Portales senior guard Nick Bliss flies to the basket during Tuesday night’s game at Clovis. The Wildcats won the game 77-55.

CLOVIS — It wasn’t hard to tell Tuesday night which team already had six games under its belt.

The Clovis Wildcats (4-3) used a frenetic pressure defense to force six turnovers on Portales’ first seven possessions, and never trailed in posting a 77-55 win over the Portales Rams.

The visiting Rams had some defensive highlights of their own, holding senior post Jaye Crockett to a season-low 22 points, 12 below his average.

But poor execution early from Portales, and a balanced scoring night from Clovis, kept pushing the Wildcat lead further, to as high as 29 following a three-point play from post Arthur Calbert to start the fourth.

Calbert, who added 15, was saddled with foul trouble all night. So too was Crockett, who picked up a technical during a first-half scuffle with Marcus Slocum, Portales’ leading scorer with 22 points.

The foul trouble led to a second quarter of 19 free throws for the Rams.

“I really thought we got in a good rhythm early, but then we had the foul onslaught,” Clovis coach J.D. Isler said. “It’s difficult to get into a rhythm when every time down the floor there’s a whistle.”

The free-throw shooting for Portales — 24-of-34 on the night — helped keep the margin of defeat respectable on a night where little else went right for the Rams.

“We came out, we were a little tight,” Portales coach Mark Gallegos said. “I know it’s only our third game of the year, but I’m kind of disappointed with our execution.

“The team’s been together long enough. We’ve got to be able to make plays.”

Shawn Carrasco and Nick Bliss each added 10 for Portales.

With the other Clovis posts in foul trouble, junior Logan Turnbow helped fill the void with 12 points, mostly on follows and broken plays.

“That’s kind of my role,” said the 6-foot-7, 185-pound Turnbow. “Jaye and Arthur are going to get most of the touches, but when I come in I still have to produce as much as I can.”

Isler thought Turnbow played well, and the Wildcats got good guard play from Stefan Mills and Alex Flores throughout the night.
Guard Dexter Correll added 11 for Clovis.

The win ends a hectic early schedule for the Wildcats, with seven games in the season’s first nine days. Clovis is off until Saturday’s home affair against Goddard.

Turnbow said it was good to help a relatively new team get some chemistry, but it was bad because they couldn’t knock the small mistakes out in practices.

“We have a good group,” Turnbow said. “We’ve just got to keep jelling and do the little things right.”

Gallegos feels the same way about the Rams, who are looking to win their fifth-consecutive District 4-3A title. Portales hosts Muleshoe Friday.

“I hope that people know how good this team can be,” Gallegos said, “but it’s going to take a lot of hard work.”