Cavemen beat Hobbs in OT, win district title

CARLSBAD – With time ticking away and the District 4-6A tournament title on the line Saturday, two things came to Carlsbad’s rescue when it mattered against Hobbs: defense and free throws.

Both of those things gave the Cavemen hope to push the game into overtime, and both of those things propelled Carlsbad in taking down Hobbs, 57-51, to win this year’s district tournament title.

“If we win those two statistics, then we’re going to win those games. We had the poise to be able to come back in that fourth quarter and take care of business. We were just aggressive,” junior center Brenden Boatwright said.

Saturday’s dramatic series of events began with Boatwright in the final minute of the fourth quarter, with Carlsbad trailing 45-44.

After Hobbs threw a bounce pass into the right side of the post, Boatwright stole the ball and called timeout. On Carlsbad’s next possession, Boatwright muscled his way to the basket and was fouled – knocking down one of his two free throws and tying the game at 45-45.

Carlsbad then had a shot to potentially win the game in regulation. Senior point guard Malachi Calderon snagged a big defensive rebound with 1.2 second left before Carlsbad called another timeout.

Although senior small forward Daniel Miller missed a deep 3-pointer at the buzzer, Carlsbad had the momentum entering overtime.

"Hitting free throws, it gave us a lot of energy on defense," senior guard Jordan Wright said. "That fourth quarter was big because we came down with good rebounds, and we knocked down free throws."

Boatwright showed no mercy attacking the basket, taking a couple key trips to the foul line in the process. Boatwright knocked down three of those free throws, and the momentum shifted in Carlsbad’s favor.

With a few extra stops on defense and an extra pair of free throws by senior point guard Ralph Cueto, the tables had turned.

With every defensive stop and every made free throw, Carlsbad slowly built a steady lead and seized control – up 55-51 with 26 seconds left.

"Free throws are a big thing in basketball. Free throws will win games. You've got to go the line with confidence, take your time," Cueto said.

And with every trip to the foul line late in the fourth quarter and in overtime, Carlsbad sent some of Hobbs' key shooters to the bench. Hobbs' Nathan Smith fouled out in the fourth quarter, and Marcus Hodge fouled out in overtime. Jordan Gonzales and Pierre Swain ended the night with four fouls each.

Hodge scored 12 points, all via 3-pointers. Gonzales and Swain scored 11 points apiece and combined for three rebounds and five steals.

Wright put the game away with a layup. Wright was in-bounding the ball, which ricocheted off Hobbs. The ball ended up back in Wright’s hands, and he scored.

"It took us a lot of years to do this. We've been trying to take them down for years, and we finally have the team to do it. I'm real proud," Wright said.

Boatwright had 16 points, nine rebounds and one steal. Wright and Cueto each scored 10 points. Malachi Calderon ended up with nine points (all on 3s), four rebounds and one steal.

Carlsbad won its third straight game against Hobbs in eight nights. And according to coach Jamaal Brown, Saturday marked Carlsbad's first-ever district tournament title.

"The entire sequence at the end, we just really tightened up on defense. We really got motivated with the crowd, and just picked up our intensity," Malachi Calderon said.

Both Carlsbad (21-7) and Hobbs (16-10) will await where they'll be seeded in the 2016 U.S. Bank 6A State Basketball Championships boys bracket. All the brackets will be announced at 4 p.m. Sunday, and all the New Mexico boys first round games begin next Saturday.

Assessing Carlsbad's body of work this year, Brown said he envisions Carlsbad possibly getting the No. 4 seed in the 6A boys bracket.

CARLSBAD 57, HOBBS 51

Up next for Carlsbad: 6A state tournament first round game next Saturday (Opponent, location and time TBD)

Up next for Hobbs: 6A state tournament first round game next Saturday (Opponent, location and time TBD)

Current-Argus Sports Editor Matt Hollinshead may be reached at 575-628-5518.