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After clinching second trip to playoffs in three seasons, Clifton Cubs remain on collision course for District 17-3A championship showdown with Keene

By clinching their second trip to the playoffs in the last three seasons, the Clifton Cubs put themselves in prime position to accomplish something that hasn’t been done in 20 years. With just three games remaining in the 2023-24 Texas high school boys basketball regular season, the Cubs appear to be on a collision course for a District 17-3A championship showdown with the Keene Chargers.

But in the first of three straight road games, the Cubs (6-1 in district, 20-9 overall) must face the surging Maypearl Panthers on the road at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday. The Panthers (4-3, 14-16) vaulted into a tied for third place by surprising the Grandview (4-3, 14-14) last Friday. Clifton and Keene (6-1, 17-13) stand deadlocked at the top, and the Cubs will take on the Chargers at 6:15 p.m. Friday hoping to avenge their 48-44 loss to Keene Jan. 23.

“We still have a lot of basketball still to play, so we don’t know what’s going to happen,” Clifton boys basketball head coach Tom Daniel said. “But it is nice to be tied for first place right now. It’s good to be up there and in the driver’s seat. We still need to beat Keene on Friday, but we control our own destiny in the district championship race. But we can’t get there without winning Tuesday, so we need to take care of business against Maypearl first, for sure.”

Winning eight of their last nine games, the Cubs clinched a postseason berth with a hard-fought 44-41 victory over the West Trojans (0-7, 5-18) last Friday on Senior Night in the Clifton High School gymnasium.

Clifton jumped out to a quick 14-6 lead and held a commanding 26-10 advantage at halftime. But the Trojans came storming back in the third and outscored the Cubs, 17-5, in the fourth to pull within three with two seconds left on the clock before going down in defeat.

“It was Senior Night, and we had four guys who were playing their last home game,” Daniel said. “It was a great experience for them. We never gave up the lead, and they never made it a one possession game until they hit the last shot of the game. They made it a little too close for comfort, but the kids did a really good job, they really did, all things considered. They played hard, and they got the job done.”

Hitting four shots from three-point range, senior Jacob Wells led Clifton with 18 points, followed by junior Maddox Hinojosa with 12 points and senior Andres Devora with seven.

“We knew West wasn’t going to lay down for us. They’re a scrappy bunch and they play hard. We knew it wasn’t going to be easy, and it wasn’t. But our guys did what they needed to do. It doesn’t matter how pretty or ugly a win is, a win is a win. And we’re going back to the playoffs.”

Opening last week with a road win over arch-rival Whitney (1-6, 7-18), Clifton completed the season sweep with another hard-fought 51-44 road win over the Wildcats last Tuesday night. Led by a 22-point performance from Wells, the Cubs shook off a slow start to take a 35-34 lead into the fourth quarter before putting Whitney away.

“Going to win on the road against a pretty talented team like Whitney, it was good for us,” Daniel said. “It certainly wasn’t easy. It was a close game throughout. We did a good job down the stretch. We got down by a couple of points, but we closed the game on 12-3 run. We had to have it, and the kids did a great job. This is the first time since I’ve been here that we’ve swept Whitney. The kids were really excited about that, and I was too.”

While Wells sank five shots from three-point range, Hinojosa tossed in nine points, followed by Devora with eight, along with junior Joaquin De la Hoya and Ray Ochoa with five each.

Despite standing tied with Keene for first and owning a two-game lead over Grandview and Maypearl tied for third, the Cubs must play three straight road games to close out the regular season.

“That is the tough thing about the way to district schedule sets up,” Daniel said. “We’ve already played our last home game. It’s pretty wild. I have never had this happen where you finish the season with three straight road games. But at least we did what we needed to do with all those home games. And we’ve already proven we can win on the road, so I like our chances.”