By Marty Mayfield
KRTN Multi-Media
Raton hosted the Pecos Panthers Monday evening in Tiger Gym and got a look at what next year could hold in district play as Raton will drop to class 2A and be paired with Pecos in District 6.
The JV game was a turnover extravaganza as each team lost the ball often with bad passes, missed shots and just plain sloppy ball playing. Despite the turnovers Pecos did manage to prevail and by the middle of the third quarter had a 30+ point lead and had the running clock to speed the game up. Pecos toppled the Tigers 70-30 at the final buzzer.
In the Varsity game it was a much different game with Raton taking the early lead with a field goal and free throw that held until the middle of the first quarter. Then both teams started to find the basket with Raton owning a three point lead at the end of the first. The second quarter flipped as Pecos managed to take the lead late in the quarter and head into the locker room up by one 20-19 at halftime.
In the second half of play Pecos managed to ink out a slightly bigger lead outscoring Raton by five for a six pint lead at the end of three. Both teams battled it out in the fourth with Pecos only managing to score two more than Raton to finish off the game 56-48.
One of the problems Raton had to deal with in the game was the Pecos ball mob. Pecos seemed to always have at least two to three players down under the basket when Raton drove the lane or rebounded down under the basket to disrupt the play. The Pecos defense often would double team the ball handler forcing Raton to pass which was often tipped or simply intercepted. Raton too had their share of intercepts or batted balls but Pecos prevailed at the basket.
JV Game
Pecos 23 14 21 10 70
Raton 9 11 9 1 30
Varsity Game
Pecos 9 11 18 18 56
Raton 11 8 13 16 48
Pecos High Point
Brandyn Encinias 9. 1 of 1 free throws
Lawerence Ragland 17 6 of 6 free throws
Joshua Gonzales 16 2 of 3 free throws
Free throws. 10 of 13 attempts
Raton High Point
Chase Walton 16. 4 of 5 free throws
Free Throws 8 of 13 attempts
