Serving Clovis, Portales and the Surrounding Communities
Serving Clovis, Portales and the Surrounding Communities
AMARILLO – Five-foot-8 junior guard Jaemon Palacios erupted for five 3-pointers and 23 points in just three quarters on Friday night, and Amarillo Tascosa pulled away in the second half for a 70-49 victory over Clovis High’s boys.
Junior guard/forward Jacorey Fields added 15 points and senior forward Jailyn Sledge notched 14 for the Rebels (18-6), who have played nearly twice as many games as the Wildcats (10-4). Tascosa converted nine 3-point field goals in the contest.
Eight players tallied for CHS, but only 6-foot-7 senior center Marvin Cox reached double figures with 10 points, including a pair of 3-pointers. The Cats had a quick turnaround on tap, traveling to Santa Fe High (9-1), ranked No. 2 in New Mexico Class 5A by MaxPreps, for a late-afternoon tipoff on Saturday.
“They’re pretty tough,” Clovis boys coach Josh Mattox said of the Rebels. “They had a lot of guys hit shots, especially in the first half. We got ourselves in a hole that we couldn’t dig ourselves out of.”
Palacios delivered a pair of 3s in the opening stanza, which ended with Tascosa in front 21-14, then added nine more points in the second frame. The Cats made a late run before halftime to close to 38-27, then got the margin into single figures early in the third before the Rebels pulled away for good behind Palacios’ final seven points of the night.
“We came out in the third quarter and had a good start, but they got hot again and things just ballooned from there,” Mattox said. “We didn’t execute our game plan on offense or defense. We turned the ball over a lot, and a lot of their scoring came off turnovers.”
Clovis’ next outing will be on Friday night in a 7 p.m. tipoff against Portales at the Ram Athletic Center.
