Cavemen Club Gadsden, Host Santa Teresa

By Don Eskins

The Gadsden Panthers proved to be no match for the Carlsbad Cavemen when the two schools squared off for a prep basketball game in Gadsden on Tuesday, December 9.

In what proved to be a game of little resistance, the Cavemen rolled over the Cats 67-18. En route to the victory, 10 Cavemen wrote their names in the scorebook.

Tops on the CHS scoring chart were Zenas Huerta, Tanner Cornum, and Shane Sullivan, each enjoying double-digit nights. Huerta led all Cavemen scorers with 16 points, while Cornum and Sullivan each scored 11.

After a 0-3 start in 2025, the victory over Gadsden made it three straight wins for the Cavemen, who now sit even on the season at 3-3.

“We may have been 0-3, but we opened up the new year against three really good teams. Even at that, we lost to El Paso El Dorado and Albuquerque Highland by a combined total of just six points,” said Caveman head coach John Zumbrun. “We didn’t play poorly in those losses; we just kind of got outplayed down the stretch.

“We also played fairly well against a very good Rio Rancho team in Artesia’s City of Champions Tournament. We dropped that game by 11, 52-41. It was the same Rio Rancho that beat Artesia by 35, 79-44,” he said. “So even at 3-3, our kids have played some pretty good basketball.”

Following six road games to open up the 2025-26 season, the Cavemen will finally get to play at home.

“It has been a long start on the new season, having been on the road so long,” said Zumbrun. “Our kids will be playing the next four games in Carlsbad in front of their fans for the first time this year, and they’re all pretty excited about it.”

On Saturday, December 13, the Cavemen will host the 5-2 Santa Teresa Desert Warriors. The C-team is scheduled to get play underway at 11:30 a.m., followed by the JVs at 1 p.m. and the varsity at 2:30 p.m.

CHS took the floor in Carlsbad for the first time this season on Thursday, December 11, against the Alamogordo Tigers. The results of that game will be posted in the Friday, December 16, edition of the Carlsbad Local.

The Cavemen competed in the Artesia City of Champions Tournament on December 4-6. At the tournament, they posted a record of 2-1. After a 52-41 loss to Rio Rancho, CHS battled back to defeat Deming 60-26, to register their first win of the year, and Los Lunas 49-30. Game recaps below.

Cavemen @ Gadsden

CHS 19 16 20 12 67

GHS 6 9 0 3 18

Scoring: Zenas Huerta, 16; Tanner Cornum, 11; Shane Sullivan, 11; Kevin Quarles, 6; Dryden Preece, 6; Lucas Bluth, 6; Miliq Mills, 5; Russell Silva, 2; Elijah Banks, 2; Mario De Leon, 2. FTs 9-16-56%.

City of Champions

Game 1: December 4

CHS 8 7 8 18 41

RRHS10 12 11 19 52

Scoring: Kevin Quarles, 12; Dryden Preece, 7; Maliq Mills, 6; Shane Sullivan, 5; Tanner Cornum, 4; Zenas Huerta, 3; Elijah Banks, 2; Mario De Leon, 2. FTs 11-16-68.8% (Hudl Digital Stats)

Game 2: December 5

CHS 16 15 13 16 60

DHS 6 5 11 4 26

Scoring: Shane Sullivan, 13; Kevin Quarles, 11; Tanner Cornum, 8; Lucas Bluth, 5; Elijah Banks, 4; Mario De Leon, 4; Miles Stephens, 3; Zenas Huerta, 3; Sanyika Green, 3; Maliq Mills, 2; Russel Silva, 2; Aryniaus Sanders, 2. FTs 7-14-50%. (Hudl Digital Stats)

Game 3: December 6

CHS 12 15 9 13 49

LLHS 3 18 4 5 30

Scoring: Shane Sullivan, 17; Zenas Huerta, 12; Tanner Cornum, 10; Dryden Preece, 4; Kevin Quarles, 2; Sanyika Green, 2; Mario De Leon, 2. FTs 9-10-90%. (Hudl Digital Stats)