Serving Clovis, Portales and the Surrounding Communities
Serving Clovis, Portales and the Surrounding Communities
Clovis High junior Zarai Lewis goes hard to the rack during Saturday's girls basketball matchup against Lovington at Rock Staubus Gym.
CLOVIS – Coming off a major road win over Onate the night before in Las Cruces, Clovis High girls coach Jeff Reed wasn't quite sure what to expect less than 24 hours later against Lovington.
As it turned out, the Lady Wildcats put any anxiety to rest fairly quickly in Saturday's matchup at Rock Staubus Gym, stretching their winning streak to 10 with a 53-36 victory.
True, the Lady Wildcats (14-3) have a stronger, more experienced team than Lovington, but Reed was concerned about a bit of a hangover from the previous night's game and the long bus ride.
"We were (tired), but I wanted us to have the energy we needed," Reed said. "Today, I think we had spurts of that."
The game was tied until senior forward Ali Thomas drilled a long 3-pointer with four seconds left in the opening stanza. The Lady Cats then scored the first eight points of the second period for a 19-8 lead.
A 10-0 run early in the third pushed the margin to 39-20 and took away any suspense about the outcome.
"I think it was amazing for our team to step up and battle," said junior post Kailyn Jefferson, one of two Lady Cats in double digits with 10 points. "(But) I definitely think we could've done better. It doesn't matter if we're tired; we should always step up."
Junior guard Zarai Lewis went 7-for-8 from the foul line and finished with 19 points. Senior post Shalanda Lefevre just missed double figures with nine.
District 4-5A play begins next week, and Clovis is hoping to be able to hang with Hobbs, Carlsbad and Roswell High.
"I want to keep the winning streak going," Jefferson said. "I definitely think we're in a position in our district where we can beat a Carlsbad and a Hobbs.
"As long as we keep playing like we can, we can do some great things."
Junior guard Elizabeth Buendia scored 10 points to pace Lovington (9-8), which was coming off a home win over Texico on Friday night.
Two games remained this week to end the pre-district slate – the Lady Cats hosted Roswell Goddard on Tuesday night, then visit Portales on Friday.
"We need to have a really good week against Goddard and Portales," Reed said. "It would be nice to get those two wins going into district."
