Serving Clovis, Portales and the Surrounding Communities
Serving Clovis, Portales and the Surrounding Communities
Clovis Christian's Abby Lusk drives the baseline against Fort Sumner defender Avery Cavett in Friday's game at Clovis Chrisitna. Cavett recovered to make a block on the play.
Clovis Christian freshman Carter Teune draws the foul on Fort Sumner's Izaiah Padilla while scoring the layup in Friday's game at Clovis Christian's gymnasium. Teune had 16 points, but the Foxes took an 82-61 victory.
CLOVIS - Clovis Christian's girls are more competitive this season than at any time in recent years.
Still, though, it's a lot to ask for them to stay with the better teams in the area with two starters down.
Fort Sumner opened an 18-3 lead at the end of a quarter and put 10 players in the scoring column Friday night in handing the Lady Eagles a 53-32 setback in the District 4-1A opener for both teams at the CCS gym.
Junior Keeli West was the only player in double digits for the Vixens (11-4 overall) with a dozen points, but six of her teammates contributed at least five points as well.
Pressure defense, notably in the third quarter, helped take CCS (10-6) pretty much out of the game. Bracketed by Clovis Christian baskets to start and end the stanza, Fort Sumner went on a 16-2 run to build a 24-point lead late in the third period.
"Clovis Christian is a much-improved team from a year ago," Vixens coach Ben Segura said. "I thought we executed our game plan pretty well tonight."
Junior Makayla Robinson (concussion symptoms) and freshman Sofia DeGroot (broken hand) were unable to play. Robinson could be back in perhaps 10 days, while DeGroot could be back within about three weeks.
"With those two out, we had a lot of people (having to play) out of position," said Duong, whose squad has already doubled its win total from the 2018-19 campaign. "But I'm proud of my girls; they never quit.
"They know how to play against us, and we're still trying to figure it out."
While the Vixens spread their scoring around, only three players tallied for CCS, led by junior forward Lola DeGroot with 19 points.
Segura knows his team, ranked third in Class 1A behind district rivals Logan and Melrose, has its work cut out going forward.
"Hopefully, we can stay focused and keep improving," he said. "Hopefully, we can be playing our best ball at the end of the season."
Fort Sumner 82, CCS 61 (boys) - The Foxes did their female counterparts one better, with 11 players marking in the book.
Fort Sumner (8-7) rolled to leads of 9-0 and 23-6 during the opening stanza. Juniors Chance Drake, Kane Burney and Jayden Cline combined for 19 of the team's 25 points in the period.
Ten of Clovis Christian's 26 turnovers came in the initial segment against relentless pressure. The Eagles (6-9) played competitively most of the remaining time, but were never able to trim the margin under 13.
"We just got down early," CCS coach Trent McKay said. "We're young, but we hung in there.
"It was kind of even after that. But we don't have the firepower to get behind anybody (by) that much."
Burney finished with 19 points for the Foxes, while Cline and junior Creed West added 12 each and Drake had 10.
Foul trouble plagued CCS all night, as two players fouled out and two others finished with four. Junior Tyler Lingnau paced CCS with 20 points, while brothers Dawson and Carter Teune scored 14 apiece.
CCS squads faced a quick turnaround, with district home games slated for Saturday night against Logan.
