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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.

The Broncos pulled off a good win in the Bi-District round of post-season play by defeating Sunray 60-34 in Pampa Monday night.

The game was not as close as the score revealed as the Broncos’ early shots did not want to go in. But the team stayed solid and worked through their struggles to come out on top.

Three players finished in double figures in the with the team recording seven three-pointers and 50 percent from the bonus line overall.

The early lead belonged to the Broncos at 15-7 after the first eight minutes. Sunray played a scrappy game but could not keep up with the Broncos’ quickness and sharp passes. Their offensive execution gave them the edge they needed, as they were able to settle in and increase their lead to get the win. Lamarcus Penigar led the way with 21, Jmaury Davis helped with 19, and Cayden D’Costa added 11. Tyler Harper and Anthony Ceniceros put in three points each, Kaleb Bolin had two, and Lyric Smith added one free throw.

Last Saturday, the Broncos played in the Randall HS Playoff Preview and went up against Alpine. The Broncos hit 11 shots from the arc and finished with hitting 88 percent of their free throws in their 80-47 win.
Davis led with 29, Penigar had 27, and D’Costa added 14.

The Broncos will play in the Area Round this Friday against Vega at Canyon High School at 7:30 p.m. Tickets are available at https://bit.ly/3vc0d9J.

The Lady Broncos continued riding high last week with two big wins that gave them the Area title.

Early last week, the Lady Broncos took on Stratford in the Bi-District round and got by them 32-26. Makenna Shadle put in 13 points in the game that included shooting 50 percent from the free throw line and hitting two three-pointers. The

Lady Broncos held the early lead after the first eight minutes and increased their lead to seven at halftime. The Lady Elks struggled to make up the difference before time ran out which allowed Clarendon to get the win.

Joining Shadle on the scoreboard was Madie Smith and Finley Cunningham with six each, Courtlyn Conkin with four, Graci Smith with two, and Hayden Elam with one.

The win over Stratford put them in the Area round against Bovina last Friday; and after a hard-fought battle, the Lady Broncos won, 61-55, in overtime. The ladies executed successfully early on in the game to grab a seven-point advantage at the break enduring a very physical contest. Cunningham was on fire with the three ball and hit five from the arc in the game to finish with 24.

The Lady Broncos picked up where they left off in the third quarter of play to increase the point difference but fell off in the final eight minutes as they allowed Bovina to get back into the game. After the end of regulation, the score was 48 all to send the game to OT.

Shadle was able to take it to the hoop and iced six shots from the bonus line, and Conkin and G. Smith added two free throws each to the point total in the overtime minutes, that allowed the ladies the big win. Helping Cunningham was Conkin who had nine points that included hitting four for four from the bonus line and knocking down one three-pointer. Shadle put in eight and Jayde Gribble added six from her post position. G. Smith had six as well and M. Smith and Elam helped with four each.

The Ladies’ season came to an end in Childress Tuesday night with a loss to Wellington. Game details will be printed in next week’s Enterprise.