Serving Clovis, Portales and the Surrounding Communities
Serving Clovis, Portales and the Surrounding Communities
All it took for Clovis High’s girls to run away from Valencia was a little more pressure.
Tied with the Lady Jaguars at halftime, CHS opened the second half with a 16-0 run in just over five minutes and waltzed to a 60-27 win on Friday night at Rock Staubus Gym.
The Lady Wildcats’ 1-2 punch of seniors Zarai Lewis and Kailyn Jefferson took over after the break. Each was limited to two points in the first half, but Jefferson scored 18 in the final two stanzas while Lewis – who sat the final 12 ½ minutes of the opening half after picking up two fouls – tallied 10 in the half.
Jefferson said coming out on defense against the Lady Jaguars (3-3) provided the impetus. The Lady Cats outscored Valencia 40-7 over the final two stanzas, holding the Ladu Jaguars to just two field goals.
“I definitely think speeding up the pace helped us,” Jefferson said. “It looked like they got a little tired.”
Jefferson and Lewis accounted for all but the last two points in the early third-quarter spree. Valencia used a couple of timeouts in the period, but couldn’t reverse the momentum.
“It just seems they felt comfortable in the first half,” Lady Cats coach Jeff Reed said. “We weren’t disciplined (at the start). It’s nice to know we have that in us, but we shouldn’t have been in that situation in the first place.
Valencia took advantage of Lewis’ absence to keep the game close. In fact, neither team led by more than two points in the first half.
While they’ve gotten off to a solid start, the Lady Cats know they’re still a bit of a work in progress.
“We need to be more consistent in what we’re doing,” Reed said. “If we don’t, we’re fixin’ to play the bigger dogs and they’ll take advantage of that.”
Junior guard Jadyn Montoya scored 17 points for Valencia, but had only a pair of free throws in the second half. The Lady Jaguars finished with nearly as many turnovers (23) as points.
Clovis is preparing for a busy week. The Lady Cats visit Artesia on Tuesday, then face Mayfield in Thursday’s quarterfinals of Rio Rancho’s Mel Otero Invitational.
Jefferson said Tuesday’s tilt against the Lady Bulldogs should be challenging.
“I think Artesia will be good competition for us,” she said. “We definitely have some growing to do.”
