Broncos advance to playoffs

By Sandy Anderberg

The Clarendon Broncos earned two big wins last week and continued in the hunt for post-season play.

The first playoff game will be held Tuesday, Feb. 20, at 6:30 p.m. at Caprock High School in Amarillo.  Clarendon will face Stratford for the Bi-District title.

They first easily defeated Claude 64-41 on Tuesday. After a slow shooting first quarter, the Broncos turned up the heat on the Mustangs and took a commanding lead. They were able to control the momentum and the boards in the final half of play and get the 23-point win.

Damarjae Cortez was the top scorer with 21 points, Bear Smith added 12, and Justin Christopher put in 10. Noab Elam crushed three three-pointers for nine, Colt Wood had five, and Caton Grahn had three. Preston Elam helped with two, and Daquawne Oliver and Isaac Dunham put in one each.

“It wasn’t pretty at times, but any win this time of year is a good win,” coach Blake Nichols said. “We were a little flat after the big win against Panhandle and probable looking ahead to the Memphis game a little bit. As a Coach, I try to guard against those things, but both are understandable. I was proud we did what we had to do to win the game.”

On Friday, the Broncos pulled a big win out of the hat when they played Memphis at home. Memphis earned the win at the buzzer in the first round and the Broncos were able to get revenge for that loss. The Broncos scored 20 points in the final quarter to get the 63-60 win over the Cyclones.

The Broncos trailed by 13 points early in the game, and it was clear that the Cyclones held the momentum in the first half of play. By the break, the Broncos had worked their way back to only trail by 10 points. A great third quarter effort by the Broncos put them back in the game where they closed the gap on the Cyclones, only trailing by six.

That is where the Broncos dug down deep determined to get the win. They were able to take the lead with just a little bit of time on the clock and hold off Memphis for the win.

Cortez nailed four three-pointers, and Wood put in three of his own. N. Elam also hit two big shots to help get the Broncos back in the game, and P. Elam had one three-pointer. Three Broncos finished in double figures in the game. Wood posted 20 points, Cortez had 18, and Smith put in 14. N. Elam had six, P. Elam had three, and Christopher finished with two.

“This was a big win,” Nichols said. “I was proud of how we continued to hang in there and fight even after we got down by 13. Once we settled down after their hot start, I thought we played fairly well. We still have a few things we can improve on, and I’m excited about using the last game of the regular season to do that.”