Cats beat Espanola Valley with season-best offensive output
ESPANOLA — The Clovis Wildcats put on the defensive clamps early and never relinquished control Friday night.
CHS held Espanola Valley to 16 first-half points and 15 field goals for the game en route to an 81-60 win over the Sundevils.
Junior guard D.J. Blackmon poured in 24 points, leading three players in double figures for the Cats (12-6). Clovis visits rival Hobbs on Friday in its next outing to begin District 4-5A play.
“It was a good win for us,” Clovis coach Matt King said. “The kids played pretty well tonight.”
The Cats opened a 15-8 lead at the end of the first quarter and expanded that to 35-16 at halftime. The teams pretty much traded points through a high-scoring second half, with the Sundevils (7-12) getting no closer than 12 points.
Blackmon leads the Cats for the season in scoring at nearly 15 points a game.
“He just finds (scoring) opportunities,” King said. “But we have multiple guys we can go to. I think that’s a strength of our team.”
Junior guards Drew Cole and John Dawson added 16 and 10 points, respectively, for Clovis, which won handily despite making no 3-pointers and struggling to a 19-for-37 showing at the free throw line.
“That’s something we’ve just got to continue to work on,” King said of the low free-throw percentage. “But I like the fact that we got to the line 37 times.”
Free throws were about all that allowed the Sundevils to stay within shouting distance, but they did a good job of converting — going 27-for-36 for the game.
Espanola Valley won the last time the teams met, a 71-67 decision at The Rock two years ago.
Only senior guard Jeremy Romero, with 14 points, reached double figures for Espanola Valley.
