Serving Clovis, Portales and the Surrounding Communities
Serving Clovis, Portales and the Surrounding Communities
ALBUQUERQUE — Cibola limited Clovis High’s boys to 15 second-half points on Friday night and the Cougars pulled away to a 54-39 victory over the Wildcats.
CHS (2-15) trailed just 25-24 at halftime, but scored only five points in the third stanza as Cibola (6-8) built its lead to seven.
“You’d better be good defensively if you’re only going to score 39 points,” Cats coach Jaden Isler said. “We got in foul trouble again with the bigs in the post, and they kind of took advantage of us when we had to go small.”
Six-foot-7 senior forward Brady Arrenius certainly benefited from that, finishing with 22 points for the Cougars. Senior guard Robert Puentes added 11 points, including three of the team’s five 3-point baskets.
Cibola led by 20 points midway through the fourth before Clovis rallied back, closing the margin to 10 points late in the game.
“We just kind of ran out of time,” Isler said.
Senior guard Juan Hernandez had three 3-pointers and finished with 14 points for Clovis, while junior forward R.J. Nora added 11.
The Cats return to action this week against Roswell Goddard, facing the Rockets twice in three days — Tuesday at Rock Staubus Gym, Thursday in Roswell. Goddard defeated the Cats 62-61 in the seventh-place game of Albuquerque Academy’s Joe Armijo Classic on Dec. 11.
Volcano Vista 54, Clovis girls 26 (Friday) — The Hawks are ranked second in Class 5A by MaxPreps, but CHS girls coach Jeff Reed isn’t convinced they shouldn’t be at the top of the heap.
Volcano Vista hit Clovis with a 7-0 and 8-0 runs in the first quarter are cruised to victory to improve to 14-0 for the season.
Clovis (12-5) played without two starters — senior guard Yvonne Fuerte (COVID-19 protocols) and junior post Paige Harris (knee). Still, Reed was impressed with what he saw from the Hawks, who trail only Farmington in the poll.
“If I were voting, I’d vote them No. 1,” he said. “They’ve got good guards, they’ve got good girls inside. They’ve got the whole package.”
Volcano’s two runs in the opening stanza were interrupted by a 3-pointer from junior forward Ali Thomas. The Hawks extended the margin to 30-11 at halftime.
“There was no looking back after that,” Reed said.
Sophomore Taejhuan Hill scored 14 points and senior Natalia Chavez 13 for Volcano Vista. Chavez knocked down three of the team’s five 3-point baskets.
No one reached double figures for the Lady Cats, with sophomore guard Zarai Lewis’ seven points leading the way.
Clovis had a quick turnaround as well — the Lady Cats were slated to travel to Lovington for a Saturday afternoon contest. This week, they play at Goddard on Tuesday before finishing off pre-District 4-5A action on Friday at home against Portales.
