady Demons were a paper tiger during a 72-37 Tucumcari victory where the Lady Rattlers took control early.

Tucumcari didn't look as impressive with its 13-8 record going into the game, but it played a tougher schedule. Meanwhile, Dexter owned one of the weakest schedules in Class 3A, according to ratings by MaxPreps.com.

Jones scored 29 points for Tucumcari, and Shipley added 25. The Lady Rattlers made five 3-point shots and went 19-for-24 from the free-throw line.

Tucumcari grabbed a double-digit lead midway through the first quarter and led 44-15 by intermission.

"In the first half, we played very good basketball," Hittson said. "In the second half, we kind of nonchalanted it, I think. It's hard to stay game-focused in a game like that."

Dexter totaled only three field goals and committed 13 personal fouls in the first half.

"The foul trouble pulls our defense back, and defense is where our strength is," first-year Lady Demons coach Arthur Cobos said. "We were too scared to foul, and (Tucumcari) felt like they could score at will.

"Our shooting percentage is not the greatest; our percentage is probably 25%, which is horrible. Our defense usually keeps us in the game."

Anayee Carlos scored 12 points to lead Dexter during its district opener.

Hittson acknowledged he emptied his benches more than usual to conserve his team's energy against a tough Melrose team the next day.

"We're going to have to bring our A-game tomorrow," he added.

Cobos said Dexter girls basketball had seven coaches in seven years. Sporting a winning record this season with that much program instability is a plus, he said.

"I'm very happy with where we're at right now," he said. "We have to celebrate the little things."

 
 
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