Serving Clovis, Portales and the Surrounding Communities
Serving Clovis, Portales and the Surrounding Communities
Clovis (3-5) at Portales (4-2)
7 p.m., Ram Athletic Center, Portales High School
On the air: KCLV 1240 AM, 99.9 FM
Last time out: The Wildcats were surging practically from the opening tip Friday night, outscoring Borger 24-13 in the first quarter and rolling on for a 76-38 victory at Rock Staubus Gymnasium. Dominick Urioste popped four treys, on his way to 15 points, which tied teammate Jakeem Wynn for the team high.
The Rams headed east on Friday, visiting Muleshoe and coasting to a 79-43 win. Four Portales players struck double figures — Rico Diaz (17), Isaac Gomez (14), Kellan Hightower (12) and Braden Bridges (10).
Last meeting: 2016, 71-58 Portales. When the area rivals squared off at The Rock five days before last Christmas, the Rams jumped out early, going up 21-11 after the first quarter. Clovis, though, battled back and scored 24 second-quarter points to close within 37-35 by halftime.
It was all Portales in the second half, however, as the Rams outscored the Wildcats 34-23 to post the 13-point victory, despite 24 points from Wynn.
The lowdown: Yeah, there’s the area rivalry and all that, which is always big for Clovis and Portales.
But, this game is also coming at a critical time for both teams, as its the last game before Christmas for each. They’d both love to go into the break on a good note.
Portales comes into tonight on fire, having won four straight after an 0-2 start. Five in a row would certainly make the Rams’ yuletide bright. Clovis is vying for its own Merry Christmas, trying to win three in a row after a 1-5 start. The Wildcats aren’t in trust-the-process mode; they want to win now, and think their slow start resulted from a brutal schedule. Since their early struggles, the Wildcats have pasted consecutive opponents (Centennial and Borger) by a combined score of 148-78, an average margin of 35 points.
One of these teams is going to cool off tonight. — Peter Stein
