Twice in 2007, Jordan Mendoza’s right wrist bone has separated. As 2008 begins, his wrist is together, just like the Wildcat basketball team. “The one word I associate with this team is family,” Mendoza said during a break from a weightlifting session modified for his wrist to recover. “We’re all really close together and we always hang out together. I like the way the team is bonding.” At 9-0, it’s tough to argue. The Wildcats enter the 2008 portion of their season tonight at Amarillo High. It’s the first time Clovis is in a rematch, three weeks removed from a season-opening 67-31 win. Just four days removed from football season, the Wildcats succeeded in playing a running game with little set offense. But Clovis coach J.D. Isler knows that won’t be a winning formula too much longer. “What’s kind of carried us is our defense and our pressure and how hard we play,” Isler said. “But we’re really not smooth offensively to date.” Monday’s practice was the first time Isler said the Wildcats haven’t had to prepare for a new opponent, and he used the practice to heavily focus on half-court offense. Should the Wildcats take the rematch from the Sandies, they’ll be 10-0 heading into a three-game homestand. But Isler knows the team won’t view the stretch as a cakewalk, since one of the visitors is highly-touted Sandia High. “I don’t think this group of seniors will let us take anything too lightly,” Isler said. “That’s the thing about good leadership.” And the seniors lead even when their roles change through injuries or the transition to varsity minutes. Both are true for Mendoza, who first broke the wrist last track season while throwing the javelin and broke it again on a tackle in the third game of the Wildcat football season. “I don’t shoot as much as I used to back in (junior varsity last season),” Mendoza said. “I’ll take a shot if I’m wide open, but if not I’ll kick it out to shooters like Jaden (Isler) and Bryce (Hill).” Even with fewer shots, Mendoza wouldn’t change a thing about the Wildcats’ start. “We were all real close and we stayed in shape from football season,” he said. “We’ve made the transition well.”