Serving Clovis, Portales and the Surrounding Communities

Home, sweet home

'Cats need OT to survive their season debut at the Rock.

CLOVIS - Blake Muscato didn't see his only field goal of Saturday's overtime thriller against La Cueva.

But he sure heard it.

The sophomore guard netted 13 points, with seven coming in the extra frame, as the Clovis Wildcats outlasted La Cueva 72-62 in Saturday's home opener to move back over .500 before heading to this week's Albuquerque Academy Tournament.

Senior guard Jacob Moon had team highs of 19 points on 7-of-10 shooting and nine boards as the Wildcats (2-1) chipped away at an early La Cueva advantage, then dominated the extra session.

"I felt confident because the fourth quarter was the best quarter we'd played," Clovis head coach Jaden Isler said of the overtime session that gave him his first home win in as many tries at Clovis. "We had a spark to us, and we really locked in. We were spotty in the way we ran our full court press in the first three quarters."

Both teams had a chance to take the win in regulation. The Wildcats came out of a timeout with 13.7 seconds left and got an inside shot for Bryce Cabeldue, but both his shot and Moon's putback attempt rimmed out. The Bears rebounded and called time with two seconds to play, and Zach Portillo's 50-foot heave was on line but about a foot short of the hoop.

Clovis never trailed in the four minutes of free basketball, but didn't put the Bears (0-3) away early due to spotty overtime free-throw shooting. They hit just three of their first six attempts, but took control in a frenetic 10 seconds as post Ro Morgan put back a missed Cabeldue free throw, then Cabeldue scored a quick bucket when the Wildcats stole the inbound pass.

Less than a minute later, after the Bears finally got on the board in overtime with a Jalen Lopez free throw, Muscato found a lane and just charged. The 5-foot-8 Muscato had missed all four of his shots from the field, and got knocked to the floor well before his layup attempt circled the rim twice before dropping in.

"I never saw the shot," Muscato said. "While I was on the floor, I heard everybody going crazy. I think that moment gave us a lot of energy."

Muscato hit the and-one free throw for a 68-59 advantage, and Clovis salted it away with 5-of-10 free throws over the final two minutes.

The Bears, led by Derek Aeilts' 21 points, never found their way in overtime, going 1-of-6 from the field after shooting 23-of-37 in regulation.

"We had some good shots," La Cueva head coach Frank Castillo said. "We normally convert when we get those chances, and we didn't. But Clovis made theirs, give them credit."

Cabeldue scored 16 points on 7-of-11 shooting and pulled down nine rebounds to tie Moon for team honors, while Morgan had 10 points on 4-of-13 shooting and seven boards.

"Bryce and Ro, we need them to both average 10 a game," Isler said. "That kind of effort establishes a big presence down in the post, and it also opens up our outside game."

Clovis heads to the Albuquerque Academy Tournament Thursday, with Hope Christian the first opponent. Should the Wildcats win that one, they're probably going to face No. 2 Eldorado in the semifinals.

Games like Saturday, Isler said, are the only way the Wildcats can really prepare.

"You can't replicate this in practice," Isler said. "Both of those games, it's going to take a big effort to win. I don't see us blowing out either of those teams."