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Cleveland Slips Past Cavemen 54-53

kmarksteiner0
1 hour ago
1 min read

By Don Eskins

It wasn’t the ending the Carlsbad Cavemen were hoping for—a 54-53 heartbreaking loss to the Cleveland Storm in the quarter-final round of the Class 5A State Basketball Tournament—but with nine seconds left and the ball in their hands, they had a legitimate shot at buying their way into the semis.

However, on Wednesday, May 11, in the UNM Pit, lady luck wasn’t with Carlsbad High.

With time running out, and down by one, Caveman point guard Zenas Hureta put up a desperation shot, hoping to get the win. Unfortunately, for Carlsbad, it rimmed out.

However, even though losing, the 10th-seeded Cavemen gave the favored Storm, seeded second, all they could handle and more.

Trailing the Storm by just four points, 32-28, at the half, CHS rallied to win the final two quarters, 25-22, only to come up one point shy of the victory.

Caveman Shane Sullivan led all CHS scorers with 17 points. Also logging points were Zenas Huerta, 11; Kevin Quarles, seven; Tanner Cornum, five; Dryden Preece, five; Mario De Leon, five; and Maliq Mills, three. (Game Stats Unofficial)

With the loss, the Cavemen closed out a most memorable year of basketball at 19-10.

CHS vs. Cleveland

State Qt. Final, March 10

C-bad 15 13 10 15 53

Cleve 9 23 9 13 54

Leaders: Scoring: Shane Sullivan, 17; Zenas Huerta, 11; Kevin Quarles, 7; Tanner Cornum, 5; Dryden Preece, 5; Mario De Leon, 5; and Maliq Mills, 3. (Game Stats Unofficial)

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