by Marty Mayfield
KRTN Multi-Media
RATON — TigerFest 2018, Raton’s basketball homecoming took place Saturday in Tiger Gym with a whole host of activities from basketball to cheer and dance along with the crowning of a TigerFest King and Queen.
Moms and dads received mums and arm bands from JV players Saturday before the JV teams split up and played each other with the girls going first followed by the boys. The varsity players then presented mums and arm bands to their parents before taking on the Desert Academy girl’s Wild Wolves and boy’s Wildcats.
The girls
It didn’t take long for the Lady Tigers to break away and take command of the ball game outscoring the Wild Wolves by 15 to three in the first quarter. The lopsided scoring continued throughout the game putting a mark in the win column for the Lady Tigers. The Lady Tigers are tied for second place with Tierra Encantada at 5-3.
The point spread, however, placed Raton in third behind Tierra Encantada. Desert high point player was Martine Perez at 10 with four of five free throws. Desert made nine of 10 free throw attempts.
Raton’s high point players were Camryn Mileta at 12 with one of two free throws; and Andie Ortega at 13 with one of two free throws; Raton had success on seven of 14 free throw attempts. Raton will host a district game on Wednesday at 6 pm.
Desert Acad 3 2 8 10 23 – Raton 15 20 16 14 64
The boys
The boys took to the court after TigerFest Royalty was crowned and took the quick early lead but only briefly managed to get the point spread to get a running clock in the third quarter. The Wildcats managed to keep the scoring up to keep the point spread just under the 35 point spot. Raton brought it together and scored the needed points to keep a running clock going in the fourth quarter.
Desert Academy came to Raton with only five boys on the team of which two, Cyrus Curtis and Cameron Motola, were eighth graders. When the buzzer sounded ending the game it was a 64-23 win for Raton.
Desert high point player was Damien Brown at 22 with nine of 14 free throws. Desert made 11 of 22 free throw attempts. Raton’s high point scorers were Ismael Tafoya at 12; Dustin Segura with 11 and one of two free throws; and Jose Archuleta at 10 with two 3-pointers. Raton hit three of eight free throw attempts.
Between the varsity games, TigerFest Royalty was presented to the large crowd as many spectators were also there for the Lil Cheer camp participants that performed during halftime. Rafael Maso and Amanda Ramirez were crowned king and queen.
Raton is second in the district behind Pecos and will host a district tourney game Thursday at 6 pm.
Desert Acad 4 9 8 7 23 – Raton 22 17 18 8 65
