Texico's Luscombe reaches milestone

TEXICO BOYS BASKETBALL coach Richard Luscombe won his 300th game as Wolverines head coach on Saturday when his squad beat Floyd 39-21 for the championship of the EPAC Tournament.

His overall record in 19 seasons at Lazbuddie and Texico is 375-120. He was 75-53 in 1985-89 at Lazbuddie, Texas.

Luscombe admitted he was a little nervous during EPAC — in part because of the coaching milestone.

“And EPAC’s a big deal for us,” Luscombe said. “When you’re expected to win it, it’s a little more difficult.”

Luscombe, 42, has never had a losing season. He said achieving 300 wins in such a short time at a school speaks to the talent with which he’s had to work.

“For me to do that just shows we’ve had some awfully good athletes go through here,” he said. “You don’t win that many games without good kids.”

IF THE 111 FREE THROW attempts in Saturday’s San Jon-Logan boys game at EPAC seemed like some kind of record, well, it only tied one.

Logan shot 32-of-60 from the line in its 75-55 victory over San Jon, while the Coyotes went 26-of-51. The NMAA said Tuesday that it tied the state mark set in Hobbs’ 102-82 win over East Phoenix, Ariz., in 1976.

FORMER CLOVIS HIGH basketball standout Tig Bunton is now playing at Niceville High School in the Florida panhandle. He was named the player of the week Tuesday by the Northwest Florida Daily News in Fort Walton Beach after averaging 14.5 points and 5.5 rebounds in four games last week.

Bunton helped CHS to a 16-10 record last year, averaging team highs of 17 points and eight rebounds a game. He was ruled academically ineligible before the start of the season, according to Clovis school officials.

Niceville is in Class 5A, Florida’s second-largest classification, and was 11-3 going into a game on Tuesday night.

TEXICO LINEMAN BRYCE Bailey has been nominated for the “Red Zone Player of the Year” award, sponsored nationally by Old Spice Red Zone Deodorant.

Coaches from around the country nominate one player from their team for the honor. The top 50 nominees will be named Red Zone Players of the Year and will receive a plaque, according to a release from Old Spice.

The release said nominees “embody leadership, performance and desire, and serve as examples to their teammates on and off the field.”

THREE MEMBERS OF THE Muleshoe football team earned academic all-state honors in Class 3A this week from the Texico High School Coaches Association. They were senior tight end-defensive end-punter Tatom Heathington, senior two-way lineman Tyrel Gear and senior quarterback-defensive back Landon Sheets.

JOHNNY GONZALES, WHO LED CHS to a boys state soccer championship in 1998, has taken over a first-year program in Montgomery, Texas, in the Houston area.

Gonzales left CHS two years ago to take the job at Temple, Texas, where he helped turn the program into a playoff-caliber team. His son, Jonathan, a freshman here in Gonzales’ last season at CHS, is expected to be a leader this year as a senior at Montgomery.

Gonzales is 296-189-33 record in 22 years of coaching, hopes to quickly build a solid program at Montgomery.

CNJ sports writer Dave Wagner can be reached at [email protected]