Cavemen Host Hobbs Eagles in District Final

By Don Eskins

The Carlsbad Cavemen, after dropping a narrow three-point, 47-44, loss to the Hobbs Eagles on February 7, will get another shot at the Class 5A second-ranked Birds on Friday night, February 21.

This time, however, they’ll be playing the Eagles in the Cavern City. The Cavemen, ranked 14th, will take the floor at 16-9 on the year and 2-3 in District 4/5A play. The Eagles, 21-4 overall, are 4-1 in conference.

The clash will serve as the final district game of the season for both the Cavemen and Eagles. Tipoff time for the varsity game is set for 7 p.m. The JVs will open the night’s action at 5:30 p.m.

This year’s race for the district title has been filled with some of the top prep teams in New Mexico. But as tough a conference as it has been, with a few more points and a couple more stops, CHS could be occupying one of the top two spots in the conference.

“Right now, MaxPreps has Hobbs ranked second and Roswell fourth. They’re great teams,” said Caveman head coach John Zumbrun. “But we’ve played each team twice, and each time, we were in the game up through the fourth quarter. We just need to find a way to get over the top.”

Although the outcome of the game will have no bearing on the District 4/5A standings for the Cavemen, who will finish third, a win over the second-ranked Eagles could go a long way in helping them secure a better seed in this year’s state tournament bracket. That bracket is set to go out on Sunday, March 2.

“No doubt, the outcome of this game could have some implications on how this year’s seeding will go,” said Zumbrun. “But, if we could get a win over the Eagles, it would definitely give our possibilities a boost.”

Update: On February 14 in Roswell, CHS fell to the Coyotes 54-43. (Hudl Digital Stats Unavailable)

Cavemen Basketball

District 4/5A Standings

Team Dist Yr

Roswell 4-1 20-5

Hobbs 4-1 21-4

Carlsbad 2-3 16-9

Clovis 0-5 8-15

Class 5A Rank: Hobbs 2, Roswell 4, Carlsbad 14, Clovis 17. As of Saturday,

February 15.