Clovis coasts by Dumas

CLOVIS - So far, junior guards Jakeem Wynn and Brandon Romero have been able to give the Clovis High boys basketball team some punch this season.

It's only two games, but both reached double figures for the second time, including Wynn with 25 points, as the Wildcats pulled away from Dumas for a 58-37 win in Tuesday's home opener at Rock Staubus Gym.

He also had 26 points in Saturday's season-opening 100-74 loss at defending Class 6A state champion Rio Rancho, while Romero added 14 after getting 12 in the first tilt.

Clovis, which averaged in the mid-40s last season, is at 66 ppg to this point, although it's still early.

"We've got a little 1-2 punch going with those guys," CHS coach Scott Robinson said of Wynn and Romero. "They both can get to the basket and create their own shots."

The Cats didn't have a lot of trouble with the Texas Class 5A Demons (1-3), who opened the game shooting from long range but didn't make any 3s until hitting three in a span of 2 1/2 minutes in the final stanza.

Clovis entered the period with a 26-point lead and easily weathered a 10-0 Dumas run to start the period.

"I feel like our intensity dropped, and that allowed them to get on a little run," Robinson said.

The Cats extended their halfcourt pressure to fullcourt to start the third period and scored the first nine points for a 33-13 lead.

"We had a good run to start the third quarter," Robinson said. "We forced some turnovers and got some easy baskets."

Dumas coach Lonnie Burnam said a number of his players were recently coming out of football and it took the Demons a while to find the range - too long, in fact.

"We shot horribly," Burnam said. "That, and we had too many turnovers to start the second half."

With relatively little size, Dumas plays a deliberate style, and when the early shots weren't falling the Demons were in trouble. When they did try to get to the basket, they had a number of their attempts changed or blocked by Cats 6-foot-4 junior Jonathan Williams.

"Size hurts us," Burnam said. "When we get to our district, all (of those teams) have big kids. We've just got to learn how to get position on them."

The Cats didn't shoot many 3s, but they didn't need to, Robinson noted. Sophomore guard Dominick Urioste, who had 13 points at Rio Rancho, had their only 3-pointer on Tuesday.

Also hurting the Demons was a 4-for-11 night at the free throw line, including just 1 of their last 7.

Saturday, the Cats will be back in Rio Rancho for a 6 p.m. tipoff against Cleveland.

"That'll be a tough one for us," Robinson said.