Serving Clovis, Portales and the Surrounding Communities
Serving Clovis, Portales and the Surrounding Communities
CLOVIS — The Clovis High boys basketball team survived a sluggish second half and held off Dumas 56-46 to advance in the opening round of the Griego & Sons Classic on Wednesday night at Rock Staubus Gym.
Cruising into halftime with a 35-16 curshion, the Wildcats (5-5) let up during the second half against a team it had beaten by 21 points earlier this season, allowing the Demons (2-11) to fight their way back into the game. Fortunately for the Cats, their first-half lead was too much for the Demons, who outscored Clovis 30-21 in the final two quarters as they advanced to a 7:30 p.m. Thursday semifinal against Highland, a 60-47 winner in the quarterfinals over Borger.
“I think it’s the process we’re going through, learning how to come out in the second half with the same intensity and focus as you start the game with,” CHS coach Scott Robinson said. “(We’re) still a young team trying to figure that out, and obviously we have some work to do in that area.”
Clovis’ Jakeem Wynn led all scorers with 20 points, while Taitt Kutcha added 15. For the Demons, Jacob Fernandez led the way with 15 points and Branton Hatley recorded 13.
Clovis opened an early 14-1 lead as the Demons couldn’t seem to figure out how to break the Wildcats’ defense, nor stop them on the other end. Dumas hit three 3-pointers in the first half, and that’s about the only thing that kept them within any striking distance of Clovis.
“The focus and intensity in the first half, really good and I think that showed,” Robinson said. “The second have, we just have to find out whatever answer it is. … We’ve got to figure out how to come out in the second half of games.”
Some of the lack of intensity seemed to come from the fact that the Wildcats were up so big at halftime. The Demons were struggling on both ends of the court, especially finishing around the basket.
Junior posts Isaiah Knight and Jonathan Williams had big nights for the Cats on the defensive end, sending shot after shot back and frustrating the Demons all night.
