Tucumcari loses to Robertson

The Tucumcari Rattlers boys basketball team struggled with the size and quickness of the Robertson Cardinals as the Rattlers fell 85-56 at the Snake Pit on Thursday.

The Rattlers (2-4), who have only one player over 6 feet tall, were beat on the boards all night long. Whenever a rebound was available, Robertson was able to grab it for second chance points.

“We are really undersized,” Senior Alex Hutchins, who led Tucumcari with 18 points, said. “We still have to box out and do our jobs.”

Robertson (7-1) was led by Justin Bustos with 17 points. The combination of Bustos, Fabian Varela and Clint Brayfield gave the Rattlers fits all night. Varela had 15 points and Brayfield had 14. All three players are over 6 feet tall.

“Their size, their depth and quickness hurt us,” Tucumcari coach John Span said. “We committed a lot of unforced turnovers.”

The Rattlers defense also came up with turnovers as the Cardinals were caught out of position. Tucumcari was unable to capitalize on the turnovers though.

"We're still young," said Cardinals head coach David Bustos. "The guys were out of position, be is a step or two."

Jakus Martinez contributed 17 points for the Rattlers. The Rattlers were able to stay in the game for most of the first half but the game got away with a late second quarter run by the Cardinals. The Cardinals maintained a double digit lead until the end of the game.

Looking past the score Bustos said the Rattlers are a team that you can not take for granted.

"They come out and play," Bustos said. "My hat is off to them. Coach Span has a great bunch of kids that do not give up."

Coach Span feels his team can learn from this game and work to get better.

“We didn’t finish in the lane,” Span said. “We can learn from it and we can get better.”

Tucumcari plays Floyd on Friday night at home.