Feb. 17—ALBUQUERQUE — A depleted Tucumcari girls basketball team lost its sixth straight during a 54-36 non-district setback to Bosque on Saturday.
This time, eighth-grade starting forward Ashlynn Benavidez was out of town along with her sister, while junior Cambree Benavidez and her father, coach Patrick Benavidez, were away on family business, THS athletic director Wayne Ferguson said. Tucumcari also has been without senior center Kyla Lopez and sophomore Shantel Lopez for about two weeks due to injuries.
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As a result, just two regular starters — freshmen Maaja Anaya and Haley Naranjo — were in the lineup for the Lady Rattlers (10-13). It is Tucumcari’s longest losing streak since dropping 10 in a row during the COVID-shortened 2020-2021 season, when the Lady Rattlers had only one win.
Struggling on offense, Tucumcari fell behind 17-4 in the first quarter and trailed 28-14 at intermission. The Lady Rattlers never reduced that deficit below double-digits.
Anaya led Tucumcari with 18 points, while Rhiannon Rey-Montoya added 12.
Guard Hera Parrott scored 26 points for the Lady Bobcats (7-14), and Kiyaa’aanii Otero added 18.
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Santa Rosa 67, Tucumcari 37 (Thursday) — A Lady Rattlers team depleted by injuries became even further weakened when their leading scorer, Cambree Benavidez, and her father were sidelined with illnesses for their District 6-2A tilt with the Lady Lions (13-9, 4-2).
Tucumcari fell behind 9-0 and 16-2 in the first quarter. The Lady Rattlers rallied in the second period but were outscored 32-16 in the second half.
“I think that they rallied with a lot of heart,” assistant coach Jasmine Jones said of the second-quarter comeback, “and they worked hard and worked together as a team.
“I believed in them, and I told them to go out there, play hard, give me 110 percent. They did, and that’s why I’m going to go to bed with a smile on my face.”
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Anaya scored 13 points to lead the Lady Rattlers, while Jhenna Valencia had 23 points to lead the Lady Lions.
Estancia 64, Tucumcari 53 (Feb. 10) — The Lady Rattlers trailed 32-21 at halftime in a district to catch up at Estancia (11-11, 3-4) and were never able to catch up.
Logan 48, Fort Sumner 43 (Saturday) — At Fort Sumner, the Class 1A top-ranked Lady Longhorns overcame an 11-point deficit early in the final stanza with a 20-4 run in a critical District 6-1A victory over the Vixens.
Logan (20-4, 2-1) trailed 39-28 with 6:40 left but reversed momentum with the help of four 3-point shots and more intensity on defense that forced turnovers by the Vixens (17-7, 2-1).
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Desta Rose scored off a steal with 1:58 remaining to give her game a lead, and Reese Hastie made a 3-pointer with 49 seconds left.
Rose also converted two free throws with 19 seconds left to seal the game.
Hastie scored 21 points to lead the Lady Longhorns, and Rose added 12.
Top-ranked Logan improved to 20-4 overall. Fort Sumner, ranked fourth in Class 1A, fell to 17-7.
Each has one game left against Grady, which means they’ll likely play a tie-breaker at a neutral gym.
Logan 66, Grady 17 (Feb. 10) — The Lady Longhorns overwhelmed the host Lady Bronchos (8-15, 0-2) in a district matchup, leading 34-9 at intermission and then scoring 20 unanswered points in the third period.
With a mercy-rule clock in effect, Logan emptied its bench. Rose led the Lady Longhorns with 15 points.
