Lady Cats roll to win over Cibola

ALBUQUERQUE — Clovis High’s girls made short work of Cibola on Friday night.

Junior guard Zarai L ewis funneled in a game-high 18 points and the Lady Wildcats cruised to a 60-26 victory.

The Cougars (1-7), coming off their first win of the season three nights earlier at Manzano, fell behind early and struggled to score all night against the Lady Cats (5-3).

Clovis led 11-5 at the quarter and steadily built on the margin as all 12 players in uniform scored.

Senior post Paiger Zapach and senior guard Leilani Soriano scored six points apiece for Cibola.

“We knew they had two girls that score OK, No. 3 (Soriano) and No. 4 (Zapach),” Lady Cats coach Jeff Reed said. “We did a lot of pressing and trapping and got some turnovers.

“It was, by far, the easiest game we’ve had all year. Hopefully, we can build on this for our tournament (the Plateau Holiday Classic from Tuesday through Thursday Rock Staubus Gym).”

The Lady Cats had a 21-8 edge in field goals and shot 28 free throws to just 11 for the Cougars.

Next up for Clovis is an 8:15 p.m. quarterfinal match on Tuesday against Dexter.

Cats fall at Artesia — Senior guard Nick Sanchez scored 11 of his 16 points in the second half on Thursday night, and Artesia pulled away late for a 57-52 boys victory over CHS.

Senior forward Rylee Jarratt had 17 points — 12 in the opening two stanzas — for the Bulldogs (2-4), who finished the game on an 8-2 surge after the Wildcats (4-3) had inched ahead with their own 8-2 run. Junior post Marvin Cox scored all eight points for CHS in that stretch, including two free throws for a 50-49 advantage.

A 3-pointer by junior guard Keilyn Parker gave Clovis a 9-6 lead, but the Bulldogs went on a 9-0 run and led 17-11 at the quarter. Their biggest lead was 24-16 midway through the second frame, but the Cats chopped the margin to 31-27 at halftime and the game seesawed from there.

Cox finished with 12 points and senior forward R.J. Nora added 11 for the Cats.

Clovis has a first-round bye on Tuesday in its seven-team K. Barnett & Sons Holiday tournament at The Rock. The Cats will face either Sandia or Socorro in Wednesday’s semifinal round.