By Don Eskins
Although they didn’t win it, the Cavemen basketball team definitely made a statement at the City of Champions Basketball Tournament, held in Artesia, December 5-7.
Behind Shane Sullivan’s 14-point effort, the Cavemen closed out tournament play by rolling over the Los Lunas Tigers, 48-20, to claim third place. Overall, they went 2-1 at the event.
On Thursday, December 5, they opened tourney play with a 55-21 victory over the Alamogordo Tigers. Shane Sulliven dropped in 16 points and Kyran Orgain 13 to lead all Carlsbad scoring.
However, CHS just might have made their biggest statement in a 63-52 loss to the Hobbs Eagles. Despite being saddled with their first loss of the season, the 3-1 Cavemen played right alongside the storied program from Hobbs for three quarters.
Down 16-13 after the game’s opening period, CHS roared back to take a 32-30 lead at the half. At the end of the third quarter, they were still out in front of the Eagles 43-41.
Although Hobbs rallied to put the game away in the final period of play, for a team that finished out 2023-24 at 13-14, the Carlsbad effort was encouraging.
Offensively, CHS was led by Kyran Orgain’s 17 points and Shane Sullivan’s 10. Contributing eight each were Zenas Huerta and Jacob Chavarria.
Caveman head coach John Zumbrun said he felt good about his Cavemen’s play at the COC.
“The COC was tough. Hobbs came into the tournament ranked third in the state, so that’s a pretty good indication of just how good the field was,” said Zumbrun. “But, as tough as it was, our kids went 2-1 to finish third; I’d say that was a pretty good effort from our kids.
“Also, our kids played with a lot of energy and support for each other throughout the tournament. That especially pleased our staff. That’s what enables us to get better,” he said. “We’re 3-1 on the year right now, something we all feel good about.”
Cavemen
Game #1- December 5
Alamo 01-07-09-04--21
C-bad 14-20-15-02--55
Game Stats: K. Orgain 13pts-3R-1A-4 Stls; Z. Huerta 7pts-1A-1 Stl; J. Herrera 3pts-1A; M. Mills 3pts-1 Stl; J. Chavarria 4pts-5R-7A-3 Stls; K. Quarles 1R; D. Preece 7pts-2R-1 Stl; J. Moyers 2R; S. Sullivan 16 pts-7R-2A-5 Stls; E. Banks 2R; M. De Leon 3R-1A-1 Stl: FT’s 1-1-100% (CHS- Hudl Stats) -2pts. unidentified
Game #2- Dec, 6
CHS 13-19-11-09--52
HHS 16-14-11-22--63
Game Stats: K. Orgain 17pts-8R-3A-4 Stls; J. Chavarria 8pts-1A-2 Stls; S. Sullivan 10 pts-4R-2 Stls; Z. Huerta 8pts-1A-2 Stls; M. Mills 5pts-1 Stl; D. Preece 2pts-2R-1 Stl; J. Moyers 2pts-1R; B. Sullivan 2R-1A; T. Cornum 1R-1 Stl; M. De Leon 1R: FT’s 12-19-63% (Stats Hudl Digital)
Game #3- December 7
CHS 17-10-10-11--48
LLHS 00-09-04-07--20
Game Stats: T. Cornum 3R-1A; M. Mills 5pts-1R; K. Orgain 7pts-5R-2A-2 Stls; Z. Huerta 4pts-2A-2 Stls; J. Herrera 3pts-1R; J. Chavarria 3pts-2R-6A-2 Stls; K. Quarles 2pts; D. Preece 5pts-2R; J. Moyers 3 pts-1 Stl; S. Sullivan 14 pts-1R-2A; E. Banks 1R; B. Sullivan 2pts-2R; M. De Leon 1R-2 Stls: FT’s 6-7-85.7% (Hudl Digital Stats)
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