Clovis frosh girls capture tourney title

HOBBS — Katy Archey got a last-second layup to fall in overtime, giving the Clovis Freshman Academy girls a 41-40 victory over Hobbs Black in the championship game of the Border Conference tournament on Jan. 29.

Clovis came in seeded second in the eight-team event, and dispatched seventh-seeded Hobbs Gold in the quarterfinals and No. 3 Roswell High in the semifinals at home. Hobbs Black earned home court in the finals as the No. 1 seed.

The Lady Wildcats finished second in Border Conference regular-season play behind Hobbs. They posted an overall season record of 18-4.

“The girls were very disciplined,” coach Tristan Pautler said. “They put forth the effort in practice. I think they all played well as a group.

“Ball pressure was a big thing for us. They were just committed to what I was trying to teach them.”

Alexia Eilenstine was the leading scorer for CFA in the tournament, while Makayla Jimenez was right behind her in that department.

Now they’ll try to do it at the next level, next season in high school.

“At the end of the year, I just hope they got better — and I think they did,” Pautler said.