Cats collect easy victory over Dexter

Jan. 6—DEXTER — The struggling Dexter Demons proved to be tonic for Clovis High's up-and-down boys on Thursday night.

Senior guard Brian Weiss scored 14 points and 11 players marked in the scorebook as the Wildcats cruised past the Class 3A Demons 78-29.

Junior guard Keilyn Parker added 13 while senior guard Jaydon Levenshown scored a personal-best 10 points for Clovis (9-6).

The Cats led 20-7 at the quarter, then erupted for a 28-point third stanza to open a 40-point lead.

"We finally had a good start," first-year CHS coach Josh Mattox said. "We just took off and ran with it."

Clovis connected for seven 3-pointers in the match from six different players. Junior J.J. Jones had a pair of 3s.

"The ball was moving well," Mattox said. "We got out and ran quite a bit, and we were able to open things up pretty early."

Senior Brandon Calderon led Dexter with nine points.

The competition stiffens up this week. The Cats have a return game at Sandia on Tuesday before hosting Santa Fe High on Saturday afternoon.

Amarillo Tascosa 66, Clovis 42 (Tuesday) — For the third time in six games, the Cats were plagued by a bad start which put them in a hole from which they couldn't recover.

In this one, the Rebels (11-11) opened a 29-6 lead early in the second quarter at Rock Staubus Gym, and Clovis was unable to make any serious inroads.

"We've had several different starting lineups trying to find guys that'll kick-start us in the right direction," Mattox said. "We're still young from an experience standpoint. As long as we're getting better and playing our best basketball in a month or so, that's my main concern."

Tascosa cruised to the win behind four 3-pointers and 27 points from 6-foot-4 junior forward Jailyn Sledge, who tallied the team's first 10 points and had three 3s and 15 points in the opening stanza alone.

"They started hitting shots early," Mattox said. "They weren't doing anything we hadn't seen before. They played a little more physical than we did."

Tascosa led 21-2 late in the opening frame. The Cats put together a 10-0 run to close to 29-16 midway through the second canto, but a 3-pointer by Tascosa junior guard Daion Wilson ended that and the margin never got close to single figures the rest of the way.

The Cats fell behind Sandia 21-3 at the quarter in a 75-57 semifinal loss to the Matadors on Dec. 21 in their own K. Barnett & Sons tournament at The Rock. In the Poe Corn Invitational the following week, they trailed Class 3A then-No. 1 Navajo Prep 16-4 after a quarter in a 59-34 setback.

Senior forward Will Dickerson finished with 11 points for Tascosa, while four others were between five and seven points. The only player in double digits for the Cats was junior guard Keilyn Parker, who netted 11 points off the bench.

Seniors Brian Weiss and R.J. Nora and junior Marvin Cox all had five rebounds for the Cats, while senior guard Manny Gutierrez collected two of the team's seven assists.

The Cats hosted Santa Fe High on Saturday. Their next outing is on Tuesday at Roswell Goddard.

Clovis girls 60, Lovington 42 — The Lady Wildcats girls struggled for a half, then dominated the rest of the way in a 60-42 victory on Tuesday at Lovington.

Junior guard Zarai Lewis scored 27 points for Clovis (10-3), which trailed 29-28 at halftime and 32-29 early in the third before putting together a 15-0 run to take control. Junior post Kailyn Jefferson scored seven of her 15 points during the surge.

"They were pretty hyped," Lady Cats coach Jeff Reed said of Lovington. "But I never felt we were out of control of the game. It's just that they were making stuff they don't normally make."

Lefevre added 12 points for the Lady Cats, including 6-of-6 from the free throw line.

The Lady Cats played at Amarillo Palo Duro on Saturday. They return to action on Monday at West Las Vegas.