2024-25 Team Preview: Lovington Wildcats

<!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>2024-25 TEAM PREVIEW: LOVINGTON WILDCATS</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>OVERVIEW</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Lovington finished 18-12 last season and reached The Pit for the quarterfinals of the Class 4A playoffs. But they were rudely ousted by Valley, leaving plenty of motivation for this upcoming campaign.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>“It had been about 10 years since Lovington had made the Pit, and I thought our guys were a little mesmerized,” Lovington head coach Casey Pack said. “We did some uncharacteristic things and tried to win the game on our own. This offseason, we've been focused on what we do as a team and being about us and staying connected.” &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Eight players return for the Wildcats from last season's team. But they lose leading scorer Julian Arroyo (16.1 ppg; 1,138 career points), Zadrick Betancourt (7.9 ppg) and Demarcus Thompson (8.8 ppg). &nbsp;&nbsp;</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>PLAYERS TO WATCH</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1687863' first='Kayle' last='Covington'] (F, Sr., 6-5)</strong>: Is Covington the best player in the state? Pack thinks so. Covington averaged 15.7 points and 9.7 rebounds per game as a junior in 2023-24. “Kayle might not be on the best team, but he's definitely the best player in the state,” Pack said. “He wants to win and he's one of the hardest workers on the team. He's long and athletic. Every opponent is going to have a matchup problem with him. I'm excited to see what he does.” Covington has been on the varsity since he was a sophomore (12.7 ppg in 2022-23) and probably would have been as a freshman but he broke his foot that year. He had 15 double-doubles last season. He'll be the team leader in 2024-25.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='2684212' first='Mika' last='Pando'] (G, Sr., 5-11)</strong>: Also a standout in baseball. Pando started for the Wildcats last season and averaged 7.6 points and 3.1 rebounds per game. He's a good shooter from 3-point range.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1326929' first='Elijah' last='Rivero'] (G, Jr., 5-9)</strong>: Rivero is a two-sport standout. He's one of the top wide receivers for the Wildcats with 78 receptions in his last 19 games. And he's pretty good in hoops too. “He's a steady player,” Pack said. Rivero averaged 4.2 points and 2.2 rebounds per game in 2023-24. Expect those numbers to be significantly higher this season.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>JoJo Perez (G, So., 5-7)</strong>: Perez will be the point guard for the Wildcats as a sophomore in 2024-25. He played on the varsity as a freshman last season. “He's going to be a very good player in the future,” Pack said. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>NAMES TO KNOW</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Kyler Reaves (G, Jr., 6-0)</strong>: Another football standout at linebacker. Reaves' best asset is his speed.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Donnivann Gomez (G, So. 6-1)</strong>: Gomez is another sophomore who saw varsity action as a freshmen in 2023-24. His playing time should increase significantly this upcoming season. &nbsp;&nbsp;</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Valente Herrera (F, Sr., 6-4)</strong>: Herrera is an elite offensive lineman for the Wildcats football team. In hoops, he brings great size to the interior. His main jobs are to rebound, block shots and play defense. &nbsp;</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Payton Hernandez (G, Jr.)</strong>: Hernadez is a defensive specialist. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>KEY NEWCOMERS</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Ondalis Cardenas (G, Sr., 5-9): </strong>The athletic Cardenas is an outstanding running back for the Wildcats football team. He missed the entire 2023-24 basketball season with a knee injury but should be a major contributor this season. “Ondalis is going to be a spark, but nobody knows about him because of his injury,” Pack said.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='2706601' first='Justin' last='Villalobos'] (So.)</strong>: Played JV last season and should make the jump to varsity as a sophomore.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>FINAL THOUGHTS</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Pack expects a season long battle with rival Artesia for the district championship. Getting back to The Pit is one of the Wildcats' top goals.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>“A lot of our guys got to play in the Pit and step on the floor,” Pack said. “We got blown out. But they want to get back.”</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:embed {"url":"https://twitter.com/CpackWildcats/status/1769925487344681317","type":"rich","providerNameSlug":"twitter","responsive":true} --> <figure class="wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-twitter wp-block-embed-twitter"><div class="wp-block-embed__wrapper"> https://twitter.com/CpackWildcats/status/1769925487344681317 </div></figure> <!-- /wp:embed --> <!-- wp:embed {"url":"https://twitter.com/CpackWildcats/status/1769926049041637840","type":"rich","providerNameSlug":"twitter","responsive":true} --> <figure class="wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-twitter wp-block-embed-twitter"><div class="wp-block-embed__wrapper"> https://twitter.com/CpackWildcats/status/1769926049041637840 </div></figure> <!-- /wp:embed --> <!-- wp:embed {"url":"https://twitter.com/kayl_covington/status/1745307302687895853","type":"rich","providerNameSlug":"twitter","responsive":true} --> <figure class="wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-twitter wp-block-embed-twitter"><div class="wp-block-embed__wrapper"> https://twitter.com/kayl_covington/status/1745307302687895853 </div></figure> <!-- /wp:embed --> <!-- wp:embed {"url":"https://twitter.com/kayl_covington/status/1820665806633435401","type":"rich","providerNameSlug":"twitter","responsive":true} --> <figure class="wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-twitter wp-block-embed-twitter"><div class="wp-block-embed__wrapper"> https://twitter.com/kayl_covington/status/1820665806633435401 </div></figure> <!-- /wp:embed -->