Clovis topples Lady Rams

Portales girls coach Clay Stout knew he was taking a calculated risk, playing a box-and-one defense against Clovis High sophomore Danni Williams.

The Lady Rams made it tough on Williams and, for a long time, the Lady Wildcats. But a 3-pointer by senior guard Miranda Loera opened a seven-point margin at the half, and Clovis pulled away to a 58-41 victory on Tuesday night at the Ram Athletic Center.

Portales (11-6), ranked fifth in Class 3A, held Williams to 14 points, about six under her average, but guards Brandi Gomez and Niki Cordova each nailed a trio of 3-pointers and finished with 13 and 11, respectively, for the Class 5A top-ranked Lady Cats (16-1).

"When you play somebody like Clovis, you want to make them think," Stout said. "If you don't (do something), they're just too good."

For the Lady Cats, nothing their neighbors to the south did was going to be a total surprise.

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JOSHUA LUCERO: PNT correspondent

Clovis senior Niki Cordova, left, and Portales junior Francis Armijo dive for a loose ball iduring the second half of Tuesday's girls matchup at the RAC.

They always make us work," said Cordova, who notched a season scoring high and tallied all but two of her points in the second half. "We knew we were going to have to work for every shot."

Clovis finished the game with nine 3-pointers.

"We were able to hit some shots from outside," CHS coach Jeff Reed said. "At halftime, we made an adjustment to the box-and-one they were playing and we were able to get some open looks."

Williams started the game with a 3-pointer, then hit one near the end of the first quarter to give the Lady Cats the lead for good.

Reed sent his team out in a man-to-man defense, but went to half-court traps out of a 2-3 zone after the first period. Portales had 13 turnovers in the middle two segments after committing just two in the opening stanza.

"I was hoping we could play them better in straight-up man-to-man, but (the traps) at least made it hard for them," Reed said.

The Lady Cats forced turnovers on Portales' first two possessions after halftime and converted them into baskets by junior Carrie Sharp and Cordova for an 11-point lead. They used an 8-0 run over the latter part of the third quarter to stretch their advantage to 16.

"I think we could've started better," Cordova said. "At the beginning we weren't disciplined, but after a while we kind of adjusted."

The young Lady Rams, who hadn't lost by more than three points before a 42-22 loss to Class 4A No. 3 Roswell High last Thursday, can build on Tuesday's performance, Stout said.

"I was pleased with our effort," he said. "I feel like we can get better if we can keep playing hard."

Junior post Savannah Vincent and freshman guard Sheraya Cox each had eight points for PHS.