By Marty Mayfield
KRTN Multi-Media
Raton began district play with St Mikes Tuesday evening January 23, 2024 as the Tiger boys hosted the Horsemen for three games in Tiger Gym. Three games as Raton created a C-team for district play.
As the varsity game got underway Raton soon took the lead despite the loss of contributors Jacob Mattorano (out with an ankle injury) and Tyler Petrini (out with a knee problem) both of whom add to the Raton offense and defense. At the end of the first quarter Raton had the lead by four with tough play at the boards. St Mikes however would take over the lead by halftime by five 32-27. St Mikes also suffered from the loss of three players Sabiani Rios-Guevara, Jaden Perea and Jeremiah Lucero all three Juniors.
Raton fell behind by as many as 12 points at one time but battled back quickly and came to within two. As the fourth quarter wore on it would be a back-and-forth with Raton taking the lead and holding on to a six-point lead late in the game. Up by as much as eight, Raton battled with St Mikes in the final minute. St Mikes missed several shots late in the game and allowed Raton to hang on to a five-point lead as the seconds ticked off the clock. St Mikes fouled late in the game in an attempt to get the ball back, but Raton kept cool at the line, going eight of 11 in the fourth quarter to stay ahead. At the final buzzer Raton managed to keep the five-point lead for the win 61-56.
The C-team began the afternoon on the court, and it soon became clear that it would be a tough road ahead as the Horsemen took an early lead and simply ran away with the game holding Raton to a single digit score and a final 76-9.
The JV game started out a bit better with Raton holding their own for the first couple of minutes then St Mikes took off and outscored Raton 21-9 to finish off the first quarter. St Mikes took off in the second quarter ending the half 47-12. At the final buzzer it was St Mikes 76-30.
Raton will host West Las Vegas on Friday for another district match up and Clayton will again darken the door of Tiger Gym for TigerFest on Saturday with mum presentations at noon and the games beginning at 1:00 p.m. with the JV Boys followed by the Girls’ varsity and then the boys’ varsity.
C-Team
St. Mikes 33. 22. 20. 13. 75
Raton 4. 3. 2. 0. 9
JV Game
St Mikes 21. 26. 13. 16. 76
Raton 9. 3. 13. 3. 30
Varsity Game
St Mikes 12 20 12 12 56
Raton 16 11 13 21 61
St Mikes High Point
Nick Angelley 12. 4 of 5 free throws
Lucas Gurule 13 3 3-pointers
Santiago Sandoval 15 1 of 3 free throws
Free throws 11 of 20 attempts
Raton High Point
Wyatt Berry 9 1 of 2 free throws
Christian Kamp 13 6 of 10 free throws
Chase Walton 13 6 of 6 free thorws
Free Throws 17 of 24 attempts
