Lady Rattlers stun Dexter in district final

It took three tries, but the Tucumcari girls basketball team finally got the best of Dexter. And it couldn't have come at a better time - in the championship game of the district tournament on the Lady Demons' home floor.

A 14-0 scoring run in the first half gave the Lady Rattlers a double-digit lead they fattened to a 20-point advantage by the third quarter. Dexter made a late run, but Tucumcari repelled it during a 45-29 win Friday.

The Lady Rattlers (13-10) almost were assured of earning an at-large bid for the Class 3A state tournament even before Friday's game. But the victory in the District 4 title contest clinched it. The Lady Rattlers will play at Crownpoint in the first round of the Class 3A tournament later this week.

Tucumcari had lost their two previous games against Dexter (15-6) by a total of four points.

Caylee Benavidez led the Lady Rattlers with 16 points, and Alexus Lafferty added nine. Kyla Samaniego totaled eight points and 14 rebounds.

Tucumcari trailed 4-3 early when they scored the 14 unanswered points. The Lady Demons were held scoreless for almost eight minutes as the Lady Rattlers grabbed a 17-3 lead and a 24-8 advantage by intermission.

Tucumcari coach Patrick Benavidez said his team concentrated its defense on Dexter stars Nayeli Cobos and Zoey Stewart with the objective to "try to make their other players step up and beat us."

"We just played a high level and intense 2-3 zone on them, and Dexter just didn't have an answer," he said. "They were really rattled. Once we secured a rebound, we were pushing it up the floor on them. It really blew it open for us."

Another Tucumcari surge in the third period gave it a 30-10 lead.

"We talked at halftime we needed to make a big push because we knew Dexter wouldn't let us blow them out like that," he said.

Dexter went on an 11-0 run after that to close the gap to 31-24 with 4:41 left.

"We called a timeout and told them, 'We're going to bend, but we're not going to break,'" he said. "The girls just continued to battle. In the second half, we had only four field goals, but I told them to keep taking it to the basket; we'll draw some fouls, and soon we'll be in the bonus. We've been shooting more free throws in practice because we felt like we've let some games get away because of our poor percentage."

Tucumcari went 11-for-18 from the foul line, and the Lady Demons drew no closer.

Coach Benavidez also said his team's rebounding also improved from the previous two Dexter games.

"It was an all-around great performance by the girls in a big moment. They really came through; it was exciting to see them overcome those two losses we felt we shouldn't have lost," he said.

Tucumcari boosters and local law enforcement gave the victorious team - and the boys team, which also won the tournament title at Dexter - with a welcome-home rally on First Street when the team bus returned home after 3 a.m. Saturday.

Tucumcari 59, NMMI 29

The Lady Rattlers jumped to an early double-digit lead and cruised to a 51-29 victory over visiting New Mexico Military Institute in a first-round district tournament game on Feb. 21.

Alexus Lafferty led Tucumcari with 17 points, including five 3-point shots. Caylee Benavidez added nine points and Samaniego eight.

The Lady Rattlers grabbed a 15-6 lead after one quarter and held a 31-14 advantage by intermission. Tucumcari consistently led by 20 during the second half.

"This game against NMMI, it was good to get back to it because we hadn't played since last Tuesday," coach Benavidez said. "It was a long week. We did a lot of work on shooting. Our girls stayed focused and did a good job moving the ball."

The game was the first basketball game played without masks since early 2021. The governor lifted the indoor mask mandate on Feb. 17.

"The girls said, 'This is weird,' because they were getting deep breaths of air," he said. "You got used to seeing them with masks on. You hadn't seen their faces in two years. It was just different. But it was good.

"I'm hoping we can stay this way and move on. But we're always prepared to put them back on, just to keep ourselves safe and keep ourselves playing."