The 2nd ranked 29-2 Clarendon Broncos are making history for the second year in a row as they head back to San Antonio for the 2A State Basketball Semi-Final round later this week. Never has a Clarendon team won a State Championship and returned the next year to defend their title.
They will return with most of the players that won the 2021 Championship minus State MVP Donovan Thompson and Ethan Babcock who graduated last spring.
The Broncos are on fire as they continue in the playoffs executing their game plan against two tough teams in the Texas Dome on the South Plains campus last weekend. They took on New Home in the semi-final round and defeated them 64-53. The first quarter went back and forth with New Home holding a one-point advantage. But the Broncos were able to bounce back and owned the second eight minutes that allowed the them to retake the lead at the break. Junior Jmaury Davis came on strong after the break and led the way with four huge dunks to help the Broncos grab all the momentum. The Leopards fought back in the final minutes, but the Broncos’ sharp shooting gave them the game. Davis, Lyric Smith, and Jordan Herndon finished in double figures in the game with 24, 13, and 10 points, respectively. Also scoring was Lamarcus Penigar with eight, Cayden D’Costa with seven, and Tyler Harper with two.
The win put the Broncos right where they belonged as they went up against a good Christoval team in the Regional Final game on Saturday. A 14-2 run by the Broncos in the final quarter gave them the game and the championship as they defeated the Cougars 60-49.
The Cougars jumped out to blast the Broncos with the early lead when Jaron Slaton pumped in three three-pointers in a row and the Broncos found themselves in a not so familiar spot. But the Broncos persevered and came raging back to come with two points after the first quarter. They were able to continue their dominance in the next eight minutes and gave themselves a little cushion going into the break.
With an upset on their mind, the Cougars stormed back in the third period posting a 14-3 run to regain the lead with only one quarter remaining. But just like earlier, the Broncos remained composed and confident in their teamwork to fight back and made a 14-2 run of their own to send Christoval to the locker room with the 11-point loss. Davis was responsible for 11 of those fourth quarter points as the team looked to him to put points on the board.
“Coach Hudson got on us in the huddle before the fourth quarter,” Davis said. “That motivated us.”
Davis finished with 21 points that consisted of a 6-0 run on his own in the final period. Two jumpers and a layup preceded a huge alley oop from D’Costa that rocked the house. Penigar joined Davis in double figures with 19 that included two from behind the arc and hitting three of four from the bonus line. Defensively, the Broncos were strong and took advantage of steals to put points on the board. Herndon put in nine, D’Costa had six, and Smith helped with five.
When asked about the pressure of returning to state, head coach Boston Hudson stated that they tried not to talk about San Antonio.
“In the back of everyone’s mind we know the pressure to get back to state is there,” he said. “We’ve been ranked up there all year, we had most of our guys back, so we’re expected to be here. I’m proud of how we stayed composed and closed this game out.”
The Broncos will go head-to-head with LaPoynor in the opening round at the State Tournament playing at 10:00 am on Friday morning. The championship game will be held on Saturday at 1:30.
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