By Marty Mayfield
KRTN Multi-Media
On Friday, December 10, the Cowbell Tourney moved to Raton’s Tiger Gym for the championship side of the bracket where the games matched the expectations of good hard playing basketball.
The Ladies took the court first with Maxwell hosting Springer for the opening game. The Lady Bears took the early lead led by Audrey Apodaca with 20 points and Alexi Hoy with 27 points including five 3-pointers. The Lady Bears held Springer to single digit scoring in the first half and maintained the lead throughout the second.
The next game of the afternoon saw The Roy Mosquero Blue hold back the Des Moines Demons as Lane Clavel put down 23 of the Blue’s 46 points in the game. The halftime score 23-21 showed just how defensive a game this was. The defense continued into the fourth quarter where the Blue finally managed to outscore the Demons 14-8 leaving the final score 46-36.
The Roy/Mosquero Lady Blue took to the court next hosting the Questa Lady Wildcats where the Lady Blue dominated the first half of play to take a 33-11 lead at halftime. The Lady Blue were led by Tanna Crisp with 22 points. The Lady Blue defense kept the Lady Wildcats at bay throughout the game allowing only 21 points the second half.
The final game of the evening saw the Tigers take on the Red Devils in a game no one could be sure about as the full Raton varsity had not been seen on the court due to the North South AllStar football game the weekend before and an extra game Raton picked up for the season. The Raton JV played the first game of the cowbell for Raton winning that game to setup the Friday night game. But there was no doubt it could be a good game and that expectation was not only met but exceeded as both teams came out hustling and trading leads. At halftime Raton led 36-32. They came back after halftime and gradually kept the lead allowing Springer to close to two late in the game before pulling out a 76-58 win in the fourth by outscoring Springer 25-12.
The Championship games continued on Saturday with the Third place games that did not disappoint as both of these games went down to the wire with both wins with less than four point differences. The Questa Lady Wildcats and Lady Red Devils never got very far apart on the scoreboard going into the halftime break with Questa leading the game 23-20. The defensive play continued with Springer taking the lead and to end the third. Springer kept it close at the free throw line by going eight of 12 attempts. One or two more free throws could have easily changed the outcome of the game as Questa took a one point lead near the end of the game and held off the Lady Red Devils for the one point win.
The boys third place game was another barn burner as the Des Moines Demons took the lead and took a 31-24 score to the locker room at half time. Springer battled back to a two point difference but couldn’t quite break the Des Moines defense to take the lead. With the help of three 3-pointers by Jeremiah Apodaca Springer closed the gap but couldn’t quite break the Des Moines defense to take the lead. At the buzzer Des Moines led by three with a 54-51 win.
The championship games continued the excitement as the Maxwell Lady Bears confounded the Roy/Mosquero Lady Blue offensive play and held them to single digit quarters in the first half of play. The Lady Blue struggled at the free throw line as well dropping five of 15 attempts. Again showing that free throws could have made a big difference in the game. Roy/Mosquero heated up in the third quarter but faltered in the fourth as the Lady Bears pulled away. Audrey Apodaca dropped three 3-pointers ending the game with 23 points in the second half while Lexi Hoy went four of four at the charity line to aid the effort. At the buzzer the Lady Bears had pulled out by 13 for the win.
The boy’s championship game saw the Raton Tigers take the lead and simply out muscle the Roy/Mosquero Blue as the Quartieri brothers were tough to out rebound underneath the basket. The Blue were held to only nine points by a dominating Raton defense. By half-time the Blue had scored 19 points, the same as Raton did in the second quarter. The domination continued into the second half of play as Raton dropped 20 points and extended that lead. The Blue went pretty much point to point in the fourth but as the buzzer sounded to end the game Raton had a 21 point win.
Friday Games
Game 13
Maxwell Lady Bears 56
Springer Lady Red Devils 41
Game 14
Roy/Mosquero Blue 46
Des Moines Demons 36
Game 15
Roy/Mosquero Lady Blue 55
Questa Lady Wildcats 31
Game 16
Raton Tigers 76
Springer Red Devils 58
Saturday Games
Game 21 Girl’s Third Place
Questa Lady Wildcats 49
Springer Lady Red Devils 48
Game 22 Boy’s Third Place
Springer Red Devils 51
Des Moines Demons 54
Game 23 Girl’s Cowbell Championship
Roy/Mosquero Lady Blue 39
Maxwell Lady Bears 52
Lady Blue High Point
Selma Baca 10 2of 2 free throws
Natalie Smith 10
Free throws 5 of 15 attempts
Lady Bears High Point
Audrey Apodaca 23 1 of 3 free throws
Lexi Hoy 17 5 of 6 free throws
Free throws 8 of 13 attempts
Game 24 Boy’s Cowbell Championship
Raton Tigers 70
Roy/Mosquero Blue 49
Raton High Point
Dylan Quartieri 13 3 3-pointers
Will Berry 12 2 of 2 free throws
Chance Middlebrook 16 1 of 2 free throws 3 3-pointers
Matt Quartieri 16 2 of 3 free throws
Free throws 5 of 9 attempts
Roy/Mosquero Blue High Point
Jackson Floyd 12 1 of 3 free throws
Ayden Clavel 13 1 of 2 free throws
Lane Clavel 16 1 of 3 free throws 3 3-pointers
Free Throws 4 of 11 attempts
Coach Tommy Barksdale, Gabby Sanchez, Alex Vigil, Jesse Kelley, Noah Weese, Christian Kamp, Dylan Quartieri, Will Berry, Cayden Walton, Anderson Weese, Chance Middlebrook, Matthew Quartieri, Asst. Coach Brandon Topping, Chance Kamp, Coach Ted Kamp, Chase Kamp, Managers Zeb Medina and
Coach Blair Clavel, Celina Flowers, Sophia DeHerrera, Josie Esquibel, Constantza Covarrubias, Tana Crisp, Nora Crisp, Arantza Covarrubias, Selma Baca, Natalie Smith and Misty Gutierrez
Coach Blair Clavel, Hunter Scott, Ayden Clavel, Lane Clavel, Buster Weisdorfer, Joseph Flowers, Jackson Fudge, Tagon Lopez, Ike Smith, Logan Martinez, Ayden Clavel, Gabe Flowers, Matthew Libby and Misty Gutierrez
Back Row L to R; Araceli Gonzales, Amalia Gonzales, Aliyah Santistevean, Alyse Lovato, Angelica Lovato
Front Row L to R Alyana Leon and Alexi Brown
Jared Archuleta, Destry Sumpter, David Cisneros, Noah Johnson, Kayle Roark, Nash Trujillo, Caleb Sumpter, James Bennett, Beau Cruz Coach Ben Doherty Kristian Fernandez.
