By Marty Mayfield
KRTN Multi-Media
The 88th annual Cowbell Tourney got underway in Springer NM at Sim Brown gym Tuesday afternoon with the girls taking to the court first with the Raton JV taking on the Des Moines Lady Demons.
The Lady Demons dominated the JV club stacking on 34 points in the first quarter and finishing the game with a 59-10 score. Rylan Brown posted Des Moines top score with 17 points with all but three in the first quarter.
Game two brought the boys out as Cimarron played the Springer JV team and saw Logan Saud drop in 17 points followed by Uriah Martinez 16 points. Springer’s Augustine Trujillo went four of eight free throws and six from the field for 10 with Jesse Garcia dropping in 11 points. The Rams finished out the game with a 77-31 final score.
Game three of the tourney brought the girls back to the court with Clayton besting the Lady Rams from Cimarron. YellowJackette Keelan Ballard dropped in six 3-pointers and added a two for 20 points while Cimarron’s Maggie Wier totaled 16 points with two of four free throws. The final was Clayton 41-32 over Cimarron.
The boys wrapped the evening with a close game between Des Moines and Clayton. First quarter action saw the game stay close then in the second Clayton outscored Des Moines 26-4. Clayton’s Brody Ouellete topped out with 12 points while Chris Herrera added 15 points from 3-point territory and added four more for a total of 19 points. Des Moines Destry Sumpter added 16 points and went two of four at the charity line. The final buzzer sounded with a Clayton 56-43 win.
As day two of the tourney started it was the girls taking to the hardwood with Raton and Roy/Mosquero. This was another tough game for Raton as the Lady Blue dominated the court. Reagan Doherty tallied up 16 and went two of three at the line with Tayla Proffitt scoring 25 with seven of eight at the charity stripe. Final on this game was 56-11.
Game six of the tourney brought Roy/Mosquero up against Raton where Raton got off to a slow start while the Blue went 16-5 in the first quarter. Raton however couldn’t keep up and ended the night with a 62-37 final. Raton’s Harlem Corely topped the scoring with 13 points and two of three free throws. Ike Smith topped the score book with 11 and three of four free throws. Grant Fudge drained the bucket with 17, three 3-pointers and three of four free throws.
Game seven of the tourney brought the Lady Red Devils up against the Lady Bears in another lopsided game as Springer jumped out to a quick lead and with strong defense kept the Lady Bears in single digits for the entire game. Coach Jesus Urquijo substituted liberally throughout the game with most all of his players scoring. Brenn Duran topped the scoring with eight. The final at the buzzer 54-17.
The Final game of the evening brought another big rivalry to the court as the Red Devils took on the Bears in another close first quarter game 15-15. Springer outscored Maxwell 24-10 in the second and the trend continued through the rest of the game. Adkin Trujillo topped the Bears scoring with 13 going one of two at the line. Springer’s Cali Alcon dropped 23 points with four 3-pointers and one of three free throws. Jason Montoya dropped 16 points and Pablo Romero went 20 going six of seven at the charity stripe. Eemanual Maestas-Martinez added 10 to the Red Devil total all in the fourth quarter. The final score was 86-51 at the buzzer.
The Cowbell Tourney continued on Thursday afternoon in Sim Brown Gym in Springer with the girls on the court for the consolation side of the bracket with Raton JV taking on the Cimarron Lady Rams. The Lady Rams easily handled the JV girls scoring double digits for each of the four quarters while holding the Raton JV to only nine points in the game for a final 67-9. Lady Ram Maggie Weir was once again the high point with 14.
For game 10 of the boy’s bracket saw the Springer JV take on the Des Moines Demons where the Demons also dominated the game holding the JV to single digits with the exception of the second quarter where they scored 10. Jesse Garcia had the top score for Springer with nine and one of two free throws. Scoring 82 points in the game allowed for several Demons to go into double digits with Destry Sumpter topping out a 17 and one of two free throws. Anthony Casarez dropped in 12 points while Monty Crisp added 17 and Beau Cruz had 17 with three of four free throws.
Game 11 of the tourney brought the Lady Bears to battle the Lady Tigers in what ruled out to be one of the closer games of the evening. Raton took the lead in the game held on to it throughout the first half of play. Maxwell battled back in the third and outscoring Raton 13-4 to take the lead. The final score 43-35 to setup a Raton JV versus Raton Varsity game on Saturday morning. Maxwell’s Patricia Trotter scored 16 while Iliana Gallegos nine with three of four free throws.
For the last game of the evening Raton took on the Maxwell Bears in what turned out to be the closest game of the evening. Raton took the early lead and hung on to it until late in the second quarter when Maxwell went up by four to end the half. It stayed close throughout the third and as the clock ticked down in the fourth the score was tied a 61. Maxwell got the go ahead score and held off the Tigers until the final buzzer for the 63-61 win. Maxwell’s Alex Black popped eight 3-pointers for 27 total points including one of four free throws. Raton Saw Lorenzo Anaya total 16 points while Logan Elliott added 20 with six nine free throws. Harlem Coley had 12 with two of four free throws.
88th Cowbell – Boys Bracket 2026 88th Cowbell – Girls Bracket 2025
