Lady Wolverines capture District 4-2A tourney title

TEXICO — Shots weren't falling early for the top-ranked Texico girls in Friday night's District 4-2A tournament championship.

No big deal. The Lady Wolverines had plenty of defense to carry them through.

CMI photo: Tony BullocksTexico senior Mel Lucero looks to make a pass to senior McKenzi Mayfield over Tucumcari sophomore Kat Sena during the first half of Friday's District 4-2A girls tournament championship game at Texico.

Texico outscored Tucumcari 23-9 in the second half and pulled away to a 40-21 victory over the Lady Rattlers.

The top-seeded Lady Wolverines (19-7) could well draw a No. 1 seed in this year's Class 2A state tournament. Pairings will be announced Sunday.

Freshman forward Brianna Reyna scored 16 points for Texico, which went without a 3-point field goal in the contest and converted only 6-of-15 free throws.

"We didn't shoot the ball well, but we played really good defense," Texico coach Richard Luscombe said. "They (Lady Rattlers) had been a hot team coming in — they beat Santa Rosa (on Tuesday) and upset (second-seeded) Clayton (on Thursday.

"They did a good job defensively on us. We had some wide-open looks that wouldn't go."

With the score 17-12 at halftime, Luscombe said he encouraged his team to be more assertive when play resumed.

"Once we started attacking the basket, we got some shots that we were able to finish," Luscombe said.

CMI photo: Tony BullocksTexico senior Lindsey Foote looks for someone to give the ball to as Tucumcari senior Esperanza Moncayo defends during Friday's District 4-2A girls tournament championship game at Texico. The Lady Wolverines pulled away in the second half to notch a 40-21 victory over the Lady Rattlers.

Junior guard Destanie Nathan led the Lady Rattlers (11-17) with nine points, including a pair of 3-pointers.

District 3-1A boys — At Fort Sumner, Logan outscored the host Foxes 20-8 in the second quarter to take control in a 64-42 championship-game victory.

Sophomore guard Wyatt Strand poured in 24 points for the Longhorns (17-11), who won for the thid time in five meetings this season with the Foxes (17-9).

Senior posts Hayes Frost nd Jacob Gudgell added 14 and 12 points, respectively, for Logan. Fort Sumner was led by 19 points from 6-foot-4 senior post Shilo Boyle.

District 8-1A girls — At Tatum, the host Lady Coyotes broke open a relativerly close game with a 14-2 run in the third quarter and went on to a 51-25 win over second-seeded Floyd in the championship game.

Devanne Sours, a 6-2 senior post led Tatum (26-1) with 17 points while sophomore guard Abby Medlin added 16. The Lady Coyotes were solid at the free throw line, going 16-for-21.

Junior guard Tabitha Ornelas had a pair of 3-pointers and finished with eight points for the Lady Broncos (16-12).