By Marty Mayfield
KRTN Multi-Media
Raton hosted the Sangre De Cristo Thunderbirds Saturday February 8, 2020 for their first meeting ever and Raton not only took the win but ended the Thunderbirds 13 game winning streak making the trip back to Mosca, Colorado a bit longer than usual.
The Jv Game was also a close one trading the lead back and fourth several times during the game before Raton took a decisive lead in the third quarter by outscoring the Thunderbirds 17-6. Yet at the final buzzer the point spread was only five as Raton took the game 50-45.
The varsity game continued the excitement as Raton took the early lead but in this game, as the Jv game, the lead changed several times. The real excitement however occurred in the fourth quarter when Raton took a 12 point lead only to allow the Thunderbirds under the leadership of senior Cole Christensen who dropped in two 3-pointers and a free throw to help bring the birds to within two points with only a minute and half to go in the game.
Strong defensive play by Raton turned the momentum in Raton’s favor as the twins Matthew and Dylan Quartieri dropped in 11 points and Gerardo Tafoya added six more with four free throws and Ben Kamp added four more. It was a 21 point quarter that spread the points back out to 11 as the final buzzer sounded ending the Thunderbirds 13 game winning streak with a 57-46 win.
JV Game
SDC 15 11 6 13 45
Raton 6 12 17 15 50
Varsity Game
SDC 17 9 7 13 46
Raton 16 6 14 21 57
SDC High Point
Cole Christensen 22 5 of 8 free throws
Free throws 12 of 17 attempts
Raton High Point
Matthew Quartieri 20 10 of 16 free throws
Dylan Quartieri 13 0 for 3 free throws and 3 3-pointers
Gerardo Tafoya 14 4 of 4 free throws
Free throws 17 of 29 attempts
