The Clarendon Broncos won the first State Championship in CHS history today, winning the Class 2A Boys’ Basketball title with a 64-60 victory over Grapeland. See next week’s Enterprise for complete coverage and photos!
This Week
Broncos to play for 2021 state title
The Clarendon Broncos will play for the 2021 Class 2A state championship this Saturday, March 13, at the Alamodome in San Antonio.
Clarendon defeated Lipan, 68-47, in a face-paced game Tuesday afternoon in Graham to win the state semi-final. The Broncos will face Grapeland on Saturday. Grapeland advanced after defeating Schulenburg, 74-60, Tuesday night.
Broncos win regional title
The Broncos brought home two gold balls last week in their quest to become number one in the class 2A standings for the 2020-2021 season.
Only two games remain in their mission to win a State Championship. As the Enterprise went to press Monday night, the Broncos were preparing to play Lipan in Graham on March 9 to punch their ticket to the State Final game in San Antonio this weekend.
Game results will be posted on ClarendonLive.com and on Facebook.com/TheEnterprise. The Mulkey Theatre will be screening the games live on the big screen with no charge for admission.
In the Wink game, Senior Donovan Thompson’s 37-point game helped to propel their way to the Regional Championship in a high-scoring game that finished at 85-65 in front of at least 1,000 fans at Littlefield High School.
The Broncos played hard in the opening quarter, but only led by five when time ran out on the first eight minutes of play. They were able to regroup defensively and hold off the Wildcat offense with their strength and quickness.
The Broncos quickly put points on the board to lead by 12 about the 5-minute mark and finish the quarter with a good lead at 41-28.
The third quarter is when Thompson made his big run in the game making 16 of his point total. Overall, the Broncos’ solid offensive attack worked well all night long with each of the Broncos making a difference at just the right times. The Broncos turned in a 67 percent scoring average from the free throw line, which is huge in a big game. The Wildcats were not far behind the Broncos as they put in 62 percent of their attempts.
Joining Thompson in double figures was Cayden D’Costa with 14, Lamarcus Peniger with 13 points, and Sylvester Ballard with 10.
Jordan Herndon finished with six, Lyric Smith three, and Jmaury Davis and Harrison Howard put in one each.
Earlier in the week, the Broncos flew by Christoval at 51-29 in the Regional Semi-Final game in Slaton. The Broncos had an easy go of it against the Cougars, but team realizes things will get tougher down the road. Once again, the Broncos took the early lead in the game and held the Cougars to only 10 points in the first half of play to lead by 23.
Davis was unstoppable as he put in 18 points in the game converting four for four from the bonus line. As a team, the Broncos put in 67 percent of their free shots.
Christoval was never able to make any kind of a run on the Broncos as once again their quickness on the court caused too many turnovers for their opponent.
Herndon and Ballard put in eight points each in the win, and Thompson and D’Costa added six apiece, while Peniger added five.
COVID-19 vaccine available this week; Zero local infections for third week
Clarendon Family Medical Center will be getting more COVID-19 vaccine doses this week as Donley County reports its third week with no active cases.
Donley County Judge John Howard, MD, said 306 people were vaccinated by state officials on Friday at the Bairfield Activity Center.
The local clinic has conducted 15 more tests since last Monday, but none of the tests came back positive.
Clinic spokesperson Marsha Bruce says vaccinations will be given to medical employees, those 65 and older, school teachers and staff, daycare workers, and anyone over 18 with high risk chronic medical conditions. If someone’s doctor has advised them to get the vaccine, they are also eligible to get the shot.
Those interested in being vaccinated are asked to call the clinic and sign up at 874-3531. Due to storage requirements for the vaccine, doses will be given to ten patients at a time.
CC men’s rodeo wins Odessa
The Clarendon College Rodeo Teams competed at Odessa in the first rodeo of the semester February 25-27, and the men’s team came away with several event champions as well as the team championship.
They finished with 465 points followed by Western Texas College with 400, Sul Ross University with 395 and Texas Tech University with 225 points as the top four teams.
In the bareback riding, Rickey Williams scored a 72 in both the long and short rounds to finish sixth in the average while Cole Franks was 74 in the long round for third place and 73 in the short round to finish fourth in the average.
Clarendon had four saddle bronc riders make it back to the short round with Cash Wilson winning the top spot with his rides of 80 points in the long round for first place, 74 and fourth place in the short round and first place in the average. Cole Franks was 70 points in the long round and tied for first in the short round with a 79-point ride finishing third in the average.
Keene Justesen tied for second in the long round with his 75 point ride while his 70 points in the short round earned him fourth in the average. Cauy Pennington was 70 points in the long round but bucked off in the short round. Kreese Milligan and Dawson Reedy brought home the buckles in the team roping by winning both rounds and the average with their 6.8 and 7.3 second runs.
In the bull riding, Dawson Gleaves was fourth in the long round with his 72 point ride and won the short round with an 84-point ride putting him second in the average.
The Bulldogs held on to their top spot in the team standings while Wison and Franks maintained the top spots in the saddle bronc and bareback riding standings.
The team’s next rodeo is scheduled for March 18-20 in Levelland and is being hosted by Eastern New Mexico University.
Hedley play advances
Hedley High School’s One Act Play, “Over The River and Through the Woods,” is advancing after the district competition last Thursday, March 4, in Groom.
Schools at the competition were Groom, Silverton, White Deer, and Hedley. Advancing schools were Hedley, Groom, and White Deer.
The advancing schools will compete in bi-district competition on Thursday, March 11, at Ft. Elliott High School. The Owls will take the stage at 10:00. Visitors will be allowed at Ft. Elliott; however, masks are required.
Earning recognition from Hedley were: Best Performer-Savannah Trent; Best Performer-Jordan Upton; All Star Cast- Leandra Mestas; All Star Cast-Joshua Booth; Honorable Mention All Star Cast-Elijah Booth; Over All Technical Crew- Esteban Carreon, Astin McAllister, Danika Middleton, and Liam Branigan; and Best Sound- Danika Middleton.
Frank L. Neal
Long-time Fort Collins resident Frank L. Neal, 83, died March 2, 2021 with his family by his side.
A graveside service with military honors will be held at the Groom Cemetery in Groom on March 15, 2021, 2:00 p.m.
Arrangements are by Vessey Funeral Service in Fort Collins, CO., and Robertson Funeral Directors of Clarendon.
Frank moved to Colorado in the late 1950’s after serving in the Army and became a successful business leader in Cheyenne, Wyoming. He spent many years developing real estate, commercial businesses such as a travel agency, restaurants and entertainment venues, including a bowling alley and Cheyenne’s Big Country Speedway.
Frank served faithfully at REZ church for nearly thirty-six years with his wife, Sharon Neal, and found some of his greatest enjoyment in watching the church grow and impact families across Northern Colorado. He shared a passion for being one of the last great “Texas Cowboys”, raising livestock, boating on Horsetooth and camping along the Front Range. In his retirement years he cherished planting trees and building a small ranch in Bellvue, Colorado.
As a father, and later a grandpa, Frank was always ready to joke, impart wisdom, or simply sit and listen, and his outgoing nature left an impression on his kids and all those he loved. He was overjoyed to celebrate his 50th wedding anniversary this past year to Sharon Rose Neal (Yosten) of Columbus, Nebraska. He is survived by his wife, six children and their spouses, sixteen grandchildren and six great-grandchildren, as well as his brother Bennie.
Sign the online guestbook at www.robertsonfuneral.com
Broncos win regional quarter final
Hard-fought games bring out the best in a team and the Clarendon Broncos proved that Friday night with a huge Regional Quarterfinal win over Floydada in Canyon.
The 62-52 win puts them in the Regional Semi-Final Round this week. The Broncos were scheduled to play Christoval at Slaton on March 2. Game results will be posted on ClarendonLive.com and Facebook.com/TheEnterprise.
On Friday, the two fairly evenly matched teams went toe-to-toe in the opening eight minutes of the game and ended with the Broncos up one point. It looked like it might stay that way through halftime until the Broncos found an offensive edge with just a little time on the clock before the half. They were able to score six unanswered points that results in a big momentum boost going into the locker room.
Another scoring run in the third allowed the Broncos the cushion they needed to all but secure the win. Floydada fought hard, but too many turnovers cost them the game. Fighting foul trouble, the Broncos were able to stay solid on both ends to get the win.
Jmaury Davis led the way with 22 points and Lamarcus Peniger was right behind him with 21. Jordan Herndon added seven, Cayden D’Costa had five, Sylvester Ballard helped with four, and Donovan Thompson had three.
Earlier last week, the Broncos played Farwell at Vega and claimed the area championship with a victory of 58-49.
State shot clinic to be here March 5
The state health department will host a COVID-19 vaccination clinic at the Clarendon College Bairfield Activity Center Friday, March 5; and local residents are asked to sign up now for an appointment.
Donley County Judge John Howard, MD, said the state is bringing 500 doses of the Moderna vaccine and will administer the shots from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.
The primary purpose of the clinic is to give as many people as possible the first dose of the two-step vaccination. A second clinic will be held on April 6 to administer the second dose, Howard said.
However, if a person has already received the first round of the Moderna vaccine, they can get the second dose during the March 5 clinic. State officials request those needing the second dose schedule as late in the day as possible to allow the most people to get the first round of the vaccine.
Those wishing to receive the vaccination must pre-register online for a specific timeslot at the following link: https://bit.ly/2PoL3el or by viewing this article at ClarendonLive.com. Residents without Internet access can go by the Burton Memorial Library for assistance signing up.
The clinic is for people age 18 and older with priority given to residents in Phases 1A and 1B as explained at this link along with other important information: https://bit.ly/3sErJYJ
The state personnel will be staying over in Clarendon Friday night and will hold another vaccination clinic in Memphis the next day, Howard said. If a local resident cannot make the Friday clinic in Clarendon, they might consider trying to go the Memphis site. Details on the Memphis clinic were not available at press time.
The arrival of the vaccination clinic comes as the number of active COVID-19 infections has fallen off in Donley County.
The Clarendon Family Medical Center reported Monday that it had no new positives at all last week, and there are currently no active cases in the clinic’s care. This again does not include information on people who have may have tested at facilities outside the county.
Updated numbers from the state list Donley County as having 13 fatalities from COVID-19 since the pandemic began.
Tunnell named county clerk
Judge John Howard administers the oath office to Vicki Tunnell as the new Donley County Clerk after she was appointed to the position by county commissioners in a called meeting last Friday. Tunnell succeeds Fay Vargas, who retired at the end of last month after more than 34 years in office. Courtesy Photo
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