Serving Clovis, Portales and the Surrounding Communities
Serving Clovis, Portales and the Surrounding Communities
RIO RANCHO —A fast start wasn’t enough for Clovis High’s girls on Thursday night.
Centennial held the Lady Wildcats to 13 second-half points and rallied for a 43-38 win over Clovis in the quarterfinals of the Mel Otero Invite.
The Lady Cats (3-2), who saw their three-game winning streak come to an end, will Valencia, a 55-45 loser to Rio Rancho on Thursday, in a 3 p.m. consolation semifinal today.
“We had a great start, and then we started getting into foul trouble,” Lady Cats coach Jeff Reed said. “They call the game a little (tighter) up here, and we have to make the adjustment.”
The Lady Cats led 12-5 after a quarter, and carried a 25-22 advantage into the break as senior post Monay Phillips scored all of her 11 points in the second period, including three 3-pointers.
“If she doesn’t do that, we don’t survive the second quarter,” Reed said.
The Lady Hawks (5-1) outscored Clovis 11-4 in the third period, and held a six-point lead about midway through the final stanza. Clovis cut it to two points and forced a turnover with about a minute left, but then turned it back over to Centennial.
“I feel like we did a great job defensively (in the second half), but we turned the ball over too much and missed too many shots,” Reed said.
Junior Teya Morris finished with 18 points for Clovis despite getting into foul trouble in the second period.
Brooklyn Calderazzo led the Lady Hawks with 13 points, including four of the team’s seven 3-point baskets.
