Serving Clovis, Portales and the Surrounding Communities
Serving Clovis, Portales and the Surrounding Communities
Clovis High junior Kalil Torres-Pierre tries to create some space as Rio Rancho senior Josiah Marfil (11) and sophomore Chris Lucero close in during the second quarter of Saturday's boys matchup at The Rock. The Wildcats defeated the Rams 68-47.
As that old song says, what a difference a day makes.
It did for Clovis High's boys, anyway. Coming off a season-opening, 15-point loss at Hereford on Friday night, the Wildcats rebounded with a strong third quarter to eventually subdue Rio Rancho 68-47 on Saturday at Rock Staubus Gym.
Six-foot-7 senior center Marvin Cox was in the middle of it. With the Cats leading just 28-24 starting the second half, Cox hit three 3-pointers and scored 11 points as Clovis quickly pushed the lead into double digits.
More than that, he affected many of Rio Rancho's shot attempts, even though he was not credited with a single block in the contest. The Cats outscored Rio Rancho 30-9 in the period for a 25-point cushion.
Cox finished with 20 points, including three of the team's five dunks, and seven rebounds.
"That's my main role, to be an anchor on the defensive end," he said. "It was definitely one of my best all-around games.
"Tonight we played as a team and brought energy. And it always helps playing at home."
Except for a 2-2 tie and a brief 20-19 deficit in the second stanza, the Cats led all the way. Senior guard Keilyn Parker added 15 points, while senior forward Champ Gooden chipped in 13 tallies off the bench.
"We just made a couple of adjustments (at halftime)," second-year CHS coach Josh Mattox said. "I think (Friday) night, we just got outworked and outplayed. Guys were mad about that loss, and we knew we couldn't let that happen again."
CHS scored the first seven points of the third quarter and eventually finished off an 18-1 run that all but put the contest out of reach.
Cox said the Cats are trying to hang their hats on the defensive end of the court.
"Even if we have an off-night offensively, our defense travels everywhere," he said.
The smaller Rams (0-2) tried to pressure the Cats throughout the game.
"Coach just told us, 'Keep running the ball,'" Cox said. "Once we realized we could beat their press, we just started making the right plays."
While Cox went 3-of-4 from beyond the arc, the rest of the team shot 0-for-8. The Cats, though, got scoring contributions from nine players.
Stocky senior guard Jayden Johnson tried to keep the Rams in it. He finished with 15 points, but no one else had more than seven for Rio Rancho.
Mattox said containing the left-handed Johnson, who didn't play in Rio Rancho's season-opening 78-50 loss to Valley, was a priority for the Cats.
"I thought we did a pretty good job on him," Mattox said. "I know he got 15, but we didn't give him anything easy."
Clovis was slated to host Roswell Goddard on Tuesday night, then travel to Lovington on Thursday night before beginning play in Albuquerque Academy's Joe Armijo Classic on Dec. 14. Their opening game in the eight-team tournament will be against Las Cruces High in the 8:15 p.m. first-day finale.
