Cats rally to down Borger

Sports writer

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PORTALES — Things were looking downright bleak for Clovis High’s boys on Saturday. Then the Wildcats unleashed fullcourt pressure and first-year coach Scott Robinson had his first victory.

Staff photo: Joshua Lucero

lovis High junior guard Tucker Dobbs goes up a shot over a pair of Borger defenders and draws a foul during Saturday’s game in the Eastern New Mexico Tip-off at Greyhound Arena in Portales. Dobbs scored 11 points in the Wildcats’ 56-49 win.

The Wildcats forced Borger into 29 turnovers — 14 in the final period — and overcame a 13-point, second-half deficit to beat the Bulldogs 56-49 on Saturday in the Eastern New Mexico Tip-off, hosted by Eastern New Mexico University at Greyhound Arena.

Senior guard Tristen Pautler and junior forward Roland Chavez scored 12 points apiece for the Cats (1-1), while junior guard Tucker Dobbs funneled in 10 of his 12 in the final period.

CHS struggled to shoot the ball virtually all night, but their pressure wilted the Bulldogs (1-4) and led to a number of easy layups.

“We’re a defensive team anyway,” Dobbs said of the team’s shooting struggles. “If you can do it from the defensive side, the scoring’s going to come. We just got more aggressive.”

The Cats took a 14-13 lead on a 3-pointer by senior Logan Cole early in the second quarter, then went more than three minutes without a basket as the Bulldogs took off on a 12-1 run.

The biggest lead was 42-29 with just over a minute left in the third quarter, but the Cats clawed their way back by forcing five turnovers and outscoring Borger 9-0 in the first 90 seconds of the final quarter.

Bulldogs senior Austin Embers’ 3-pointer made it 47-41 with 5:21 left. Chavez scored on a short bank shot with 50 seconds left to put Clovis ahead and the Cats finished the game on a 10-0 run.

“We felt like we could pressure them,” Robinson said. “The thing we’re struggling with right now is trying to get ourselves in shape.

“I think if we’d pressed early, I don’t know if we’d have had the legs to do what we did at the end.”

With most of the players coming off football, Dobbs said it’ll take some time for everything to click.

“We’re coming together every day as a team,” he said. “We know if we’ve got each others’ back, we’re going to come out on top.”

Robinson is confident the team will make progress through the season.

“We’re going through some growning pains, but we’ll be better for it at the end,” he said.

Senior Caleb Dickson led the Bulldogs with 19 points, all in the first three quarters, while Embers scored 12 of his 14 in the second half.

“We’re learning to be a team,” Dobbs said. “We needed to get a win.”

Tuesday, the Cats return to action with a 6 p.m. game against Amarillo Tascosa at Rock Staubus Gym.