Weary Cats prevail

AMARILLO — Despite feeling the effects of playing their sixth game in 11 days, the Clovis Wildcats had enough energy left to hold off Amarillo High 61-49 Tuesday in a back-and-forth contest.

The Cats piled it on in the third quarter and shut Amarillo down with excellent defense, Clovis coach J.D. Isler said.

Clovis (11-1) outscored the Sandies 18-11 in the third quarter to take control of the game.

“We played a lot of games in a short period of time,” Isler said. “It’s just hard to play a full-court pressure game for four quarters.

“I was really proud of the kids tonight.”

Junior Jaden Isler scored 14 points for Clovis, and junior Bryce Hill and senior Cody Thornsbury added 10 points each.

It was the first game of the season where the Cats failed to hit a single three-pointer.

“They really extended their defense past the three-point line,” Coach Isler said. “We couldn’t really get any attempts.”

Things did not come easily to the Cats, he said.

“It was one of those games when the ball just bounced the other way,” he said. “The kids just kept fighting.”

Jaden Isler put Clovis up by one with a runner in the lane at the end of the first quarter, and Thornsbury sunk a layup at the second quarter buzzer putting the Cats up by two.