La Cueva tops Clovis girls to take district's second seed

ALBUQUERQUE — Clovis HIgh couldn't find the basket in the second half. Now the Wildcats are hoping to find their way back to Albuquerque this week.

Senior post Denae Giersch beat Clovis from inside and out en route to a game-high 19 points, and La Cueva topped Clovis 52-45 in what was a battle for second place in this week's District 2-6A tournament.

Deja Sandoval added 13 for the Bears (14-10, 7-3), who entered Saturday's game tied in the standings with the Wildcats. They ended it knowing whoever they host Friday will have to battle through Tuesday and Wednesday games just to get there.

The tournament will open Tuesday, with third-seeded Clovis hosting Santa Fe while Sandia hosts the 4-5 game with Manzano. If Clovis wins, it would host either the Matadors or Monarchs. The Wednesday winner faces No. 2 La Cueva, with top seed Eldorado hosting Saturday. All games are scheduled for 6:30 p.m.

"Last year, Sandia was the 3-seed," Clovis coach Jeff Reed said. "They won three straight, took the district tournament and then went on to win the state championship. I'm hoping we can get on a tear like that. That would be awesome."

To have that chance, the Lady Cats (15-11, 6-4) will have to be more consistent on offense. Clovis was led by Teya Morris' 18 points, but nobody else posted more than six on the night as the team was outscored 29-16 after halftime.

"The biggest thing is we stopped scoring," Reed said. "Four of our five 3-pointers were in the first half. We had a ton of turnovers, missed layups. There was a point where we were up 37-36, we turned the ball over five times in a row, then they hit a big 3.

"We had too many turnovers, too much standing around on offense. We just stopped being aggressive. We went into a fog all of a sudden."

Reed credited Giersch with going on a tear, including three of the Bears' six 3-pointers.