Buffs blast Longhorns at Logan

LOGAN – Better shooting and a shift in defensive strategy turned what was expected to be a competitive game into 77-32 boys basketball blowout Friday for Melrose against district rival Logan.

Melrose (13-4, 4-1) stormed to a 25-1 lead in the first quarter and fattened its advantage to 30 midway through the second period and 40 halfway through the third.

Logan (6-14, 2-4) didn't tally its first field goal until Park Strong, who led the Longhorns with 11 points, scored an inside bucket with 7:37 left in the second period.

The game was rescheduled from Thursday due to a midweek snowstorm.

During their previous district matchup at Melrose on Jan. 20, the Buffaloes didn't pull away from Logan until the fourth quarter during a 63-47 win.

Melrose coach Kevin Lackey was asked what was different between those games.

"We're making shots now, for one thing," he replied. "We're shooting a lot better from the perimeter. Earlier in the year, we couldn't buy buckets like that."

Melrose made seven 3-point shots against Logan. Michael Cardonita led the Buffs with 13 points. All 14 of Melrose's varsity players scored.

Lackey said he also had his players concentrate more of their defense on Brent Burns and Kaeden Stoner, who combined for 28 points against during the previous matchup.

"We were a lot better prepared," Lackey said. "The Stoner kid hurt us really bad last time; we tried to lock down him and Burns a lot harder. We got them pretty frustrated.

"If you frustrate them and make some perimeter shots, it's going to snowball pretty fast, and it snowballed on them tonight. We played one of our best games of the year for four quarters."

Logan coach Kyle Griffiths admitted to being somewhat mystified about his team's poor play compared to the previous Melrose clash.

"When we played them at their place, we battled them for three quarters," he said. "I don't know ... I don't know if it was the couple of days off because of the snow or because we didn't have practice.

"We just kind of lackadaisical tonight. We never really got going. We couldn't stop them on defense and couldn't score on offense. It's one of those games."

Melrose is in a logjam of District 6 contenders. Melrose, Clovis Christian and Fort Sumner-House (11-3) each have just one district loss.

Clovis Christian 56, Logan 42

Clovis Christian stayed in contention for a district title with a 56-42 victory over Logan on Saturday.

The Eagles (14-5, 5-1) led by four at intermission but increased their advantage to double digits by the end of the third quarter.

"We played with a lot of energy and effort but offensively just never really got going," Griffiths said.

Burns led the Longhorns with 14 points.

Logan ended the week at 6-15, 2-5.