Lady 'Cats fall

CLOVIS - The Clovis girls basketball team's season has been kind of like 'It's a Wonderful Life' in reverse.

Minus the angel trying to earn his wings, the Lady Wildcats have seen snippets of how good things could be. Though they're 8-17 overall, 1-4 in District 4-5A, the Lady 'Cats have displayed promise here and there, had chances if only they could get a stop or make a little run, cash in on more free-throw opportunities.

If only.

Friday night's regular-season home finale against Hobbs featured more snippets, more glimpses into what could be. Though playing the top team in their district and the state, Clovis was in the game throughout the first half, had chances to make an early-third-quarter run, made a charge at the end.

The result was still a 47-41 loss, setback No. 17 for Clovis. But there were those signs.

"We fought hard, we didn't give up, we didn't fade away," Clovis head coach Jeff Reed said. "And I'll betcha that's what they wanted, for us to fade away. We've got to start out better. I was trying to fire them up at the beginning because we came out sort of lackadaisical, we didn't block out, we gave them too many shot opportunities."

The Lady Wildcats showed promise early, erasing a 4-0 deficit with an Annabelle Martinez trey and two Antanishwa Molett foul shots that gave them a 5-4 advantage less than two minutes into the game.

Hobbs, though, began taking command by dominating the offensive glass and collecting steal after steal, thwarting most of the momentum Clovis could muster. Hobbs moved ahead, and after a driving shot by Madison Tolbert cut the Lady Eagles' lead to 12-10, Hobbs scored seven straight to end the first quarter on a A'Niya Heckard three, two Heckard free throws, and MacKenzye Gibson's steal and layup, making it a 19-10 game by quarter's end.

The second quarter featured a lot of the same and also ended with a nine-point difference, this time 26-17.

"We try to generate offense with our defense," Hobbs head coach Joe Carpenter said. "And getting extra shots is obviously a plus. We had a size advantage so we should get extra shots."

Still, it was a manageable deficit for Clovis heading into the third quarter. And the Lady Wildcats had four different chances to cut into that deficit before Hobbs scored again, but weren't able to do so.

Finally, Hobbs got an inside basket from Mariah Jennings, which was followed by a Clovis turnover, which was followed by a fast-break hoop from Jennings to make it 30-17. On the Lady Eagles' next possession, Amiah Smith hit a free throw. On the Hobbs possession after that, Smith nailed a three. And on the Eagles' possession after that, Wisdom Anthony hit a short jumper, completing a 10-0 run that gave Hobbs a 36-17 lead.

But not so fast. Despite that 19-point hole and a 41-24 deficit early in the fourth quarter, Clovis battled back, chiseling the difference down to 43-32. A running hook by Tolbert brought it to single digits for the first time since early in the third, and after Hobbs pushed it back into double digits by going up 45-34, Mikyla Harkley scored to pull the Lady 'Cats within nine again.

Clovis was surging but time was running out. With just under a minute to play in the fourth, Martinez sank a three to make it 45-39. Harkley then collected a steal, but Clovis couldn't capitalize on the possession she created. On the other end, Smith hit two free throws that gave Hobbs an eight-point lead.

After the Lady Wildcats failed to score on their next possession, Molett gave them another one with a steal and finished it with a layup that brought Clovis within 47-41. By this time, though, only 2.8 seconds remained and the game was pretty much out of reach.

Still, the Wildcats fought. Molett was fouled on her shot, then bricked the free-throw attempt so Clovis would have a chance at the rebound. Harkley grabbed it, zipped the ball out to Martinez on the left elbow, but Martinez's three-point attempt missed and the game ended with a six-point Hobbs victory.

"There's a reason why they're No. 1," Reed said of the Lady Eagles. "They had a horrible game tonight, but they still did enough to be able to win the game."

Carpenter will take the win that improved his team to 24-1 overall, 5-0 district. But he wasn't exactly thrilled with how the victory came about.

"This a difficult team to get a gauge on," Carpenter said. "Last year's team I had a gauge on, this year's team I don't. I'd say we're probably not where we need to be right now. And that's coaching; I need to do a better job."

Carlsbad came to town

The Carlsbad girls basketball team's 55-34 road win over Clovis Tuesday night was not exactly breaking news.

With the Cavegirls' record and reputation, a victory over young Clovis was expected; a loss would've been one for the breaking news file. So Tuesday's outcome was more of the same for Carlsbad, who improved to 21-3 overall, 3-1 in District 4-5A.

As expected as the victory may have been, it was also welcomed by Cavegirls head coach John Zumbrun.

"We're 21-3. If you told me before the season we'd be 21-3, I think we'd take it," Zumbrun said. "But I think we have some improvements to make."

For the Lady Wildcats, Tuesday's game also played out in similar fashion to most of their prior ones - some promise, a few glimmers of hope before an ultimate defeat. First- and third-quarter runs gave the Lady 'Cats some of those glimmers before they fell to 8-16 overall, 1-3 district.

"The thing about Carlsbad, you can hold 'em and hold 'em and hold 'em, but sooner or later they're going to knock some down," Reed said.

"They're pretty big inside," Harkley said, "which made it hard for us to go to the basket."

Carlsbad jumped to a 9-0 first-quarter lead before Clovis junior forward Madison Tolbert finally sank a baseline jumper from the left side, putting the Lady Wildcats on the board with 5:15 to play in the first. It was the start of a 7-2 run for the Lady 'Cats that brought them within four. A fast-break layup by Harkley, a Tolbert free throw and a Kaydee Weaver field goal were also part of the Wildcat surge.

But then it was Carlsbad's turn to go on a run, scoring the last five points of the quarter – with a two from Carsyn Boswell and a right-elbow trey from Teran Tiller – making it a 16-7 game as the second quarter began.

Carlsbad kept rolling in the new period, turning the 5-0 end-of-first-quarter surge into a 12-0 run overall. With putbacks from Kaliyah Montoya and Dayshaun Moore, plus a right-side three from Boswell, the Cavegirls built themselves a 23-7 cushion and gained some momentum in the process. By halftime, they had stormed to a 35-15 advantage.

"We were able to sub early in the first and get our kids some rest," Zumbrun said. "I think that's what contributed to the run; I thought we got some good rest in the first."

Clovis fought back, though, chiseling the difference to just 14, as Lady Wildcats junior guard Aydan Everett punctuated her team's third-quarter run by sticking a jumper late in the period, making it 44-30 by the third quarter's end.

"Those Clovis kids, they didn't lay down," Zumbrun said.

Were it not for some missed free throws and turnovers, the Lady 'Cats might've drawn even closer.

"If we could've gotten it to single digits going into the fourth we would've had a chance maybe," Reed said.

Clovis opened the fourth quarter with possession, but couldn't capitalize on it. And on the other end, Montoya buried a three to give Carlsbad a 17-point advantage. The Cavegirls' lead never shrunk to less than that again.

"We've got Boswell outside, Montoya inside. We've got a nice inside-outside punch. Our role players have got to step up and make plays and I think they were able to do that tonight," Zumbrun said. "That's what it comes down to - being able to put the ball in the basket."