It has been a tough month-and-a-half stretch for the Clovis High boys basketball team.
The Cougars last won a game Dec. 28 against Hoover, and entered Tuesday night’s Central Section playoff opener on a 13-game losing streak.\
Turnovers and fouls cost the Cougars in their 68-62 loss against the Grizzlies.
Clovis had its chances though to gain the upper hand early on. The Cougars raced out to a 9-2 lead, but the inability to take care of the ball fueled a fierce run by Central, finishing the quarter by scoring 14 of the last 16 points to take a 16-11 lead into the second period.
The Grizzlies employed a full-court press style of defense, and the Cougars were able to pass the ball up the court to break it and find lanes for layups and openings for three-pointers.
Cougars head coach Jonathan Heinz felt like his team handled the pressure well initially, but not as well later as some of his players fatigued.
“I think we did a better job early on than we did later on,” he said. “I think fatigue played a role. I give [Central] credit. They played consistently and constantly pressured our two main ball handlers.”
Those ball handlers in Cal Stilson and Diego Ceyala did the utmost to get the Cougars back on track, despite having fallen down by as much as 25-14 midway through the second quarter.
The two backcourt teammates combined for 22 of the team’s 31 first half points. But countering their efforts was the scoring stylings of Jaylon Walton, who scored eight of his 16 points in the first half himself.
Coming out of the halftime locker room trailing by six, the Grizzlies pushed the lead back to 11 at 44-33.
The Cougars continued to show fight, but sloppiness on offense, including unforced turnovers, kept them from being able to truly maximize their offensive possessions after they did get stops on the defensive end.
But, back-to-back threes by seniors Lovepreet Sran and Bly Martinez nearly did get the Cougars the lead they had worked so hard for by cutting the Grizzlies advantage to 58-53, still with five minutes on the clock in the fourth quarter.
However, a big three-pointer by Walton to put the Grizzlies back up 65-58 with less than a minute left in the game finally proved to be the backbreaker that would end the Cougars hopes at a miraculous comeback. But the mental toughness that the Cougars showed to get back in the game resonated deeply with Heinz.
“What I was really proud of is how we fought to get back up that hill, but we just couldn’t get over it,” he said. “I’m really proud of the effort they gave.”