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It was one of those games where Clovis High’s normal go-to player, Jaye Crockett, was having a tough time and somebody had to step up.
Senior post Arthur Calbert filled the bill, scoring a career-best 24 points before fouling out midway through the final period as the Wildcats turned back scrappy Carlsbad 70-55 in a District 4-5A boys matchup Tuesday night at Rock Staubus Gym.
Despite being the focal point of the Carlsbad defense, Crockett still finished with 21 points and 11 rebounds as the Cats (14-9, 1-1 district) bounced back from their 84-62 loss at Hobbs on Friday night.
“I just try to do what I can,” said Calbert, whose previous high was 22 points in the finals of a tournament at Gallup in January. “With Jaye in foul trouble, I knew I was going to have to help my team out until we got him back in the game.”
The Cats scored the game’s first nine points — five by Crockett — and never trailed. But the Cavemen (12-12, 0-2), who haven’t beaten Clovis since February 2001, made a game of it and kept it close until the final few minutes.
“We didn’t come out energized tonight, but it kind of helps us to be put in that situation,” the 6-5 Calbert said. “It’s nice to have more than one person on the court who can score.”
Carlsbad pulled to 17-16 in the first minute of the second quarter, but guard Bryan Pierson’s 3-pointer and Calbert’s layup capped an 11-2 run that pushed the lead back to double figures.
The second half was slowed by a ton of fouls — 27 all told, plus two technicals.
First-year Carlsbad coach Cody May said his team played reasonably well.
“We knew Crockett was going to be a big force,” he said. “I felt we did a decent job on him, but their other post (Calbert) really played well.
“We handled their press pretty well. We just had a hard time attacking the basket.”
Pierson also reached double figures for the Cats with 10 points. Clovis shot 56 percent on 25-of-45 and outrebounded the Cavemen 28-22.
“It didn’t feel like there was a lot of flow to the game,” Cats coach J.D. Isler said. “Arthur really carried us offensively when we had a lot of foul trouble.”
Isler said the Cats didn’t panic when the Cavemen made their runs.
“We didn’t get our heads down,” he said. “Lately, it seems like we’ve done that.”
Clovis did a pretty good job on two of Carlsbad’s key players, guard Robbey Arrington and forward Chris Cerny. They combined for only 13 points, and both fouled out.
Senior guard Jared Nicholas was the Cavemen’s only double-figure scorer, finishing with 19 points.
Clovis 70, Carlsbad 55
Carlsbad (12-12, 0-2) — Jacob Galindo 0 0-0 0, Robbey Arrington 2 1-5 6, Ivan Tsougas 0 0-0 0, Jared Nicholas 6 4-5 19, Chase Najera 0 0-1 0, Chris Cerny 3 0-0 7, Mastt Enloe 2 2-2 6, Austin Miller 2 0-0 4, Trevor Bindel 2 5-7 9, Andy Christopherson 1 2-2 4, Joel Rice 0 0-0 0. Totals 18-43 14-22 55.
Clovis (14-9, 1-1) — Alex Flores 0 0-0 0, Bryan Pierson 3-6 3-4 10, Stefan Mills 2-3 1-2 5, Dexter Correll 0-0 0-0 0, Blake Wiley 0-0 0-0 0, Tanner Adams 0-0 2-4 2, Jaye Crockett 8-13 5-7 21, Dustin Williams 0-0 1-2 1, Logan Turnbow 2-6 1-5 5, Arthur Calbert 9-14 6-9 24, Kyler Brewer 0-2 0-0 0, Michael Prestage 1-1 0-0 2. Totals 25-45 19-33 70.
Carlsbad 13 12 12 18 — 55
Clovis 15 17 18 20 — 70
3-pointers — Carlsbad 5-14 (Nicholas 3, Arrington, Cerny), Clovis 1-2 (Pierson 1-1, Brewer 0-1). Rebounds — Carlsbad 22, Clovis 28 (Crockett 11). Assists — Clovis 15 (Mills 4). Total fouls — Carlsbad 24, Clovis 20. Fouled out — Arrington, Cerny, Calbert. Technicals — Clovis bench, Arrington. Junior varsity — Clovis 73, Carlsbad 50. “C” team — Clovis 68, Carlsbad 23.
