Kendall Milton (MVP) and Brock Jones star in USA football game
Buchanan teammates Kendall Milton and Brock Jones were on the football field together again, this time suiting up for the U-17 USA Football team at AT&T Stadium in Texas, home of the Dallas Cowboys, in the International Bowl on Jan. 19.
Last year it was Brock Jones who earned MVP honors with three touchdowns – two punt returns and one interception return. Jones transferred to Buchanan before the 2017 football season from Clovis North.
And this year it was Milton, as the sophomore running back stole the show, gaining MVP honors rushing for three touchdowns and 98 yards on only eight carries in Team USA’s 50-6 win over Team British Columbia.
“It was amazing,” Milton said. “It was amazing to perform at a high level with a whole bunch of the top players in the country.”
Milton, rated as the No. 1 running back in the nation for the class of 2020, rushed for 1,514 yards and 23 total touchdowns in a season where the Bears finished 10-3 and reached the D-I Valley championship game where they lost to Central.
Jones played safety and returned kicks last season for Buchanan. The 6-foot, 180 pound junior is also a highly recruited baseball player and has received scholarship offers from Pac-12 schools Stanford, Washington, Oregon, Oregon St., and Arizona. He’s also received offers from Miami and Fresno State.
“Going into next season we expect to be going into the Valley championship,” added Milton. “But we know that won’t happen without all the hard work during the off season.”
Milton holds 13 Division I offers which include Florida State, Arizona State, USC, UCLA, Washington, Utah, Arizona, Oregon State, BYU, Colorado State, Colorado, San Jose State and Fresno State.
Milton and Jones were both named first team All-TRAC for the 2017 season.
Clovis boys win first TRAC basketball game since 2015
The monkey is officially off the back of the Clovis boys basketball team. The Cougars won their first league game since 2015 when they beat Clovis North 77-73 on the road on Jan. 19, setting off a sigh of relief that reverberated through the city of Clovis.
“They deserve this,” said first year head coach Cory Fischer. “For the kids it was, ‘Yeah, we did it.’ It was a feeling that they haven’t felt for a long time.”
Since their last league win, they went 26 league games without tasting victory, including two heartbreaking losses to open league this season: a 71-70 setback to Buchanan where they lead 20-10 after the first quarter and a 63-61 buzzer-beater loss to Clovis East on Jan. 16.
And against Clovis North (9-11), the Cougars (13-7) saw a 10 point lead in the fourth quarter dwindle slowly to two points right before their eyes. However, this time senior guard Anthony Martinez, who scored 32 points, made sure this one wouldn’t get away and calmly sank two free throws with 6.2 seconds left to seal the sweet-tasting victory.
“We were tight and the reason is because of that King Kong looking thing right on our back,” said Fischer, a 1997 Clovis graduate. “The kids just didn’t know how to win a league game. They’ve never experienced it and forgot what it looks like.
“We are two baskets away from being 3-0, we are not that far off. That’s a good mindset for them to have.”
The win was extra sweet for the group of five senior who have played on varsity since their sophomore year: Martinez, Caleb Malalis, Jalen Wills, Justin Lowery and Cooper Huyck.
“It feels great,” said Martinez, a 5-foot-10 shooting guard. “It was a good team win for us and hopefully we can use this momentum for upcoming games. I also think that it shows Clovis basketball should never be counted out.”
Martinez isn’t shy about the confidence his team has the rest of the season.
“I think this win really shows that our team can compete with teams in the Valley,” Martinez said. “It really motivates all of us to keep competing and working hard at practice everyday so we can continue to have the same outcome as this game.”
Clovis North boys take soccer lead at 5-0, beat state No. 6 Clovis 1-0
With a lot of the talk revolving around the Clovis boys soccer team – and justifiably so at 16-0-3 at the time and ranked No. 7 in the state – Clovis North wasn’t having any of it.
After all, the Broncos were no slouch at 12-2-2 coming in to their highly anticipated match at home on Jan. 12 – and wouldn’t you know it. Clovis North brought the thunder and behind a single goal from Rajvir Johal late in the first half on a near post shot, assisted by Luis Castillo, eventually taking down the defending D-I Valley champion Clovis 1-0.
“The team was pumped to win against Clovis and take sole lead of the TRAC,” Clovis North head coach Cameron Shahrokhi said. “I was impressed with the way our team handled the match and I thought we played very organized. It felt great to win the first one against them but we know we are going to see them again soon and possibly for a third time in playoffs. They are loaded with talent.”
Clovis North had a chance for another goal just before half but Clovis keeper Evan Ghimenti saved it, keeping the Broncos with the 1-0 lead heading into half. Senior Cooper Wenzel earned the shutout for the Broncos.
Clovis North has a balanced team, evidenced by their roster featuring nine seniors, five juniors, five sophomores and one freshman, outscoring opponents 62-10 on the season.
And that one freshman on the team? His name is Christian Silva – coach Shahrokhi calls him “a special player” – and he’s the team’s leading scorer on the season with 13 goals with seven assists. Junior Josh Tyburski has recorded 11 goals, Johal, who scored the game-winner against Clovis, has eight and senior McKay Severance has seven.
Sophomore goalkeeper Wenzel has allowed only nine goals on the season and registered 60 saves.
To further show they are a title contender, the Broncos showed no sign of letdown of the Clovis win as they beat Clovis West 2-0 on Jan. 16, and in a tightly battled match beat Buchanan 3-1 in a game that went to two overtimes on Jan. 19.
Shahrokhi praises the work of captains Mckay Severance, Raul Jazo and Luis Castillo and starting defenders Sam Jazo, Brock Goerlich, Wayne Rutledge and Mohammed Manasrah along with goalkeeper Wenzel.
“This is a very tight knit group,” Shahrokhi said. “Our coaching staff has been creating a great environment at training. Couldn’t ask for a better group of young men and coaches to work with everyday.”
The wacky world of boys basketball
Think the boys basketball league season is off to rousing start? Well, after three games, four of the six schools, Clovis West, Clovis East, Buchanan and Central are all sitting at 2-1. Clovis is 1-2 and Clovis North is 0-3.
And the games have been tight, the biggest margin of victory is 11 points in nine league games so far this season. Follow me if you can: in the first round, Central beats CW but Buchanan upsets Central (without star scorer Cam’Ron Wilson), Buchanan beats Clovis by a point, then Clovis East beats Clovis on buzzer beater, Clovis West beats Clovis East and Buchanan. Around they go.
BOYS RECORDS & STANDINGS AS OF JAN. 23
Clovis West 19-3, 2-1
Clovis East 11-8, 2-1
Buchanan 11-11, 2-1
Central 16-6, 2-1
Clovis 13-7, 1-2
Clovis North 9-11, 0-3
GIRLS RECORDS & STANDINGS AS OF JAN. 23
Clovis West 20-3, 3-0
Clovis North 19-2, 3-0
Clovis 14-7, 2-1
Buchanan 11-8, 1-2
Clovis East 11-10, 0-3
Central 7-14, 0-3