Serving Clovis, Portales and the Surrounding Communities
Serving Clovis, Portales and the Surrounding Communities
Texico freshman Jett Curtis drives the baseline in Saturday's boys matchup against Fort Sumner at Texico. Curtis had a pair of 3-pointers and 13 points in the Wolverines' 79-54 loss to the Foxes.
TEXICO – When Texico scored the game's first six points, the Fort Sumner Foxes never blinked.
The defending Class 1A state champions rode strong performances freshmen Aaron Torres and Tra'von Bonds to a 79-54 victory over the Wolverines on Saturday.
The 6-foot-4 Torres scored 23 points while Bonds added 19 to lead four players in double figures for the Foxes (9-1), ranked third this season in 1A behind unbeaten District 6-1A rivals Logan (10-0) and Melrose (9-0).
"We had a couple of kids step up tonight," Foxes coach Brad Holland said.
Freshman Jordan Holland, the coach's son, added 12 points and 6-7 senior Cash Burney 10 for Fort Sumner, whose only loss came at the hands of Class 4A Portales in the semifinals of the Farwell Invitational in early December. The Foxes, who travel to Class 1A No. 4 Magdalena (9-1) on Thursday, also have a date against Clovis High at The Rock on Feb. 3.
"I thought we played well," said Brad Holland, whose squad opens district play at home against Logan on Jan. 25.. "The ball was moving, and when that ball's moving we're a better team."
Texico (6-5), ranked eighth in Class 2A, wasted no time jumping in front with baskets from freshman Jett Curtis and seniors Daltyn Cain and Blake Curtis in the first minute.
Cain's 3-pointer made it 9-5 midway through the period, but the Foxes finished the quarter on a 17-3 run for a 22-12 advantage.
Texico, playing without a couple of its top players, never got closer.
"We coached the team we had today," Wolverines coach Craig Cook said. "We're struggling with our execution against the better teams."
Texico had 17 turnovers in the contest to just nine for the Foxes. Fort Sumner built its lead to 33 points early in the final stanza.
"We're beating teams we should beat," said Cook, whose squad reached the 2A semifinals a year ago. "We're just going to try to work to be better against the tougher teams."
Cain finished with a personal-best 18 points, including four 3-pointers, while Jett Curtis added 13 points.
"Our defense was lacking today," Cook said. "Their size killed us inside."
Next up for the Wolverines are road games against Mescalero on Thursday and Capitan on Friday. Both the Wolverines and Foxes will be in the annual EPAC tournament next week at Melrose.
