Peter Dindinger – NMMI Sports Press
District 4-3A play is finally here.
On Saturday night, the New Mexico Military Institute Colts had a lot to celebrate.
The team’s seven-game losing skid was ended as NMMI won its first home game of the season after defeating the Tucumcari Rattlers, 59-42, at the Godfrey Athletic Center.
“It feels really good,” said NMMI head coach Connor Williamson. “We don’t want to stop working now, but we needed that. It just gives us hope. We executed a lot of things tonight.
“I think they have hope that they can compete in 3A. It started with our defense. We moved the ball better than we’ve ever had and made more shots than we’ve ever had.”
NMMI established some early dominance by taking a 10-2 lead after a three-pointer by Humberto Romero with 4:23 in the opening quarter.
The Colts started the game with a 5-0 run.
Emilio Herrera then dished an assist to Jose Donnadieu who finished the play with a mid-range jumper in the paint to extend NMMI’s lead to 14-2 with 2:10 left in the first frame.
Off another assist by Herrera, Donnadieu knocked down a three-pointer to put the Colts ahead by 15.
The Rattlers ended up outscoring NMMI 20-14 in the second quarter. Tucumcari had trailed by as little as three points in the frame.
Tucumcari was held to six points in the third quarter.
NMMI kept its foot on the gas, taking an 11-point lead with 7:07 in the fourth quarter after Alan Fontes scored a layup off an assist by Herrera.
The Colts finished 13 of 21 from the charity stripe. Ruelas went 5 for 6 from the line.
Ruelas led all scorers with 20 points and three steals while Romero tallied 10 points and eight rebounds. Fontes added with seven points and three assists.
NMMI knocked down four 3-pointers while also winning the rebounding battle, 38-26.
Andrew Henderson-Clark led the Rattlers with 17 points.
Tucumcari went 20 of 33 from the free throw line.
>> UP NEXT: NMMI hosts Dexter at 5 p.m. Tuesday, Feb. 8. The Demons won their district opener over the Rattlers, 44-41.
NMMI 59, Tucumcari 42
TUCUMCARI (5-13, 0-2)
Nathan Griego 0 2-2 2, Dominick Jasper 1 6-8 8, Curtis Gonzales 2 3-6 7, Julian Griego 0 1-3 1, Kaden Brown 2 3-4 7, Andrew Henderson-Clark 6 5-10 17. Totals 11 20-33 42.
NMMI (3-9, 1-0)
Lance Miller 1 0-0 2, Juan Ruelas 7 5-6 20, Jose Donnadieu 3 0-0 7, Alan Fontes 1 0-0 2, Emilio Herrera 0 1-3 1, Matthew McCargish 4 1-4 9, Humberto Romero 4 1-2 10, Steven Griego 0 2-2 2, Nicolas Cho 1 3-4 6. Totals 21 13-21 59.
TUCU………6…..20…….6…..10 --- 42
NMMI……..17……14….10…..18 --- 59
3-point goals – NMMI 4 (Ruelas, Donnadieu, Romero, Cho). Rebounds — NMMI 38 (Romero 8, Griego 6); Tucumcari 26 (Gonzalez 6, Brown 6). Assists — NMMI 18 (Donnadieu 3, Herrera 3, Romero 3, Griego 3, Cho 3); Tucumcari 5 (Brown 2). Total fouls – Tucumcari 18, NMMI 25. Fouled out – None. Technical fouls – NMMI (Herrera).