Pojoaque visits for Four Games Saturday

By Marty Mayfield
KRTN Multi-Media

Simply look at the scoring and you will see that Pojoaque dominated the evening of basketball in Tiger gym with the exception of the girls game which Raton won.

Both JV teams struggled with making baskets as well as turnovers. Pojoaque simply played aggressive ball and forced several turnovers.

In the boys varsity game Pojoaque came out with steal after steal and kept Raton from scoring and when they did get close Pojoaque was strong on the boards and Raton rarely got a chance to put the shot back up. Pojoaque also out ran Raton and by the third quarter it was evident that Raton was struggling as they tried to slow the game down but Pojoaque simply made the fast break or stole the ball  and took it to the other end for points.


JV Girls
Pojo   14 19  23  15  71
Raton 10 15    7    4  36

Pojo High Point
Miranda Martinez 11 2 of 2 Free Throws
Natalie Martinez 15 2 of 6 Free Throws
Free Throws 14 of 32 attempts

Raton High Point
Leah Cimino 8
Free Throws  4 of 8 attempts

JV Boys
Pojo  13  11  20  20  64
Raton12    5    4    9  30

Pojo High Point
Jereme Santistevan 10  2of 2 Free Throws
Julian Lujan 10  2 of 4 Free Throws
Free Throws  12 of 21 Attempts

Raton High Point
Dylan Query 12 3 of 3 Free Throws
Mike Vigil 9 3 of 3 Free Throws
Free Throws 7 of 13 Attempts

Varsity Girls
Pojo  12  14  14  12  52
Raton 18 14  12  16  60

Pojo High Point
Cheyenne Cordova 23 1 of 3 Free Throws  4 3-pointers
Free Throws 15 of 26 attempts

Raton High Point
Brylee Medina 14 Free Throws 8 of 11
Michelle Guara 13  Free Throws 3 of 4
Mikala Vertovec 12
Free Throws 17 of 23 attempts

High lights for the game
This was the only game of the evening that was even close with Raton leading most of the game. Pojoaque took an early lead but Raton came back tied it and went on to pull out in front extending their lead to as much as 12 points but never could take a comfortable lead as the Elkettes would rally and close the gap to as little as two points.


Varsity Boys
Pojo   27  20  18  25  90
Raton 11   8   10    4  33

Pojo High Point
Brandon Bustos 12
Free Throws 0 of 4 attempts
All 13 players on the team scored at least 3 points

Raton High Point
Mark Hightree  17  2 of 4 Free Throws
Free Throws 7 of 17 attempts

Rhianna Barela goes for the shot late in the 2nd Quarter of the girls JV game.

Dylan Query up against Pojoaque's biggest JV player Julian Lujan in the fourth quarter of the JV game.

Brylee Medina heded for the lay-up against Elena Rae Lopez who gets a hand on the ball and draws the foul during the varsity game Saturday night in Tiger Gym.

Michelle Guara goes for the lay-up in the second half of the varsity game. The only game  that Raton won Saturday evening.

Brylee Medina at the line looks to add another point to the score board Saturday evening for the Raton win.

Mark Hightree goes for the lay-up Saturday evening during the boys varsity game.

Mark Hightree goes for two more of his 17 points on the night in Tiger Gym.

Red Devils Lasso Cowbell
   Lady Tigers cool Lady Red Devils

Raton basketball teams travelled south to Springer Thursday for a cowbell match up as both the Raton boys and girls had the cowbell after winning them at the Cowbell tourney in Dec.

The Lady Tigers took a quick and early lead and simply never looked back. The Lady Red Devils had a hard time getting started and only managed to get two points in the first quarter. The Lady Red Devils finally got things together in the second but the Lady Tigers continued to dominate and had a 22 point lead at the buzzer.

The boys game however was another matter all together as both teams battled the first quarter before Springer found the chink in the Raton armor and began to pull away. By half time Springer lead the game by nine.

Second half action continued to see Springer whittle away at the clock and slowly expand their lead. The rough and tumble action continued on through the fourth quarter. By the time the buzzer finally sounded to end the game Raton was down by 17 and the sound of the cowbell fell silent for Raton.

Girls Action
Raton    14  12  26  9   61
Springer 2   10  11 16  39


Raton High Point
Tarryn Trujillo 11  0 for 1 at the line
Michelle Guara 16  with 2 of 3 free throws
Free Throws 9 of 19


Springer High Point
Kyra Laumbach 16 and 4 of 5 free throws
Angelica Montoya 7 and 0 for 2 at the line
Free Throws  8 of 19 attempts


Boys Action
Raton     14    8    5  13  40
Springer 16  15  13  13  57

Raton High Point
Rashaan Craig 18  6 of 10 at the line
Free Throws 11 of 27 attempts

Springer High Point
Sam Garcia 19  9 of 13 free throws
Darren Montoya 10  3 of 4 free throws
Joey Wade 10
Free Throws 13 of 25 attempts

Darren Montoya (2) takes the charge from Rashaan Craig (24) while Christian Chavez looks on thursday night in Sim Brown Gym  

Sam Garcia (20) has the edge over Luis Ruiz (2) as they scramble for the long pass down court Thursday night in Springer. 

Sam Garcia beats Luis Ruiz to the ball after chasing down a long pass down court.

Darren Montoya flies through traffic as he goes for the lay-up in the third quarter of Thursday night's game.

Joey Wade slips in behind Rashaan Craig (24) for two of his 10 points on the night

Christian Chavez collects the coveted Cowbell trophy after the Red Devils tame the Tigers Thursday night in Springer by a score of 57-40. 

Raton Beats the Buzzer for Win

JV Game
Trinidad 19  27  14  16  76
Raton     10  13    7    7  37

Trinidad High Point
Billy Vigil 25  3 of 3 free throws
Amilo Arguello  11  3 of 3 free throws
Brandon Aragon  10
Free Throws 10 of 17 attempts

Raton High Point
Jordas Gonzalez 12  2 of 2 free throws
Free Throws 5 of 8 attempts

Varsity Game
Trinidad 15  21  21  19  76
Raton     18  25  22  13  78

Trinidad High Point
Marcus Festi 12  0 for 2 free throws
Chris De Angelis 27  Free Throws 10 of 14 attempts
Jared Hernandez  14  Free throws 2 of 2 attempts
Lane Velarde  11  free throws 1 of 1 attempts
Brandon Aragon 13  free throws 3 of 4 attempts
Free Throws  17 of 28 attempts

Raton High Point
Caleb Wood 19  Free Throws 6 of 9 attempts
Dustin Gonzales 12  Free Throws 1 of 4 attempts
Rashaan Craig 31  Free Throws 12 of 15 attempts
Free Throws  20 of 33 attempts

Raton took an early lead and stayed in front of Trinidad until the middle of the fourth quarter when Trinidad tied the game. Wow what a finish it was as the game sea sawed and was tied again with only 10 seconds on the clock when Chris De Angelis sunk a free throw.

From there Raton made a wild pass that went out of bounds. Trinidad lost the ball on the inbounds pass in a scramble for the ball. A pass down court to Rashaan Craig and scramble to the goal where Craig put one up for two at the buzzer and the win for Raton.

Miner Billy Vigil and Tiger Jodas Gonzalez vie for the ball during the JV game in Raton Tuesday night.

Keanu Barela tries to go around Malachi Baca during the JV game in Raton Tuesday night.

Miner Devon Payne gets in front of Mark Hightree as he goes up for the lay-up in the first quarter of the Raton Trinidad game in raton Tuesday night. 

 

Rashaan Craig at the free throw line, he makes the shot to go ahead by two.

Rashaan Craig goes for the lay-up and puts the ball in for two at the buzzer for the win Tuesday night in Tiger Gym.

Tigers tame Demons

Raton 12  10  19  8  49
Des Moines 6  8  8  8  30

Raton High Point
Brylee Medina  16
Michelle Guara  13  1 of 1 at the line
Free Throws 3 for 3 attempts

Des Moines High Point
Dakota Martinez 14  4 3-pointers
Free Throws 4 of 8 attempts

Mariah Romero slides past Lady Demon Dakota Martinez early in the Raton Des Moines game Tuesday evening in Des Moines.

Brylee Medina drives it in for the lay-up in Des Moines as Aunna Walker smartly avoids the foul by letting Brylee go in.

Aunna Walker moves around Lady Tiger Leah Cimino late in the game in Des Moines.

Dakota Martinez from three point territory puts it up and makes one of her four 3-pointers of the evening in Des  Moines.

Tigers topple Rams in Raton

Cimarron    7  10  20  9    46

Raton        16  15  22  20  73

Cimarron High Point

Alonzo Chavez 21  2 of 2 at the line

Free Throws 3 of 6 attempts

Raton High Point

Rashaan Craig  31 3 of 4 free throws

Caleb Wood 10 0 for 1 at the line

Luis Ruiz 10  2 of 2 free throws

Free Throws 9 of 13 attempts

Cimarron's Alonso Chavez goes up with Raton's Caleb Wood early in the game Wednesday afternoon in Tiger Gym.

Seth Robertson (5) battles Caleb Wood (5) and Dustin Gonzales for the rebound, Caleb controlled the ball. 

Derek Casias made a galant attempt to retrieve the ball only to be called for walking as he corralled the ball on the floor at Tiger Gym Wednesday afternoon.

Cimarron's Derek Casias goes for the block as Rashaan Craig goes in for the shot in the third quarter.

Raton Rings the Bell

by Marty Mayfield
KRTN Multi-Media

It was 1995 the last time the Tigers took the cowbell. This year they did it by beating Springer in the semi-final game and Maxwell who got a by into the championship game as Questa forfeited due to weather Friday night.

The Lady Tigers toppled the Lady Demons from Des Moines to capture their bell again this year. It was a rematch of the game last year where the Lady Demons took the bell home and later in the season lost it to Raton.

In the girls game Raton took the lead however Des Moines stayed close until the fourth quarter when Raton pulled away with three Lady Demons in foul trouble. It was Lady Demon Aunna Walker however who did her part to keep the Lady Demons in the game scoring 16 points on 22 attempts at the free throw line, she ended the night with 28 points.

Raton's Michelle Guara had a great night posting 25 points making seven of nine attempts at the free throw line.

In the Boys game Raton too took an early lead with Maxwell staying close into the second quarter. Raton put on the heat and played a good ball game working the ball inside for points. Rashaan Craig took the point honors with 24 going three of four at the free throw line.

Patrick Pacheco put up three 3-pointers and totaled out at 15 points on the night. The Bears however were lacking at the free throw line making only one of seven attempts.

Below are the brackets with all the final scores from the games played. As bad weather moved the tourney out a day several teams opted out and games were cancelled.

Lady Demon Reinda Rivale gets a hand on the ball as Mikala Vertovec tries to go up for the shot during the championship game at the 76th annual Cowbell tourney in Raton Monday night.

Lady Demon Aunna Walker says its my ball as she finds herself on the floor Monday night in Tiger Gym during the championship game in the 2012 Cowbell tourney.

16 of 22 attempts Monday night by Lady Demon Aunna Walker who also had 4 fouls early in the fourth quarter.

Lady Tigers celebrate their win Monday night in Tiger Gym as they beat Des Moines 58-47 to win the 2012 Cowbell.

Tristen Chavez gets a hand on the ball as Tiger Dustin Gonzales goes up for for the shot Monday evening in tiger Gym at the 2012 Cowbell tourney.

Whoops!! there goes the ball as Jakob Smith attempted a lay-up but was caught from behind by Tiger Luis Ruiz.

Bear Patrick Pacheco and Tiger Luis Ruiz get tangled up Monday night in the 2012 Cowbell tourney

Maxwell's Patrick Pacheco got a hand on the ball as Tiger Jay Starr went up for the shot Monday night in Tiger Gym at the 76th annual Cowbell Tourney 

Thomas Casper and Dustin Gonzales tangle on the rebound with Luis Ruiz behind Casper Monday night in Tiger Gym for the boys championship game.

Up goes the bell as the Tigers celebrate winning the Cowbell. The last time the Tigers took the cowbell was in 1995 according to the name plate on the bell.

2012 Cowbell Winners 

1st Place Winners

Raton Lady Tigers

Mariah Romero 2, Brylee Medina 5, Sarandon Walton 11, Harley Smith 12, Tarryn Trujillor 15, Dominique Zamora 20, Leah Cimino 21, Michelle Guara 22, Courtney Harrison 24, Makayla Mondragon 25, Mikala Vertovec 32

1st Place Winners

Raton Tigers

Luis Ruiz 2, Toby Henson 12, Seth Brower 15, Mark Hightree 20, Dustin Gonzales 21, Rashaan Craig 24, Jay Starr 34, Keamu Barela 42, Mike Vigil 45

2nd Place Winners

Des Moines Lady Demons

Reinda Rivale  3, Dakota Martinez 4, Rayelle Rivale 11, Samantha Green 20, Alexis Wingo 22, Aunna Walker 32

2nd Place winners 

Maxwell Bears

Patrick Pacheco 2, Andrew Archuleta 10, Jacob Pacheco 15, Tyler Hightower 20, Tristan Chavez 22, Thomas Mitchell 23, Adrian Salazar 24, Jakob Smith 25, Cory Crosswhite 32, Brandon Albertson 34, Thomas Casper 43,

3rd Place Winners

Springer Lady Red Devils

Jeri Lopez 10, Kylie Daugherty 11, Kara Burton 12, Kyra Laumbach 22, Angelica Montoya 24, Joey Lopez 15, Michelle finkbone 20, Tiana Garcia 21, Danielle Blake 25

3rd Place Winners 

Springer Red Devils

Darren Montoya 2, Uriel Urquijo 3, Anthony romero 112, Carlos Urquijo 15, Sam Garcia 20, Austin Decker 23, Tyler Blake 24, John Montoya 32, Joey Wade 33, Isaac Cordova 34

Consellation Winners 

Des Moines Demons

Sean Owensby 1, Hector Guerrero 2, Austin King 4, Ryan Martin 13, Tristan McNabb 15, Luciano Nisbet 23, Anthony Gallegos 24, Anthony Brown 33, Carl;os Martinez 34, Jr Escobar 55