Cats' season ends with loss to Albuquerque High

This isn't the way Clovis High's boys envisioned the season coming to an end.

Albuquerque High came into The Rock for Saturday night's first-round Class 5A state tournament game and dominated virtually from the get-go, riding a 31-point outing from senior guard Isaiah Maldonado to a dominating 74-50 win.

A pair of double-digit seeds were slated to face off into today's 9:45 a.m. quarterfinal tilt at The Pit in Albuquerque, with the 11th-seeded Bulldogs (18-10) taking on No. 14 Sandia (16-12), a 69-61 winner on Saturday over third-seeded Rio Rancho Cleveland.

Veteran Bulldogs coach Leroy Barela said his team wasn't sure until late in the season it would earn a tournament berth.

"We're excited about coming to practice on Monday and Tuesday," he said. "Every game the last part of the season felt like it was a 'one-and-done' kind of game."

Leading 4-3 with six minutes left in the opening period, the Bulldogs went on a 19-6 surge to end the quarter and never looked back. The sixth-seeded Wildcats (20-9) never got the difference under 12 points after that, and trailed by as much as 27 during the final stanza.

"We pretty much gave that one away," CHS boys coach Josh Mattox said. "We were dealing with some 'cultural' issues all week, and when that happens things might not go as you had planned."

Maldonado, who averages around 22 ppg, certainly got the Bulldogs out of the gate in a hurry, scoring 15 first-quarter points despite missing five of nine free throw attempts. Sophomore forward Ethan Oetzel and Maldonado then hit 3s midway through the second frame to extend the lead to 18.

"We were pretty good today," Barela said in an understated way. "We know when we hit shots, we play a little better on defense.

"It's much easier for me to watch."

Junior guards Kasyn Atanasoff-Perea and Ali Mireles each added 13 points for the Bulldogs. Top scorers for the Cats were senior center Marvin Cox with 17 and senior guard Keilyn Parker with 15.

In a nutshell, the Cats couldn't string enough stops to put a run together. They committed 21 turnovers, a number of them in the open court which were turned into layups by Albuquerque High.

Clovis tried to press its way back into the game, and that didn't work either.

"We knew if we could get them in a pressing situation, it would be pretty good for us," Barela said. "Our guards are really hard to handle in the open court."

Maldonado finished with four of Albuquerque High's eight 3s. By contrast, the Cats had only one – and that was by Cox with under two minutes remaining.

"I'm proud of the way the guys worked during the season," Mattox said. "Obviously, we're disappointed in this result. We just need more guys to spend more time in the gym."

Clovis loses six seniors to graduation, but Mattox said he's optimistic the Cats will be able put another competitive team on the floor next season.