Year in review: Curry County had plenty of 2018 success stories

Editor’s note: This is part of a series of stories reviewing 2018 for eastern New Mexico.

As John Lennon once sang, ‘Another year over and a new one just begun.’

2018 flew like the high plains wind, with some Curry County sports teams sweeping to championships.

The first quarter of the year — i.e. basketball season — was especially memorable for Curry teams. Here’s a glance back:

Winter

Texico’s girls basketball team didn’t have time to be in shock.

Tohatchi’s Brianna Denetso hit a left-corner three with less than 10 seconds left in the fourth quarter of the 3A state championship game on March 9 at the Pit in Albuquerque. The Lady Wolverines had been up for a while, but were suddenly behind and their season was seconds away from ending in heartbreaking fashion.

Not much time to fret, not much time to even think.

“I turned around and I couldn't believe it,” Texico guard Baylee Sours said a bit later at the post-game press conference. “They hit a three right there really quickly and then the first thing I thought was, ‘Get the ball down the court, because they're not going to be prepared. And that's what I did.’”

Sours flung a nearly full-court pass to teammate Maryelle Dickerman, who went right up for a shot that just beat the buzzer to give Texico a 48-47 victory and the state title.

“I found Maryelle,” Sours said, “and she took care of it from there.”

The next day, the Wolverine boys were upset going for the sweep. The Wolverines were 29-0 as they headed into the 3A state championship game at the Pit in Albuquerque. Their 30th and final test was Pecos, the team that had ousted them in the previous year’s semifinal round. Now came Texico’s chance to get some friendly revenge while bringing home a coveted blue trophy.

The first three quarters of the March 10 title game at the Pit could have been placed in the so-far so-good category, as Texico carried a 37-35 lead into the fourth quarter.

But, Pecos took an arm’s length in that final period, putting the Wolverines in a situation where they had to chuck threes and foul on the other end. The result was a 58-44 championship-game loss, a 29-1 season and a red trophy.

Perhaps the pressure of perfection was too much at the end.

“I’m sure it's in the back of the guys’ minds at times, knocking on wood through the last month and a half, continuing to try to be humble and work on the things that they needed to work on to play quality basketball,” Thatcher said at the post-game press conference.

Earlier that day, Melrose had dug out of an early 8-0 hole and went for a 50-37 victory over Maxwell for the 1A title.

“These guys had the focus, the desire,” Melrose boys coach Kevin Lackey said at the post-game press conference. “And these guys were ready to go today, and they were ready for everything that was thrown at ’em. We knew it was going to be a grind, we knew it was going to be a battle.”

“It's unbelievable, it's a dream come true,” Melrose senior post Jordan Jasso said at the press conference after scoring a game-high 19 in his last high school game.

For Melrose, Curry County’s last girls team standing, there was no shame in a young team winning a red trophy, but disappointing nonetheless.

“We didn't execute our offense very well,” Melrose girls coach Caleb King said at the post-game press conference. “We were trying to take tough shots and we didn’t get into the flow of the game. ... Whenever you do that against a team like that, they're going to make you pay.”

“We wanted to get the win,” Melrose guard Nataley Mondragon said, “but a good, competitive team like Elida is hard to even match.”

Things didn’t go quite as well for Clovis basketball last winter, but there were some optimistic moments. After enduring a nine-game District 2-6A losing streak, the Clovis boys rallied to rout La Cueva 77-54 on Feb. 17 at Rock Staubus Gymnasium.

And though the Clovis girls did return to the state tournament, even if their first-round exit was a lot sooner than they would’ve liked.

Winter was likely most memorable for the Clovis swim team.

At the state meet in Albuquerque, Clovis’ girls team captured fourth place, best-ever for the girls program. “We’re really excited about that,” Clovis coach Vincent de Maio said at the time. “The girls were outnumbered two to one by the teams that beat them.”

For the boys, James Skuse swam into the top three twice. “James was very strong,” de Maio said. “You look at the winning times, they’re automatic All-American times. So those are like top five percent in the nation, those are really, really fast times that won those two events.”

A numbers problem led to the boys team finishing seventh. “We just ran out of guys,” de Maio said.

Spring

While Clovis’ softball team had its struggles, Clovis’ baseball team was looking like a state-title contender.

12 of 15 players on the roster were seniors and the experience showed when the Wildcats swept a two-game first-round state 6A series over Manzano and improved to 23-5, matching the 2004 team for most wins in a season.

“It’s a good thing,” Clovis head coach Richard Cruce. “It’s good for these kids, they deserve it.”

But it all came crashing down just five days later in the quarterfinals at the University of New Mexico’s Santa Ana Star Field, where Clovis lost 15-1 to Carlsbad.

It was a tough ending, especially with 80 percent of the players saying goodbye.

“I'm going to miss seeing them every day,” Cruce said. “They’re part of my family.”

Less than 24 hours later, though, Curry County did see a state baseball champion crowned. Re-crowned, actually.

With its 5-0 victory over Estancia on May 11 at Albuquerque’s Isotopes Park, Texico won its third consecutive state 3A title.

“I think they’re all special,” Coach Thatcher said. “It’s a different group of kids every year, plus or minus a few kids.”

Junior Dalton Thatcher pitched a six-strikeout, five-hit shutout on that warm Friday afternoon. “I faced them earlier this season and kinda knew their strengths and weaknesses," Dalton Thatcher said.

A day later, across the street from Isotopes Park, Clovis’ boys track and field team took a green trophy for its third-place state 6A finish at the University of New Mexico Track and Field complex. It was the boys’ first trophy win since taking second at the 5A meet in 2004.

“I’m very proud of these kids,” Clovis boys coach Mark Sena said. “They've worked hard all year long. They earned a trophy out here today. We didn't have it given to us; we had to earn it, we had to fight for it.”

The Clovis girls team was young and growing, but did get an individual championship from freshman Mikyla Harkley at the Wildcat Relays on Apr. 13, a meet at which junior Montez Wright earned an individual title for the boys.

On the last day of April, the Clovis boys golf team won the District 2-6A championship at Santa Fe Country Club with 314 points, 18 better than second-place La Cueva.

The Clovis girls finished second as a team, but senior Sydni Hill was an individual championship with her score of 81, three strokes better than her nearest competition.

“We did a good job,” Clovis golf coach Dale Fullerton said that day. “It was really windy conditions, and they aerated the greens and they were not really good. But the kids played real well, competed real well.”

While the Clovis girls tennis team showed signs of improvement, Clovis’ boys tennis team had a 7-4 season that ended with a first-round state-tournament loss to Cleveland at Albuquerque’s Jerry Cline Tennis Center.

“I think for Clovis tennis to improve,” Clovis head coach Brad Heath said, “the kids need to play more tennis in the summer, get tournament tough and keep improving their skills.”

The spring ended with Elida girls coach Jaden Isler, a former Clovis basketball player, taking over as the Clovis boys head coach. Clovis girls track and field coach Keith Durham replaced Isler at Elida.

Summer

The summer saw a new Clovis head swim coach named, as Gordy Westerburg took over for de Maio.

But the summer’s Curry County highlight was the Clovis American 13-14 Junior League softball team steamrolling its way to a repeat state championship, capped off with a 16-1 rout of Copper at the Lady Wildcats Softball Complex on July 14.

“They work hard together in practice and everybody gets along,” said Jose Lopez, who was coaching the team for the first time.

“We put the pressure on every other team that we played,” said shortstop Skylar Schuette, a member of both the ’17 and ’18 championship teams. “We had the enthusiasm and the work ethic to win.”

Fall

Offseason district reshuffling had most of Clovis’ teams playing in District 4-5A, with football remaining at 6A, but in District 2.

And basing it on championships, Clovis’ boys cross country team was the Wildcats’ most successful of the autumn.

The capper was winning the District 4-5A championship meet at Ned Houk Park on Nov. 2, running past second-place Hobbs by 29 points. Leading the way was senior Jon Fuentes, who won the individual boys title, a first for him.

Fuentes’ teammates rounded out the top three that afternoon, with Jerrick Maldonado placing second and T.J. Gregg third. Fellow Wildcat Jose Salas grabbed fifth place, giving Clovis four out of the top five spots.

Clovis’ girls were no slouch, either, as junior Annalysse Hamlett captured second place.

“I think all the kids had a good day,” Clovis head coach Mark Bussen said.

Eight days later, Clovis’ boys took second at the 5A championships, an impressive finish for a program that had taken fourth in 2017, eighth in ’16 and 10th in ’15.

Both of Clovis’ soccer teams returned to states after being shut out in 2017. The girls may have made one of the most memorable first-round exits ever, losing in the 99th minute during the second overtime of their 5A opener Nov. 3 against Eldorado in Albuquerque.

“If it goes to PKs, you never know,” Clovis girls coach Traci Sievers said that day. “You’ve got nerves, and it was really windy.”

Clovis’ boys soccer team played its first-round game at Leon Williams Stadium, blanking Santa Fe 3-0 on Nov. 3. And in the quarterfinals four days later, the fifth-seeded Wildcats upended fourth-seeded Albuquerque 1-0 at the Bernalillo Soccer Complex.

But in the semis a day after that, Clovis fell to top-seeded Cleveland 4-2 at the Bernillo complex.

“It was an amazing run,” Clovis boys coach Greg Trujillo said. “These guys bought into my system and I can’t complain. They left it all on the field, great season by far.”

The Clovis boys finished 18-3-1, the girls 14-5-1.

Clovis’ football team began 2-0 for the second year in a row, then lost a heartbreaker to Rio Rancho before facing a stretch of three straight Lubbock teams.

By Week 7, the Wildcats were 2-4. They followed that with a win at Sandia, a loss at Manzano, and came home 3-5. On Oct. 19 at Leon Williams Stadium, the ’Cats routed Eldorado 47-0.

That followed a bye week, which was followed with one last home game against undefeated La Cueva. Clovis High seemed to have this one all ways to Sunday, but couldn’t sock it away and lost 10-7.

The Wildcats lost to Las Cruces 24-21 in the first round of state-tournament play, but when La Cueva went on to win the state title, that and the memory of how Clovis nearly beat the Bears seemed evidence that the young Wildcats weren’t far away from contention .

“I think our future’s really bright,” Clovis’ second-year head coach Cal Fullerton said the Monday after the Las Cruces game, as he looked back on the season. “At one time we started five sophomores and about three other sophomores got playing time. We don’t expect them to be juniors next year, to have one year of experience next year. Hopefully, they’ll play like seniors next year.”

Texico’s football team, in 2A after the realignment, made the state playoffs and advanced a round before falling.

Melrose made it the furthest of any Curry County football team, reaching the state Eight-man semifinals. The four-time defending state champs were hoping for a fifth straight title, and they did overcome early-season injuries to reach the state final four, the Buffaloes weren’t able to overcome Gateway Christian on Nov. 16, losing 53-24.

But Caleb King, in his first season as head coach after succeeding the retired Dickie Roybal, knew that his team had come far.

“Oh yeah. I mean, we’ve had kids hurt all year, and we were able to get ’em all healthy and then get on a little bit of a run and play well,” King said after the semifinal defeat. “Yeah, we’re real proud of them for what they’ve done.”

And the most overall successful Curry County team of the fall based on championships?

Texico’s volleyball team. The Lady Wolverines were four-time 3A champs heading into the season, which had them playing in 2A after the reshuffle. No worries for them, though. They captured a 2A state crown, sweeping Dulce 3-0 on Nov. 17 in Rio Rancho.

Regardless of class, it was five straight for Texico.

“I say to a number of people that ask me about the “peat,” we don’t emphasize that,” Texico head coach Kristen Scanlan said at the time. “We go on a journey with the girls we love. If we wind up in a title match, that’s great.”

Melrose was a reigning Class 1A volleyball champion, but found defending 2A champ Logan in the Class 1A mix after realignment. Not surprisingly, the two met for this year’s Class 1A title, with Logan emerging victorious from the five-set thriller.

Quite a year for the county. We’ll see what 2019 brings.