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Top seed Las Cruces edges Clovis boys in 5A quarterfinals

ALBUQUERQUE — Clovis High’s boys battled top-seeded Las Cruces High down to the wire. In the end, the Bulldawgs just made a few more plays late.

Cruces converted four free throws in the final 20 seconds, the last two with under a second to go, and escaped with a 51-46 victory over the eighth-seeded Wildcats in a Class 5A state quarterfinal matchup on Wednesday morning at The Pit.

Trailing by a point, CHS senior Ro Morgan had a couple of shots from the paint rim out on him in the final minute as the Bulldawgs (28-3) rallied from a five-point deficit earlier in the period.

After the first two Cruces charities, Clovis senior Malik Phillips put up an open 3-pointer for the tie that was short with about three seconds left.

“It was just a battle (between) two good teams,” Cats coach Jaden Isler said. “It was a really, really physical game at the rim, a hard-fought game.”

Senior guard Gonzalo Carbalan scored 15 of his game-high 18 points in the second half for Cruces, including eight in the fourth period. Sophomore guard William Benjamin, son of Bulldogs coach William Benjamin, added a pair of 3-pointers and 16 points.

Senior post Bryce Cabeldue led the Cats (21-9) with 16 points, while Morgan finished with 10.

Isler used four timeouts in the final minute trying to set up qualify shots for the team.

“We got great looks all three times,” he said. “The ball just didn’t fall for us.”

Free throws have been a bugaboo at times this season for the Cats, and they were again in this one. Clovis shot just 2-for-9 from the foul line while the Bulldawgs were 14-of-20.

The Cats, though, were able to shut down 6-foot-9 Cruces sophomore center Isaiah Carr, holding him to just two points.

“I thought our kids did an excellent job of executing our game plan and taking (the Bulldawgs) out of what they do well,” Isler said. “Offensively, we were patient.”

Isler said the Bulldawgs figured to have their work cut out against a strong field.

“I think there are some really good teams left in the tournament,” he said. “But Las Cruces has as good a shot (to win it) as anybody.”

Meantime, the Cats graduate eight seniors and will look to reload next season.

“I couldn’t be more proud of our kids,” Isler said. “They kind of put Clovis back on the map the last couple of years.”

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