Alamogordo loses 63-47 in a rough 'n' tumble game against Lovington

ALAMOGORDO - The Alamogordo Tigers boys basketball team took on the Lovington Wildcats (2-5, 0-0) at home on Friday evening, ultimately succumbing to the visiting felines 63-47.

Alamogordo walks away from Friday’s match 2-4, 0-0.

Despite the excitement from a decisive 48-37 win against Chaparral earlier in the week and the fact that the Tigers were measurably quicker than the Wildcats, Wildcats point guard Chris Perez drew first blood with a three-pointer, with center Colby Vancleve bringing the score up to 5-0 with a pair of shots from the foul line.

Tigers guard Adrian Herrera came through with a three of his own for Alamogordo's only field goal of the first stanza. Tigers Klevon Spencer, Grayson Koehler and Diego Ortega put up a combined 9 points in foul shots before the first-quarter buzzer stopped things with a slight Wildcat lead of 14-12.

“Starting the game with good energy really helped these boys get going,” Wildcats Head Coach Ezau Rios said.

Though the Wildcats won the game, their turnover rate raised some eyebrows — 26 turnovers versus Alamogordo’s 18.

“We fixed one thing and we’ve got to fix the next one,” Rios said. “Some of them might be circumstantial, some might be decision (related), but a lot of them were good decisions that ended up in the wrong places.”

The Tigers compounded the Wildcats’ high turnover rate with a few good breakaways and blocks, but this was not enough to turn the inevitable tide of the game. Alamogordo was down at halftime, 31-22.

Despite some fancy footwork and ball handling in the second half of the game, the Tigers just weren’t able to catch up Lovington.

The situation was looking grim in the fourth quarter, with the Wildcats leading 57-43 by the four-minute mark, and not much would change before the final buzzer.

The Wildcats came to Alamogordo after four straight losses and made a point to study the Tigers before Friday’s game.

“There are two things — we knew they were going to hurry us up, because their guards are fast, and we also knew there was a height advantage, so we had to exploit that,” Rios said. “Our guards did a great job of passing up shots. In the end, we knew that was going to be a big factor.”

Alamogordo head coach James Voight said the Tigers had a few minor advantages but the net strength was not enough.

"It seemed like we were quicker than they were, and you could tell that on the defensive end. They played man-to-man as well, but they weren't as pressured-up as we were. But they had more size and strength, and in the end that was the determining factor," he said.

The height advantage paid off for the Wildcats, with the 6-foot-9 Vancleve pulling down 24 points throughout the game. Tigers guard Harlon Gilbert led Alamogordo in scoring with 11 points.

Voight said that overall he was not impressed with Friday's game.

"We're still struggling to score the basketball. I thought that was probably the worst-played game we've had since last year, so I don't know if there were too many positives from last night," Voight said.

Alamogordo travels to Silver City on Dec. 15 and then to Roswell on Dec. 18.