Serving Clovis, Portales and the Surrounding Communities
The Farwell boys handed Texico (21-1) its first loss of the season, 59-57, on Friday in Texico.
But it took a first-half shooting performance by Farwell that Texico coach Rich Luscombe won’t soon forget.
“I’ve coached for 20 years, and I’ve never had a team shoot the ball the way they shot it against us tonight,” Texico coach Rich Luscombe said. “It was unreal.”
The Steers nailed six 3-pointers in the first half.
Steers Rowdy Mitchell (three), Chris Culver (three), Tate Nichols (two) and Robbie Tabb combined nine 3s in the game.
The Wolverines were down 22 points at one point.
“We could have very easily been beat by 30, but we fought back and gave ourselves a chance,” Luscombe said.
The Wolverines outscored the Steers 20-10 in the final quarter and forced a jump ball with 14 seconds left, but missed two potential game-tying shots as time ran out.
Braden Vaughan scored 15 points for Texico, Logan Brown added 14 and Garett Mayfield 11.
Farwell, who finished third in district and missed the state playoffs, finished the season 18-11.
Luscombe said the Wolverines had been thinking too much about the undefeated streak when they got to 20 wins.
“They can relax a little bit now,” he said.
A Wolverine win against Tucumcari today or Santa Rosa on Friday would give Texico the top seed in the District 6-2A tournament and an automatic spot in the Class 2A regionals.
o o o
Fort Sumner taken over the District 3-1A boys lead thanks to a pair of losses last week by former front-runner Melrose.
The Foxes (16-8, 5-2) can clinch at a tie for first with a win at Elida today. The Buffaloes (15-7, 4-2) have games left at Dora today and at home against Elida on Friday.
“A lot of things can happen,” Fort Sumner coach Wes Weems said.
Weems said in the case of a two-way tie, the teams would play on Saturday at a site agreed upon by both squads.
Floyd (13-11, 4-3) is just game back in the loss column.
o o o
The Farwell girls are the only team in Region 1-1A Division I to qualify for the playoffs with a losing record.
The Lady Blue (15-16) face seventh-ranked New Deal (27-4) at 5:30 p.m. today in Littlefield.
Farwell coach Doug Boyd believes his team has two things working in its favor.
The Lady Blue faced a tougher non-district schedule including playoff teams Tulia, Friona and Olton as well as Texico last Friday. In district, the Lady Blue’s only two losses came to top-ranked Sudan.
He’s also encouraged by the strides his team has made recently on offense after struggling most of the season. The Lady Blue graduated all five of its starters from last season.
“They just started coming together, getting used to their roles, understanding their roles,” Boyd said.
o o o
The Muleshoe girls rallied from a 13-point deficit early in the second half to topple Levelland 38-34 in overtime in a District 2-3A seeding playoff. The district’s top seed earns a first-round bye.
The Lady Mules (22-8) won despite scoring only six points in the first half, including only a free throw in the second quarter.
“We just couldn’t get anything going offensively,” Muleshoe coach Shana Simms said. “It was just amazing how bad we were offensively.”
Kelsey Friskup’s shot with five seconds left tied the game.
“They showed a lot of heart,” Simms said of her team. “They didn’t want to go out that way. They just came out and dug deep.”
Brandi Wood led Muleshoe with 16 points.
The 11th-ranked Lady Mules will play the winner of Lamesa (11-15) and Merkel (15-16) on Friday, most likely at Post.
n n n
Meanwhile, Trevor Turnbow scored 17 points and Chris Kindle added 13 as the Muleshoe boys clinched their first playoff berth in five years with a 58-53 win Friday at Littlefield.
The Mules (17-12, 5-3 District 2-3A) have clinched no worse than a tie for second depending on the outcome of today’s game between Brownfield and Littlefield.
A playoff game would be held to determine district seeding.
CNJ sports writer John Eisel can be reached at 763-6991 ext. 322 or [email protected]