Rattlers close with losses

The Tucumcari boys basketball team closed its regular season last week with two straight losses to district foes, including a 63-50 defeat Saturday at Tularosa, which captured the top seed of this week's district tournament.

A slow start doomed the Rattlers (8-15) against the Wildcats (18-7). Tularosa took a 24-13 lead after one quarter, and Tucumcari closed the gap to less than double digits just one time - 59-50 late in the fourth period.

The Wildcats also converted nine 3-point shots.

Tucumcari coach John Span said his team played better, but it didn't have an answer for Tularosa's onslaught.

"We didn't turn the ball over as much as we had been doing," he said. "They got us in a situation where we had to press, and when we got back in our halfcourt defense, we were leaving one guy open. (Tularosa) was finding him, and they were hitting threes."

With its win, Tularosa earned the top seed in this week's Class 3A-4 district tournament with a 5-1 mark. New Mexico Military Institute was seeded second with a 4-2 mark in district and 13-7 overall.

Tucumcari, with a 2-4 mark in district, was seeded third. Dexter is the fourth seed at 4-22, 1-5.

Tucumcari hosts Dexter at 6 p.m. Tuesday. The winner of that game plays against NMMI at Roswell at 4 p.m. Thursday.

Tularosa, which has a bye, hosts that winner for the district tournament title at 2 p.m. Saturday.

Dexter 59, Tucumcari 54

With two of Tucumcari's starters benched in the second half, the Rattlers saw a weak Dexter team come from behind to earn a 59-54 district win Feb. 18 at the Snake Pit.

The Rattlers, who defeated the host Demons 67-65 on Feb. 12, saw a chance to vault into district-title contention fritter away when New Mexico Military Institute handed Tularosa its first district loss the same night. A Tucumcari win would have meant a showdown Saturday at Tularosa and a possibility for at least tie for first in the league standings.

"If we'd taken care of business and we'd gone to (Tularosa) and beat them, it would have been a three-way tie for first," Span said. "But that's out now. We really put ourselves in a bind."

Span benched his leading scorer this season, sophomore guard Jesus Ramos, after he was whistled for a technical foul late in the first half. Span also benched sophomore forward Ty Lampkin in the second half after he failed to get into position for a rebound during a teammate's shot.

A referee slapped Ramos for a technical foul for inappropriate language after a call late in the first half, Span said. Ramos wasn't ejected, but Span benched him. Ramos tied for the team lead with Alexander Lujan with 13 points despite sitting the entire second half.

"My rule is, no matter what the technical is, you're done," Span said of Ramos' benching. "He crapped on his team; he knows my rule."

Span also elaborated on Lampkin's benching.

"He wasn't doing the little stuff," he said. "The shot that was taken - I told Ty, 'I don't care what the situation is; if the shot goes up, you go rebound' - he takes off and goes the other way. If you don't do what I say, then come over here (to the bench).

"It's a lack of discipline. If I can get them what I'm asking them to do, they have a lot of potential. But I think they have their own ideas on how they want to get it done, and it's not working."

With Ramos out, Tucumcari often struggled to score and move the ball up the floor. Despite that, the Rattlers twice took six-point leads in the third quarter - one on a 3-pointer by Lujan and a 15-foot shot from Andrew Henderson-Clark.

Dexter made three of its seven 3-point shots in the fourth quarter, fueling a 17-6 run to take a 52-45 lead with 3:30 left. Marco Munoz led the Demons with 14 points.

"Down in Dexter against them, we'd tied it three times in the fourth quarter; we just never took the lead," Dexter coach Sonny Duran said. "Here, we finally took the lead, kept our composure and finished the game."

Tucumcari rallied to within three points with about a minute left but got no closer after it missed a 3-pointer and committed two straight turnovers.

The Rattlers also hurt themselves by going 5-for-11 from the free-throw line in the second half.

Dexter (4-20, 1-3) is rebuilding after losing 15 seniors from the previous season.

"We'll take any wins we can get, especially the district ones," Duran said. "It not only means a lot for us moving forward, but right now."