Tigers take last minute win in District Tourney

By Marty Mayfield
KRTN Multi-Media

From a slow start to a WOW what a game finish!! as the Tigers hosted the West Las Vegas Dons to open the first round of tourney play in district 2AAA.

Down by as much as 15 points early on in the game the it looked like it might be a long night. Turnovers and missed shots plagued the Tigers early on yet they simply didn't give up. The free throw line wasn't visited by the Tigers near as much as the Dons did. That simple fact proved to be the deciding factor in the first half. The Dons found the charity stripe 13 times doing better than 50% with nine points. While the Tigers made the trip only five times with four points.

Second half action wasn't much better at the line for the Tigers yet Rashaan Craig went 7/7 free throws at the line. Rashaan made the difference in the fourth quarter for Raton going 4 of 4 free throws in the fourth and 12 points from the field.

As the game entered the fourth quarter Raton was down 44-36. The spark struck kindling and late in the fourth the score was tied at 53. Wow what a game it became. The lead changed a couple more times as the clocked ticked away. With less than a minute left Raton took the lead and went up by three. With less that 15 seconds left West missed a shot and now we are down to 5 seconds. Matt Ortiz at the line with the one and one and up it goes, he hits his first and it is a 61-57 game just enough to keep a 3-pointer from tying. A long pass down court and the buzzer sounds. Raton wins it 61-57 and will travel to Robertson for the next round of district tourney action.

WLV 19  12  13  13  57
Raton  7  17   12  25  61

Robertson High Point
Ruben Bustamonte 11 4 of 6 free throws
Joe Ortiz 17 and 4 of 4 free throws
Henry Flores 20 5 of 11 free throws
Free throws 15 of 25 attempts

Raton High Point
Rashaan Craig 26 7 of 7 free throws
Free Throws 11 of 13 attempts

Congrats to the RHS Cheer squad for bringing home a 1^st place trophy from the Artesia Cheer Competition this weekend

Turnovers trouble Tigers

By Marty Mayfield

KRTN Multi-Media

            It was the boy’s turn Saturday night to host the last home game of the season with the Robertson Cardinals and the red birds brought it on creating turnovers that resulted in points and finally a win to end the district play for the regular season.

            First quarter action actually saw the Tigers take the lead and play a close game however second quarter action resulted in only 2-points for the Tigers while Robertson pulled out and left the striped cats bewildered.

Third quarter action wasn’t any better. The fourth quarter looked up yet when the buzzer sounded the final score was 63-34 Robertson.

Turnovers started quick and early on in the varsity game as the Cardinals played an aggressive and fast paced game. Another factor during the game was height as the Cardinals have players almost a head taller than some of the Tigers, which allowed the Cardinals the opportunity to make shot blocks.  By the halftime buzzer it was a 45-20 Robertson game.

Second half action continued the turnover trouble and yet the Tigers didn’t give in and finished the game less than 30 points down with a 78-51 Robertson win.

On to the district tourney this week, stay tuned to KRTN for up to date game times and locations.

Caleb Wood started Raton out right as he controlled the Jump ball in the JV game Saturday evening

JV Scoring

Robertson 14  18  16  15  63

Raton         13    2    3   14  34

Robertson High Point

Justin Dimas 10  2 of 4 free throws

Brandon Maes  10  2 of 4 free throws

Free throws  24 of  38 attempts

Raton High Point

Mark Hightree 9 1 of 4 free throws

Free throws 2 of 12 attempts

Congrats Senior Matt Ortiz

Congrats Senior Matt Earle

Congrats Senior Jeramy Armijo

 Varsity Scoring

Robertson  21  24  17  16  78

Raton          12    8   14  16  51

Robertson High Point

Justin Bustos 21 4 of 8 free throws 3 3-pointers

Dalen Avrea 18  4 3-pointers

Josh Brito 14 1 of 3 free throws  3 3-pointers

Ryan Tafoya 13 3 of 3 free throws

Free throws 10 of 21 attempts

Raton High Point

Seth Brower 12

Rashaan Craig 13 3 of 4 free throws 3 3-pointers

Free Throws 7 of 10 attempts

A much taller Justin Bustos gets a hand on the ball as Mark Hightree goes for the jumper Saturday night in tiger Gym

Seth Brower goes for the lay-up as Joseph Mascarenas attempts the block Saturday night in Tiger Gym

Matt Ortiz drives the lane between Brandon Trujillo and Jalen Martinez late in the game Saturday night in Tiger Gym

Congrats the RHS Cheer squads for their first place win in Artesia over the weekend. Not all the team was present when Coach Linda Ortiz announced the win to the crowd Saturday night during the Raton Robertson game.