Lady Cats drop opener at Cleveland

RIO RANCHO — Jeff Reed had mixed feelings about the Clovis High girls’ season opener on Tuesday night.

The Lady Wildcats got off to a nice start and hung tough through three quarters, then tied the contest with the first four points of the fourth. In the end, though, they couldn’t finish the deal and dropped a 55-45 decision to Rio Rancho Cleveland.

Clovis led 17-11 at the quarter, and was still within four entering the final stanza. But the Storm outscored the Lady Cats 15-9 in that session, mainly from a 9-for-13 performance at the free throw line.

“I feel good because we competed, and we had a chance,” Reed said. “But it’s frustrating because I feel like we had a chance to beat them.”

Senior guard Angelique Abeyta and senior forward Brenna Wolfe led Cleveland with 13 points apiece. Meantime, senior guard Yvonne Fuerte tossed in 13 points for CHS.

After its strong start, the Lady Cats managed no more than 10 points in any of the remaining three frames. They had a foul problems during the contest, with junior post Paige Harris and senior post Mya Slade eventually fouling out.

Reed conceded it was a challenging game to open with for his squad.

“It was a tough game, especially on the road, and a lot of these girls don’t have a lot of experience,” he said. “Hopefully, we can eliminate some of the mistakes we made and win games lift this later in the season.”

On Saturday, the Lady Cats were slated to host Valencia in their home opener at The Rock. Tuesday night, they return to action, also at home, against Roswell Goddard.