RESPONDING TO ADVERSITY

Shaking off first District 17-3A loss to Keene, Clifton Cubs storm past Grandview to wrap up first round in second place; face Whitney, West this week

In the head-to-head battle for sole possession of first place in the District 17-3A boys basketball race, the Keene Chargers surprised the Clifton Cubs early and hung on for a hard-fought 48-44 win at the Clifton High School gymnasium last Tuesday, snapping Clifton’s five-game winning streak.

Responding to the disappointing loss, the Cubs used it as a wake-up call and pounced on the Grandview Zebras early and never let up on their way to an impressive 63-45 victory at home last Friday night.

“We really answered the call against Grandview,” Clifton boys basketball head coach Tom Daniel said. “We played great. We scored 22 points in the first quarter, and my favorite part of the game is the way we came out after halftime. We went on an 11-0 run and cemented the win in the second half. After we jumped on them in the second half, they didn’t have a response for that.”

Sinking four shots from three-point range, senior Jacob Wells led the Cubs with 20 points, followed by senior Andres Devora and junior Maddox Hinojosa with 10 each, while junior Ray Ochoa added seven points and junior Kyle Rogers tossed in six.

Entering the second round of district play this week, the Cubs (4-1 in district, 18-9 overall) stand alone in second place, one game behind Keene (5-0, 16-12) and a game ahead of Grandview (3-2, 13-13). Clifton hits the road to take on the Whitney Wildcats (1-4, 7-16) at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday before returning home to host the winless West Trojans (0-5, 5-16) for Senior Night at 7:30 p.m. Friday.

Whitney comes into Tuesday’s game fresh from snapping an 11-game losing streak with a 47-31 victory over West last Friday. But Daniel understands the significance of opening the second round strong and feels the Cubs stand ready to carry the momentum restored against Grandview to carry over into this week.

“Consistency was the difference,” Daniel said. “We played well for most of the game Tuesday. But on Friday, we played well for the entire 32-minute game and we played hard and together for four quarters.

“It’s going to be a good second half of district. We have an opportunity this week to position ourselves even better. And if we can keep playing the way we did on Friday, we’ll have a chance to get Keene on the next go around.”

But last Tuesday, Keene jumped all over the Cubs early, racing to a 14-4 first quarter lead and maintaining a 10-point advantage going into halftime. Clifton battled back in the third period to have a chance for a come-from-behind win in the second half, but came up short. Devora and Ochoa led with 11 points each, followed by Wells with nine and Hinojosa with six.

“It was disappointing,” Daniel said. “Keene came out with a good plan. It seemed like we started the game kind of feeling things out rather than hitting the ground running like we have been doing. But I was proud of the way they responded. We were never able to get over the hump.

“We cut it to two a couple of times late and had several shots that could’ve tied it or given us the lead, but they didn’t fall. We had our opportunities, but we just couldn’t get quite there. But we will get another shot at those guys in a couple of weeks.”