Serving Clovis, Portales and the Surrounding Communities
Serving Clovis, Portales and the Surrounding Communities
BUSHLAND, Texas — Clovis High’s girls needed a mulligan on Thursday night.
Down 16-4 at the quarter, the Lady Wildcats regrouped and played Bushland fairly evenly the rest of the way. But they couldn’t dig out of the early hole, and dropped a 55-39 decision to the talented Class 3A Lady Falcons.
Four players were in double figures for Bushland, led by junior Emma Troxell and sophomore Chloe Cochran with 14 apiece. Meantime, sophomore Brooklyn Boyett had 12 points, and senior Ellie Frye scored 10.
Junior Ali Thomas paced Clovis (11-4) with 17 points, but Bushland held the team’s top two scorers, guards Yvonne Fuerte and Zarai Lewis, to a combined 14 points.
The loss snapped the Lady Cats’ six-game winning streak.
“I knew they were going to be pretty tough,” Lady Cats coach Jeff Reed said. “They are the best team, maybe, that we’ve seen all year. But after the first quarter, we played pretty good.”
Bushland limited the Lady Cats to just 12 first-half points and carried a 14-point cushion into the lockerroom.
“We were sort of shellshocked because of the physical (way they played),” Reed said. “They were pretty athletic.”
He was philosophical about the setback.
“It was a tough one, but hopefully it’ll get us ready for the Hobbses and the Carlsbads of the world,” Reed said, referring to District 4-5A competition which begins in late January.
Clovis 50, Laguna Acoma 29 (Tuesday) — The Lady Cats made short work of the Class 2A Lady Hawks (8-3) at New Laguna.
“We were up 27-12 at halftime, but we couldn’t really get in a rhythm,” Reed said. “The third period was when we really put them away.”
Subs played the entire final stanza, when the Lady Cats outscored Laguna 11-10.
Fuerte led CHS with 15 points, while Lewis added 14. For the Lady Hawks, who have just one senior on a roster of 16 players, freshman Kiaya Aragon finished with three 3-pointers and 11 points.
The Lady Cats have two games on tap this week at The Rock, hosting Lovington on Tuesday night and Portales on Thursday night.
