Wildcats edge Sandia on late free throws

CLOVIS — Jakeem Wynn capped a 20-point night by hitting two free throws with six seconds left, and the Clovis Wildcats secured a home playoff game with a 44-43 nailbiter over Sandia on Tuesday night at Rock Staubus Gymnasium.

Taitt Kuchta added nine points and Brandon Romero eight for Clovis (11-14, 4-5) in the low-scoring affair, which eliminated any chance of the visiting Matadors (9-14, 1-8) to catch the Wildcats in the District 2-6A standings.

Clovis and Sandia are locked into the fourth and fifth seeds, and will play each other again at 7 p.m. on Monday at The Rock.

Wildcats coach Scott Robinson expects another defensive battle next week.

"We were kind of mirrors of each other," he said. "They mixed man and zone, we mixed man and zone. I think it kept both teams from getting into any rhythm.

"Certainly I'd like to be scoring more points, but teams are bucking down defensively. At this time of the year, games are going to be won and lost in the halfcourt. You have to run good half-court offense, good half-court defense to get some wins."

Elijah Ferguson scored 10 points to lead Sandia (9-13, 1-8), which visits Manzano on Saturday.

Robinson said he was proud of how the team responded following a rough loss on Saturday, when the Wildcats rallied from down 10 to take a three-point lead late, but gave up a three-point play in the final seconds of regulation and got blanked in the overtime period of a 54-39 loss.

This time, there were no late heroics for the visitors after Wynn was fouled on a drive with Clovis down 43-42. He hit both free throws, and Robinson used Clovis' last timeout to make sure the team didn't get beat on a fluke home run play.

"They got a shot," Robinson said, "and we contested without fouling."

Clovis will conclude the regular season at La Cueva on Saturday. The Bears (10-12, 6-2) are one-half game behind Santa Fe (17-8, 7-2) for the second spot, and face Eldorado on Wednesday. The Eagles (17-5, 8-0) need a win either Wednesday or on Saturday against Santa Fe to lock up the first seed.

The third seed will host Manzano (2-21, 0-9) in Monday's other 2-6A tournament game.

The higher remaining seed of Monday's winners will be the on host on Tuesday night. The second seed hosts Tuesday's winner, with the top seed hosting the district championship on Saturday.

Robinson knows the Wildcats can still impact the tournament layout, but he wants his players to improve their chances to keep playing after the district tournament.

"We're trying to make a run and strengthen our postseason resume," Robinson said. "We feel like there's a lot to play for Saturday."