Clovis rallies to top Cleveland

CLOVIS — Whatever else happened to the Clovis girls basketball team this weekend, whatever else happens to them throughout the winter, the Lady Wildcats may look back at Friday’s 41-35 comeback victory over Cleveland as one of their most important games of the season, as the night they found their identity.

The young Lady ’Cats began Friday’s game at Rock Staubus Gymnasium still searching for that identity, with a befitting 1-1 record. And then there was the Lady Storm, heading into the Rock at 4-0.

Through more than three quarters, Clovis trailed. But in the fourth, the Lady Wildcats discovered consistent offense and worked their way for the come-from-behind win.

It seemed to be a benchmark victory. Benchmark or not, it was a good night to be a Lady ’Cat.

“It was a great win for us over a 5A opponent that we may be jockeying with for position in the state tournament later on,” Clovis head coach Jeff Reed said. “So it was a big win for us to be able to get over them.”

“It was tough because of all the intensity,” Clovis sophomore guard/post Mikyla Harkley said after scoring a game-high 12 points. “But once we started to pull it out, we became better and started to get into the flow of the game.”

“It was very intense,” Clovis senior post Antanishwa Molett said. “It all came down to focus and coming together as a team.”

Clovis trailed 16-7 after one quarter, 23-17 at halftime. During the third quarter, it almost seemed like the New Mexico Activities Association ordered a temporary ban on scoring, because neither team was doing any. It wasn’t until 1:43 remained in the third that someone finally did, as Madison Tolbert hit the second of two free-throw attempts to make it 23-18.

Cleveland’s Yarithza Moss scored to give her team a 25-18 lead, but Clovis scored the last four points of the third quarter — on buckets from Tolbert and Harkley — and narrowed the difference to 25-22 by the period’s end.

On the fourth quarter’s opening possession, Harkley looked like she was driving the lane before she dished to junior guard Annabelle Martinez in the right corner. Martinez calmly sank a three and tied the game at 25.

Moss quickly answered on the other end to put Cleveland up by two, but an inside basket from Molett off another slick Harkley dish knotted the game at 27. And after Cleveland’s Kaylee Caldwell and Clovis’ Kaydee Weaver each went 1-for-2 from the foul line, the game was tied again, this time at 28.

It was the only time during the quarter that Weaver missed a foul shot. She ended up shooting 5-for-6 from the stripe in the fourth, and though they were her only five points of the game, they were crucial.

In fact, after Weaver missed that free throw — a shot that would’ve given Clovis its first lead of the night, 29-28 — the Lady Wildcats hustled to retain possession and Weaver wound up back at the line again. This time she sank both foul shots and handed Clovis a 30-28 advantage with 5:06 to play in the fourth quarter.

On the other end, Wildcats junior guard Cierra Jenkins came up with a big defensive rebound, starting a possession that ended with a fast-break layup from Harkley. It was nearly halfway through the fourth quarter and Clovis led 32-28.

A Shawntae Salazar field goal brought Cleveland within two, and though the Lady Wildcats temporarily cooled off from the foul line, missing their next four attempts, Weaver ended the drought by going 2-for-2 from the line with 2:34 left in the fourth. Harkley was just as accurate from the stripe with 1:37 left, and handed Clovis a 36-30 lead.

A right-side trey by Cleveland’s Vanessa Rendon brought Cleveland right back in it, 36-33, but Harkley answered immediately with a fast-break layup that gave Clovis a five-point cushion.

From then on, it was all done at the foul line. Molett went 1-for-2 from the stripe to make it 39-33, Mariah Cordova nailed two foul shots to bring Cleveland within four, and with just 17.9 seconds to go, Martinez sank two clutch free throws, giving her 10 points on the night and supplying a last bit of insurance for Clovis.

Soon it was over, and the Lady Wildcats could face the rest of their season with some more swagger.

“We figured out a way to win instead of lose, which is a big deal for us,” Reed said. “We played them in the summertime and we lost to them in overtime. But this time, we figured out a way to win.”

“I think coming in we were kind of iffy about our confidence,” Harkley said. “But then once we pulled it out, we knew we were stronger, we can beat other teams.”

“We’ve got a lot of confidence,” Molett said, “because this was a big game.”