Serving the High Plains

Tucumcari falls to Dexter

The Tucumcari boys basketball team missed a 3-point shot at the buzzer that would have given the Rattlers a district victory over Dexter and their first of the season overall.

Instead, Dexter's Tyler Briscoe became the hero when he sank two free throws seconds earlier to give his team the deciding 51-49 margin on April 13 at the Snake Pit.

The Rattlers' loss spoiled a big game for Andrew Henderson-Clark, who scored a game-high 19 points. Dominick Jasper added 14 points for Tucumcari, and Curtis Gonzales scored 10.

Tucumcari coach John Span voiced plenty of laments after the game. But one concern overrode them all.

"I need a point guard," he said. "I need a point guard who can handle the ball and won't turn it over. We can't even get into the flow of an offense and can't even make a simple pass out to the wing without throwing the ball away. If you can't do those things, it's hard to do anything else."

Span added this season's compressed schedule doesn't help.

"When you're playing a lot of games, you don't have time to go back and work on those things you're struggling with. If the kids don't have those fundamental skills, you've got to do drills to help them understand and explain it. You don't have a chance to work on what you need to because you have to prepare for the next game. If your kids are young and you've lost your point guard and you're trying to get someone ready to play that position, it's a difficult situation."

Tucumcari started fast, racing to a double-digit lead over Dexter (2-3) by early in the second quarter.

"Our intensity wasn't there to start the game," Demons coach Sonny Duran said. "They were getting a lot of easy looks because we were brain-farting on defense. It took us almost three quarters to get our intensity going."

Duran said his team's defense eventually forced Tucumcari into ball-handling mistakes and easy buckets in transition, turning a deficit into a 46-39 lead early in the fourth quarter.

"After good defensive stops, we got a lot of easy looks," Duran said. "Our three guards are some of the best. As soon as we get rolling, they're really, really good athletes and hard to stop in open court."

One Tucumcari miscue that loomed large was a lane violation as Henderson-Clark swished his second free throw early the fourth quarter. The Rattlers lost a point they couldn't afford to lose.

"That one point could change the scenario on what can happen," Span said.

The Rattlers also missed an opportunity with less than a minute left and Dexter nursing a one-point lead. Henderson-Clark stole a pass while falling out of bounds, but his subsequent pass to a teammate near his team's basket went through his hands.

"We're having a hard time catching the ball right now," Span said.

After Briscoe's free throws to give Dexter a two-point lead with 5.9 seconds left, Gonzales was told to look for a passing opportunity to Henderson-Clark under the basketball or take a 3-point attempt if the situation presented itself. Gonzales took a contested shot that clanked off the rim at the buzzer.

"What I wanted him to do is get the guy in the air (defensively), but he shot a fadeaway instead of jumping into him," Span said. "Make the official make the call. If that guy leaves his feet, jump into him. And we would've gotten three shots. That's just lack of experience."

Manny Fuentes led Dexter with 11 points, while Josh Duran and Juan Fuentes each added 10 points.

NMMI 70, Tucumcari 33

A hot-shooting New Mexico Military Institute team raced to a 20-point lead before halftime and scored another 13 unanswered points in the third quarter to seal a 70-33 district win Thursday at the Snake Pit.

NMMI improved to 4-3 overall in its district opener.

Span wasn't happy with his team's performance, but the Colts played so well, it might not have mattered.

"They played out of their butts," he said. "When they play like that and they're hitting almost everything they throw up, it's hard to match up with them and their intensity. I know for a fact we don't have the foot speed they have.

"I thought we could have been a little more aggressive on the boards. I thought we could've done a little better job on that," Span added.

Ricardo Mata scored 19 points to lead the Colts. Jaikayo Brown added 12 and Daniel Xibille 10.

Henderson-Clark scored a team-high 16 points for the Rattlers.

"Tonight, he played well," Span said. "He's had games where he didn't play like this. But he definitely was a force inside tonight. He used that big body, and he was more aggressive and was able to get some scoring for us."

NMMI coach Connor Williamson also was impressed with Henderson-Clark.

"No. 32 killed us tonight," he said. "He's a really good post player. He hurt us."

Raton 80, Tucumcari 48

Ball-handling problems continued to plague the Rattlers during an 80-48 loss Saturday at Raton.

"Turnovers hurt us," Span said. "We had 27, which led to easy baskets for them. They shot the ball well and didn't turn the ball over as much as we did."

Jasper scored 14 points to lead Tucumcari, while Henderson-Clark added 13.

Tucumcari fell to 0-8 overall. Raton improved to 3-7.