Serving Clovis, Portales and the Surrounding Communities
Serving Clovis, Portales and the Surrounding Communities
Wildcats (0-4 district) have lost last three by six combined points
Clovis sophomores Ro Morgan, left, and Dewayne Dawson throw a double-team at Sandia senior Ben Quintana in the fourth quarter of Saturday's District 2-6A contest at Rock Staubus Gymnasium. Dawson was called for a reach-in foul on the play, and Quintana missed the ensuing front-end free throw.
CLOVIS — Clovis High's boys basketball team certainly didn't expect this — an 0-4 start in District 2-6A play.
But, that's where the Wildcats stood after Saturday night's heartbreaking 39-38 loss to Sandia at Rock Staubus Gymnasium.
Heartbreaking, actually, is becoming the most fitting adjective to describe most of Clovis' district run so far. Though they endured a blowout loss to Eldorado in the district opener, the Wildcats have lost their last three games by descendingly-close scores - three points to Manzano (55-52), two to Santa Fe (60-58) and just that one-point difference Saturday night at The Rock.
It has to get better for Clovis. The games sure can't get any closer.
"I tell you what, it is a fine line between winning and losing," Clovis head coach Scott Robinson said. "And we are six points away from being 3-1 in district. The difference between 0-4 and 3-1 is small. We've got to find a way to make some plays at the end of games, and do the little things throughout the games."
While Clovis fell just short, Sandia posted its first district win of the season, improving to 1-4 in that department.
"Tonight we showed some resilience. Obviously, we've had issues with that, so I'm proud," Sandia head coach Alvin Broussard said. "The guys grew a little bit tonight. We've got to continue to grow."
It was 38-37 Clovis after Sandia's Elijah Ferguson made one of two free throws, and the Matadors went ahead 39-38 when Lucas Jordan came up with a steal that led to a Ferguson putback.
"That was huge," Broussard said of Jordan's crucial takeaway. "We haven't made those plays in the past, and tonight we made some of those plays."
Clovis had one last offensive opportunity in the fourth quarter's waning seconds, and moved the ball around to make the most of it. When a pass came to Dewayne Dawson on the left baseline, he made a good fake to get open a bit closer, gave himself a solid scoring opportunity, but the shot he took wouldn't fall.
"Dewayne had a good look," Robinson said. "I thought it had a really good chance of going in. I thought he made a good move on the baseline, good look at the basket, it just didn't go in."
Sandia missed the first of a one-and-one on the other end, but with less than two seconds left, the Matadors' defense trapped Jakeem Wynn on the left side of the court and time expired.
Sandia had led 12-7 after the first quarter, 21-16 at halftime and 29-24 after the third. Heading into the final period, though, it was Clovis showing its own resilience.
Wynn began the fourth with a steal and layup to bring the 'Cats within three. On the other end, Dominick Urioste came up with a defensive rebound and fed Wynn with the outlet pass. Wynn dribbled closer to Sandia's basket, zipped a pass to Dawson, who zipped one to Brandon Romero, who went back to Dawson, who calmly buried a three-pointer from the left elbow to tie the game at 29.
On Sandia's next trip down the floor, Urioste came up with a steal, beginning another Wildcat possession capped by a Dawson trey, this one from the top of the key that needed a friendly bounce off the front iron, but dropped home to give the 'Cats a 32-29 advantage.
Sandia came right back with a Ferguson layup, and on Clovis' next possession, Jordan came up with a steal and layup to quickly give the Matadors a 33-32 lead.
Yet another Dawson trey put Clovis ahead 35-33, but Ferguson answered with another layup to tie it again.
With less than three minutes to go in the fourth quarter, Ferguson hit one of two free throws to hand his team a 36-35 edge.
That score held until 1:48 remained, when Ro Morgan knocked down the first of two free-throw attempts, but missed the second. His Wildcat teammate Bryce Cabeldue was there for the tip-in, though, putting Clovis back in front 38-36.
Another 1-for-2 trip to the foul line by Ferguson brought the Matadors within a point, setting the stage for the exciting finish.
"It could've gone either way," Broussard said. "Fortunately we made some big plays down the stretch."
"We've got to buckle down on the defensive end," Robinson said, "and get stops late in games."
