Serving Clovis, Portales and the Surrounding Communities
Serving Clovis, Portales and the Surrounding Communities
Dora junior Cole Kircher goes up for a shot in traffic as Reserve freshman Clayton Farris tries to block the attempt from behind during Thursday's boys quarterfinal matchup against Reserve in the Tiger Invitational at Elida. The Coyotes dominated from the start en route to a 42-22 victory.
ELIDA - The Elida girls basketball team got off the schneid relatively early this season.
The Lady Tigers gave new coach Taylor Kountz her first victory on Thursday, a 43-28 decision over Carrizozo in a battle of young, struggling teams in the quarterfinals of the Tiger Invitational.
It wasn't long ago that Elida won eight consecutive small-school state championships. The going's been tough since then, but with a roster that includes five freshmen and three eighth-graders, Kountz is optimistic.
"We've got a long road ahead of us," she said. "They've had a few years with a lot of different coaches, but I'm excited for the future. I think we've got a good future ahead of us."
In other first-round tilts, the Clovis JV beat Floyd 61-17, Logan topped Estancia 71-28 and Dora got past Reserve 42-26.
No one reached double figures for Elida (1-3), but eight players scored, including five - all eighth-graders or freshmen - with at least six points. Freshman Hattie Bilbrey and eighth-grader Reatta Munsell topped the Lady Tigers with eight points apiece.
Carrizozo (0-5) is also a young squad, with three freshmen and an eighth-grader among eight players. Additionally, two were not active for the game while a third left with an apparent leg injury as the third quarter came to an end.
Senior Levi Farris managed to reach double digits with 10 points for the Lady Grizzlies.
Clovis JV 61, Floyd 17 - Leading by just two at the quarter, the Lady Wildcats held Floyd to seven points over the final three stanzas.
Freshman Brynn Petner had 16 points for Clovis while sophomore Gianna Cardova chipped in 13. The Lady Broncos got seven points from sophomore Nevaeha Brown and five from junior Kylee Ornelas.
Dora 42, Reserve 26 - The Lady Coyotes were to meet Clovis JV in Friday's semifinals after taking care of business against Reserve, outscoring the Lady Mountaineers 15-1 in the second stanza to erase a two-point deficit.
Eighth-grader Karen Inge netted 12 points and junior Faith Jasso 11 for Dora (5-2). Freshman Cassie Hawkins paced the Lady Mountaineers (2-2) with nine points.
Boys - Dora is off to a flying start, but the Coyotes were anxious to see how they would fare against an athletic Clovis High JV squad in Friday's semifinals.
Six-foot-5 senior Steven Masini scored 17 points in the first half, then sat the final two quarters out as the Coyotes improved to 5-0 on Thursday with a 42-22 win over Reserve.
Dora led 16-2 at the quarter, then played the Mountaineers relatively even over the final three cantos with reserves seeing a lot of floor time.
In other quarterfinal games on Thursday, the Clovis JV defeated Floyd 69-20, Logan handed the Hobbs junior varsity a 70-57 setback and host Elida cruised past Carrizozo 67-41 in the final game of the night.
Coach Kris King said a number of players on his squad - not to mention King himself - have been slowed by the flu this week. In fact, Dora didn't play its scheduled game at Jal on Tuesday, and closed was closed at Dora on Wednesday.
"We've just been sick all week," King said. "Steve (Masini) didn't practice all week, and for some of these guys yesterday was their first day back.
"Hopefully, it's behind us now."
It didn't matter much against the Mountaineers (2-3), who fell behind 16-2 at the quarter and were never able to mount a charge.
The game flew bye. Only 13 combined fouls were called, and the teams combined to shoot eight free throws.
"We did everything we needed to do," King said. "Seeing as how the kids were sick, we didn't want to play (anyone) more than we had to."
Senior Levi Farris accounted for 10 points for the Mountaineers.
Elida 67, Carrizozo 41 - The host Tigers made short work of the Grizzlies, leading 17-10 at the quarter and steadily pulling away.
Senior Jose Jimenez poured in 27 points for Elida (2-3), which advanced to a championship semifinal clash on Friday against Logan, while senior Mason Pritchett added 10 points and junior Seth Jimenez nine.
Clovis JV 69, Floyd 20 - The Wildcats put together a 30-point second period to lead 39-15 at the break. Isaiah Davis had 18 points, Jayden Cox 16 and Santi Quintana 13 for Clovis.
The Broncos were led by seven points from senior Brayan Gallegos and six from junior Andrew Essary.
