By Marty Mayfield
KRTN Multi-Media
The Raton basketball teams split with Cimarron as both won a couple and lost couple of games in action of Thursday night in Cimarron.
The varsity girls game stayed close with Raton taking the early lead and staying in front for most of the first half. Cimarron outscored Raton (18-12) in the second quarter as they applied the press that seemed to throw off the Lady Tigers rhythm. Going into the locker room the Lady Rams held a 29-24 lead.
The Lady Tigers came out strong in the third quarter and put the press on the Lady Rams but couldn’t keep them from getting to the bucket. Once again Cimarron outscored the Lady Tigers by two (12-10) in the third. The fourth quarter saw both teams put the ball in the bucket as each team scored 19 points with help from the free throw line as Raton went five of eight at the line and Cimarron sunk six of 10 shots. By the final buzzer Cimarron’s second quarter had made the difference as the put one in the win column 60-53.
Raton 12 12 10 19 53
Cimarron 11 18 12 19 60
Raton High Point
Andie Ortega 19 6 of 7 free throws
Jadyn Walton 14 4 of 6 free throws
Free throws 12 of 21 attempts
Cimarron High Point
Reina Arguello 22 2 of 2 free throws
Angel Gonzales 21
Zoe Salazar 11 5 of 8 free throws
Free Throws 7 of 15 attempts
The Raton boys took a quick lead with four 3-pointers that gave Raton the 20-12 lead at the end of the first. Second quarter action however saw the Rams defense wake up and keep it close scoring 12 to Raton’s 11 points to go into half time with Raton up 31-24.
Cimarron scored another 12 in the third while holding Raton to nine, so the Raton lead was only four going into the final period. The Rams big boys Dylan Friedt and Matthew Dean kept the Rams hopes alive with solid rebounding, and as Cimarron continued to battle back from a deficit that was as much as 12, Raton went cold only scoring nine to allow the Rams to tie the game with seconds remaining on the clock. Raton took the timeout with seven seconds on the clock but couldn’t get a shot off before the buzzer sounded to end regulation play.
In overtime the Rams took advantage of the free throws going four of four but Raton scored first in the quarter with a Jose Archuleta three and with time running out Dustin Segura drove the basket and then dished to Ismael Tafoya who calmly dropped in the game winner with a short jumper in the paint. Cimarron Rams coach Daniel Vigil called a quick timeout and three seconds was put back on the clock, but a 1/2 court desperation shot wasn’t meant to be and Raton survived with the 55 – 53 win in OT.
Raton 20 11 9 9 6 55
Cimarron 12 12 12 13 4 53
Raton High Point
Aden Vanderwater 15 2 of 2 free throws
Ismael Tafoya 12 1 of 3 free throws
Nathaniel Tarbox 8
Free throws 3 of 7 attempts
Cimarron High Point
Dylan Friedt 19 10 of 11 free throws
Matthew Dean 18 3 of 4 free throws
Noah McDonald 8
Free throws 15 of 20 attempts
The JV girls games was a close one for most all of the game as Raton would pull away and Cimarron would battle back. The Lady Tigers however fought off a last minute run by the Lady Rams that closed the game to two and ended the game with a win by seven 33-26.
The boys JV game however was a different story with Cimarron taking the lead and never looking back. At the buzzer the final score was Cimarron 54 Raton 39.
Hello! I would just like to point out that Jose Archuleta did not make the game winning shot. With the game tied at 53-53 and 3 seconds left on the clock. Junior Ismael Tafoya made the game winning 2 point shot to give the Tigers a 55-53 win over the Rams. We have it on video. If you could please correct the content of this article, all RHS fans would really appreciate it! Thank you.