Serving Clovis, Portales and the Surrounding Communities
Serving Clovis, Portales and the Surrounding Communities
ROSWELL – Clovis High’s boys dug themselves out of an early hole Friday night, then fell right back into the hole.
As a result, the Wildcats shared the regular-season District 4-5A title with Roswell High after losing to the Coyotes 69-60. The teams meet at 6 p.m. on Monday at Hobbs, with the winner earning the top seed in the district tourney and advancing to host Saturday’s 6 p.m. title tilt.
CHS boys coach Josh Mattox was not happy with what he saw.
“We played out of our minds, and in a negative way,” he said. “We turned the ball over more than 20 times.”
The Coyotes (15-11, 4-2 district) opened a 16-8 lead at the quarter, but the Cats (18-8, 4-2) rallied back to lead 24-23 at the half.
Roswell High then laid a pair of 23-point quarters on Clovis, pulling away in the final stanza.
“As bad as we played, I felt we were in a good spot to be up 1 (at halftime),” Mattox said. “There were just some plays we didn’t make.”
Third-seeded Hobbs hosts Carlsbad on Tuesday night, with that winner playing on Thursday at the loser of Monday’s game. All tourney games will start at 6 p.m.
“I think that loss probably hurt our (state) seeding by three or four spots, possibly,” Mattox said. “It (eventual seed) could come down to overall record in the seeding criteria.”
Junior guard Jaylon Cloud had three of the Coyotes’ nine 3-pointers and scored 20, including 14 in the second half. Junior forward Xai Carrasco tallied 11 of his 13 points in the final stanza, while junior guard Rylan Sarracino scored seven of his 12 in the opening canto.
For the Cats, junior guard Jayden Cox netted four of the team’s six 3s and finished with 22 points, 16 coming after halftime. Senior forward Champ Gooden tallied 13 and senior guard Keilyn Parker 11.
Clovis 70, Roswell High 48 (girls) – At The Rock, the Lady Cats stormed to a 35-11 halftime lead and made relatively short work of Roswell High, thus earning a Tuesday home rematch against the Lady Coyotes in the district tournament.
CHS girls coach Jeff Reed, though, was not at all pleased.
“Roswell came out on fire in the second half, and we didn’t play very good defense,” he said. “We let the game be closer than it should’ve been.
“The offense was great, but I was very disappointed with the defense in the second half.”
Senior guard Zarai Lewis posted 23 points for the Lady Cats (19-7, 2-4), while senior post Kailyn Jefferson added 18 and freshman guard Gianna Cordova 10.
Junior guard Bryana Castro topped Roswell High (15-11, 1-5) with 17 points while junior guard Emma Esquivel had 11.
