Cavemen fall to Oñate

Oñate senior forward Johnny McCants’ strong start on offense was too much for the Carlsbad boys basketball team to overcome in Friday’s 53-39 loss in the Albuquerque Academy Tournament semifinals.

Coach Jamaal Brown said the 6-foot-7 McCants, who scored 14 of his 23 points in the first quarter, did damage shooting from the perimeter.

“They were from NBA range. He the shot the ball extremely well in that first quarter,” Brown said. “He’s long, he’s athletic. He’s going to be a matchup difficulty for most people in the state.”

The Cavemen were outscored 25-8 in the first quarter.

Carlsbad eventually cut the deficit to seven points late in the third quarter, but it was not enough.

Carlsbad is now 4-1 this season. The Knights improved to 6-1.

Brown said Carlsbad dug itself too much of a hole early on.

“It was very difficult to claw and scratch back,” Brown said. “We just couldn’t recover from that. We just expended so much energy trying to get back in the game.”

Junior center Brenden Boatwright scored 13 points, while senior shooting guard Jordan Wright scored eight points. Senior shooting guard Micah Calderon had seven points.

Carlsbad played against Del Norte Saturday afternoon in the third place game.

Visit currentargus.com for information on that game.

ONATE 53, CARLSBAD 39