Dry spells lead to Rattlers loss at NMMI

A sluggish offense at the beginning and the end proved decisive for the Tucumcari boys basketball team in its 37-35 district-opening loss Thursday against New Mexico Military Institute at Roswell.

The Rattlers fell behind by a double-digit margin in the first quarter, forcing them to play catch-up for much of the game.

Tucumcari rallied to a 33-29 lead early in the fourth quarter, then scored just one field goal the rest of the way as the Colts came back to take a 37-35 lead with two minutes left.

Two Tucumcari traveling violations and other turnovers during the final minutes hurt the team’s comeback chances.

The Rattlers still had a chance after the Colts missed a one-and-one free throw with 17 seconds left. But Tucumcari couldn’t get off a good shot that would have tied or won the game.

Curtis Gonzales led the Rattlers with 16 points, and Kamren Apodaca added 13.

Tucumcari coach John Span noted 29 of his team’s 35 points came from just two players.

“We only had six points from the five other kids,” he said. “That’s not good enough. We’ve got to have other kids help us score. We played well enough to win, but we’ve got to have more people score.”

Jacob Hayes scored eight points to lead the Colts.

Tucumcari fell to 5-12. NMMI improved to 6-8 and 1-1 in district play.

Thursday’s game was the first for the Rattlers since the death of junior-varsity player Jayden Gloms on Jan. 24 in a vehicle accident. As a result, several games were rescheduled or canceled.

Span said he detected no issues from his team due to the layoff and Jayden’s upcoming funeral.

“I think they were ready to play,” Span said. “If there was a problem, I didn’t see it. In the pregame talk, it seemed like they were fired up and ready to go. They were excited we were starting a new season (with district play).”

Thursday’s game also was the first for Span since he missed two games in late January and underwent a medical procedure at an Amarillo hospital.

He wouldn’t elaborate on his health issues but said he was feeling “a lot better” after taking medication for it. He said he soon would undergo another examination to determine “the next step” in his treatment.

“I know I’m in good hands I know because God has me,” he said. “I’m not going to stress over something I can’t control.”