Serving Clovis, Portales and the Surrounding Communities
Serving Clovis, Portales and the Surrounding Communities
Staff report
LOVINGTON — Lovington hit Clovis High’s girls with a little blitz early in Tuesday’s game, but not to worry.
The Lady Wildcats rebounded to take the lead by the end of the quarter and went on to a 44-32 victory, improving to 4-1 for the season.
Lovington (3-2) jumped in front 8-0 at the outset before the Lady Cats recovered.
“We just came out flat,” CHS girls coach Jeff Reed said. “If we don’t do that, the game could’ve been over by halftime.”
As it was, Clovis staked a 15-13 lead after the first eight minutes, then held Lovington to five points over the next two stanzas — including zero in the third quarter.
Senior guard Danni Williams led CHS with 21 points, including a trio of 3-pointers. The Lady Cats rested senior post Shelby Jones, who is trying to bounce back from a knee injury originally sustained during the soccer season.
“I was happy about the defense in the middle two quarters,” Reed said. “We’re going to have to keep learning and getting better. We can’t (fall behind like that) against the competition we’re going to see this weekend.”
Clovis will take on Class 5A power Roswell High in a 3 p.m. quarterfinal game on Thursday in the Mel Otero Invite at Rio Rancho, then could face fellow 6A contender La Cueva in Friday’s semifinals.
Freshman Teya Morris (five points) and Williams (six) combined for all the Lady Cats’ scoring in the second quarter, helping Clovis open a 26-18 halftime lead. Morris finished with seven points.
Seniors Dee Briggins and Nichele Hyman each came out with two fouls during the second quarter, then Hyman sat out most of the third stanza after quickly picking up her third personal.
Clovis led by 18 points heading into the final moments.
Senior Tayler Valencia scored 13 points and junior Myra Salazar added 11 for Lovington.
