Serving Clovis, Portales and the Surrounding Communities
Serving Clovis, Portales and the Surrounding Communities
Staff photo: Tony Bullocks Clovis High junior Roland Chavez is fouled by Carlsbad’s Trevin Ramirez during the second half of Tuesday’s District 4-6A boys matchup at The Rock. Chavez finished with a game-high 18 points, but the Cavemen pulled out a 51-50 victory.
Staff photo: Tony Bullocks Clovis senior Tristen Paulter makes a no-look pass around Carlsbad junior Micah Calderon during the first half of Tuesday’s District 4-6A boys game at The Rock.
Sports writer
One stop. That’s all Clovis High needed to notch a second consecutive one-point victory.
link Staff photo: Tony Bullocks
Clovis High junior Roland Chavez is fouled by Carlsbad’s Trevin Ramirez during the second half of Tuesday’s District 4-6A boys matchup at The Rock. Chavez finished with a game-high 18 points, but the Cavemen pulled out a 51-50 victory.
The Wildcats just couldn’t get it. After taking the lead in a seesaw fourth quarter which featured eight lead changes, Carlsbad got a basket from sophomore post Brenden Boatwright with seven seconds left and escaped with a 51-50 District 4-6A boys victory at Rock Staubus Gym.
With Carlsbad’s normal 1-2 punch of senior guard Trevin Ramirez (10 points) and senior forward Shakur Smith (2) held in relative check, Boatwright came up big for the Cavemen with 14 points, highlighted by the game-winner.
Carlsbad (15-5, 2-1) pulled ahead of the Wildcats (5-17, 1-2) in district play. Clovis was coming off a one-point win on Friday at Alamogordo.
“It was a tough ballgame,” Cavemen coach Jamaal Brown said. “Hats off to Clovis. They gave us their best shot tonight.”
Carlsbad’s biggest lead was six points late in the first quarter. Meantime, the Cats built a five-point lead in the third period and took the Cavemen to the wire.
“We beat ourselves,” said Clovis junior forward Roland Chavez, who finished with a game-high 18 points, two short of his season best. “We didn’t do the things we needed to do to win. All we can do is learn from it.”
The Cats were able to limit their turnovers from other games against Carlsbad’s pressure. But after going 5-for-5 from the free throw line through three periods, they missed five of their six attempts in the final stanza.
link Staff photo: Tony Bullocks
Clovis senior Tristen Paulter makes a no-look pass around Carlsbad junior Micah Calderon during the first half of Tuesday’s District 4-6A boys game at The Rock.
Chavez said the Cats are trying to build something.
“We have a lot of juniors, but we’re not done with this season yet,” he said. “We were close, but winning is a lot better.”
Junior guard Tucker Dobbs’ 3-pointer gave Clovis a 48-47 lead with 2:12 left. He then missed two free throws with 28 seconds to go, but the Cats got the rebound and Chavez scored on a putback with 15 seconds remaining for a 50-49 lead.
Carlsbad’s Bryce McAlister then found the 6-foot-8 Boatright, who converted a short banker with seven seconds left. After timeouts by both teams, the Cats were unable to get off a shot in the final seconds.
“Clovis was playing with a lot of pride on their home floor,” Brown said. “We’ve just got a bunch of resilient guys, and they found a way to get it done tonight.”
Reserve senior guard Tobias Purtle added 10 points for Carlsbad, including a trio of 3-pointers. Dobbs finished with 15 points off the bench for Clovis.
“We’re getting closer to learning how to finish (games),” Cats coach Scott Robinson said. “We were right there; we were just a play away from winning the game tonight.”
