By Marty Mayfield
KRTN Multi-Media
The JV Lady Tigers took to the floor first Saturday afternoon hosting the Clayton Yellowjackettes for another district matchup against a young and aggressive team that will be a force to reckon with in the coming years.
The Yellowjackettes came out strong and put the points on the board as the Lady Tigers struggled to get the ball down the court. Against the tough Yellowjackettes defense the Lady Tigers went scoreless in the first quarter but found a way to squeeze through that defense and score nine in the second. At half it was a 29-9 lead for the Yellowjackettes.
Second half action wasn’t much better for the Lady Tigers as they only managed to ink out six while the Yellowjackettes continued their scoring ways. At the final buzzer Clayton posted a 51-15 win.
Clayton 19 10 10 12 51
Raton 0 9 2 4 15
The boys JV squads came out and it looked like it was going to be another one of those run away games as Clayton took the early lead and ended the first quarter with a seven point lead. But wait a minute, a spark caught the ball on fire for the Tigers as they began to battle back and throw up a strong defense to Clayton to only six while Raton posted a 10-point quarter. Beyond by only three at half the boys headed for the locker room where the fire continued to be stoked.
As the second half got under way Raton continued the defense and this quarter found the bucket often and successfully as they worked it inside and from the outside. The trend continued into the fourth as Raton and Clayton went head to head in the scoring department. But the Raton lead was to much for Clayton to overcome leaving Raton on top at the final buzzer 46-39.
Clayton 9 6 7 17 39
Raton 2 10 19 17 46
It was the varsity girls turn to take to the court and as Coach Victor Esparza later told KRTN I didn’t get the girls prepared for this game the way I should have. Simple put Clayton came out and ran over the Lady Tigers. The Yellowjackettes played a very aggressive game right from the start forcing turnovers, making the steals and then scoring on those turnovers to rack up the points and hold the Lady Tigers to only a five point half. Clayton spread the scoring out and at half was up 32-5.
Esparza noted that Clayton is one of the toughest teams in 3A basketball. Second half action continued to prove that as Clayton continued the scoring until the fourth quarter when Raton found a rhythm scored 11 to Clayton’s two. Yet as the final buzzer ended the game Clayton put another one in the win column with a 44 to 25 score.
Clayton 17 15 10 2 44
Raton 1 4 9 11 25
Clayton High Point
Kathleen Sandoval 13 1 of 1 free throws
Free throws 2 of 3 attempts
Raton High Point
Estrella Vargas 10 4 of 7 free throws
Sydni Silva 8 4 of 6 free throws
Free throws 10 of 17 attempts
As the varsity boys took the floor it was once again Raton taking the lead as they did Thursday against Primero playing, as Coach Jose Archuleta called it, a team game. He later told KRTN that when the boys come together and play a team game like they did Thursday and Saturday they can make things happen.
And make things happen they did taking on a tough Clayton team that seemed to come out cold as Raton posted a 20 point first quarter. Clayton however woke up later in the quarter and started to score. The Yellowjackets pressed and started making things tougher for the Tigers. Both teams kept things exciting and as the half came to a close Clayton put the last shot up and took a one point lead to the locker room.
Third quarter action saw Raton play an aggressive defense that unfortunately ran afoul of the referees sending Clayton’s Kobe Leal to the free throw line seven times. Good for Raton Leal could only sink three of those seven attempts. The aggressive play continued into the fourth quarter where once again it became a free throw competition where Clayton went to the charity line 16 times and sunk nine. Raton also went to the charity stipe 10 times but they could only sink four of those free shots. Another game came down to the free throws that were missed. It was the fourth quarter that saw Clayton extend the lead to 10 but Raton never gave up and but couldn’t get back those few points to mark the win column. As the clock hit 0:0 Clayton put another mark in the win column and left Raton at 0-3 in district play.
Clayton 15 16 17 19 67
Raton 20 10 16 14 60
Clayton High Point
Jose Zamora 16 3 of 4 free throws and 3 3-pointers
Kobe Leal 20 8 of 14 free throws
Kobe Montoya 9 1 of 6 free throws
Justin Taylor 9 3 of 3 free throws
Free Throws 17 of 31 attempts
Raton High Point
Jesse Espinoza 18 5 of 10 free throws
Jonathan Cabrieles 11 1 of 2 free throws
Austin Jones 9 1 of 1 free throws
Jason Parker 9 3 3-pointers
Free throws 11 of 21 attempts
