By Marty Mayfield
KRTN Multi-Media
It’s that time of year again as the 79th annual Cowbell Tourney gets underway in Springer at Sim Brown Gymnasium Tuesday evening.
Round one of the tourney took place in Springer on Tuesday and Wednesday evenings with some close games and some other not so close games as seen by the scores.
79th Annual Cowbell tourney First Round action results
Game 1 Girls Penasco 37 Cimarron 28
Game 2 Boys Raton 69 Cimarron 50
Game 3 Girls Springer 42 Mosquero 39
Game 4 Boys Springer 78 Mosquero 40
Game 5 Girls WLV Jv 34 Questa 49
Game 6 Boys Questa 75 Wagon Mound 41
Game 7 Girls Raton 46 Des Moines 41
Game 8 Boys Maxwell 86 Des Moines 29
Thursday night consolation bracket
Game 9 Girls Des Moines 23. WLV Jv 27
Game 10 Boys Cimarron 66. Mosquero 46
Game 11 Girls Cimarron 45 Mosquero 40
Game 12 Boys Wagon Mound 49. Des Moines 53
Friday night winners bracket
Game 13 Girls Raton 58 Questa 34
Game 14 Boys Questa 56 Maxwell 70
Game 15 Girls Springer 52 Penasco 32
Game 16 Boys Springer 77 Raton 59
Saturday Games
Game 17 Girls Mosquero 35 Des Moines 29
Game 18 Boys Wagon Mound 35 Mosquero 58
Game 19 Girls Cimarron 44 Des Moines 50
Game 20 Boys Cimarron 69 Des Moines 38
Game 21 Cancelled Girls Penasco v Questa*
Game 22 Cancelled Boys Raton v Questa*
*Questa was unable to make the trip to Raton due to weather
Monday Games (postponed to Monday due to weather)
Game 23 Girls Championship Raton 49 Springer 40
Game 23 Boys Championship Maxwell 54 Springer 61
The blowout games were mostly seen in the boys brackets as Maxwell simply ran away with the game collecting 28 points in the first quarter alone and adding another 19 in the second quarter in their game with Des Moines. The Springer boys opened it up with a 40 point run in the first quarter in their game with Mosquero. Springer then played the bench for a lot of the rest of the game which Mosquero took advantage of and went pretty much point for point the rest of the game. The defending champion Questa Wildcats easily took care of Wagon Mound who sport two ladies on the roster Chantelle Hernandez and Maleiaika Martinez.
In the girls games it was altogether different with only the West Las Vegas JV Questa game ending with more than a 10 point spread. The Raton Des Moines girls game started out with Raton going scoreless in the first quarter while the Raton defense held the Lady Demons to only seven points. Raton finally put it together and pulled out in front in the third and went on to the win. That was the second meeting for the two teams this season making for a good match. The Lady Rams battled Penasco for the third time this season Tuesday evening. They split their first two games so the Cowbell game was the tie breaker which Penasco had to work for the win.
Friday night games saw the point spread lengthen out in the girls games as Springer bested Penasco by 20. The first half of the game stayed fairly close but then Springer took the reins and pulled out ahead with strong shooting and hustle. In the Raton Questa game the Lady tigers took an early lead and never really let it go as they played a strong game and made the free throws ending the game with 9 of 14 free throws. Raton also posted three players in double digits, better than Questa who failed get any player in double digits.
Boys action Friday night saw one heck of a run and gun game as Maxwell smoked the floor and bested Questa 56-70. Out sized but not out gunned Maxwell coached by Eloy Brazil who is known for his run and gun style play took the lead early and maintained it in the first half. Second half action saw Maxwell start to pull away as Questa couldn’t keep up with the fast paced game. When the buzzer finally sounded Maxwell had pulled away and won the game by 14.
In the Raton Springer game it was another fast paced game with Raton holding on to Springer well into the third period of play. However Springer took control of the game and started to spread the lead out as they pressed the Tigers and kept them from scoring. Raton also had problems underneath the basket with rebounds. Once the final buzzer sounded Springer had out played the Tigers by 18 setting up a Springer Maxwell game that could be the best game of the tourney.
Saturday started early at Tiger gym with a girls game at 9:00 a.m. between Mosquero and Des Moines Both teams showing the early morning played a slow paced methodical game. Neither team was hot with the shots thus a low scoring game that Mosquero lead all the way except briefly when Des Moines tied it and pulled out in front in the third. Mosquera came back and passed up the Lady Demons and went on to a six point win. The next girls game was the consolation championship game that had a twist. West Las Vegas called and cancelled indicating a coaching emergency and they couldn’t get any other coaches to bring the girls up so the Des Moines Lady Demons stepped it up and played. It gave both teams a look at each other before district play next year. The Lady Demons took a lead and never really let it go even as Cimarron came close a couple of times. When it was all said and done Des Moines won the game 50-44. Yet Cimarron took the trophy by default.
In the boys side of the consolation bracket neither game was particularly close as Mosquero dominated Wagon Mound in both size and man power. The Trojans suffering from low student numbers posted a seven man team with two girls and a couple of mid school boys. While outsized in height the Trojan made up for it in scrappiness as the younger kids harassed the taller boys trying to steal the ball and simply getting in the way. The girls played their part well too and spent a lot of time making the rebounds they needed. Mosquera however took the win 58-35. In the Des Moines Cimarron game the Rams a more experienced and older team to control of the game early on and simply out scored the Demons. The Rams weren’t afraid to put the ball up and as such got lots of help from 3-point territory. In the second half of the game the Rams made inroads down the lane and took advantage of the holes to drive in for easy lay-ups.
Questa was unable to make the trip to Raton due to weather on Saturday and thus the two 3rd and 4th place games were cancelled. So play at Tiger Gym was cancelled until the championship games at 6:00 and 7:30 p.m.
Due to weather the championship games were postponed to Monday evening and if you didn’t make it to see them you missed a great couple of championship games. They were the definition of of a great ball game.
In the girls game between Raton and Springer the first half saw Springer take a big lead but Raton came back in the second quarter to take the lead. As the halftime buzzer sounded Raton had a five point lead. In the second half of play the Lady Red Devils kept the pressure up but the Lady Tigers managed to slowly extend their lead only to see it dwindle down to three points. Raton however persevered and managed to once again extend their lead and hold on to it until the final buzzer.
The boys game saw Maxwell take the early lead and come on like gang busters. The Springer Red Devils however kept on coming and pulled back to tie the game and take the lead by the end of the first quarter. Never getting to far behind the Bears battled on and kept the fast paced game going. By halftime Springer only lead by one and would see that slip away in the third quarter. Third quarter action continued with the fast run and gun competition that the first half featured. The the end of the third quarter Springer had regained the lead. They managed to hang on to it through the fourth quarter however Maxwell gave them a run for the money as the came to within two. As the end neared Springer pulled away and finally won seven with the help of free throws.
