Eagles hold off Buffs

Melrose defenders Wesley Hollaway, left, and Adam Hairgrove battle with Clovis Christian’s Keeson Bell for a rebound during Tuesday’s boys matchup at the CCS gym. (CNJ staff photo: Andy DeLisle)

The Clovis Christian boys defeated Melrose 57-47 Tuesday night at the CCS gym.

Clovis Christian senior Will Genitski led all scorers with 18 points, as the Eagles (8-5) staved off Buffaloes runs in the first and third quarters to bounce back from their loss to Hagerman in the Capitan tournament finals.

Clint Barnard led Melrose (1-13) with eight points. Coach Casey Pack said the Buffaloes displayed their youth by missing key layups and suffering too many giveaways.

“At times I don’t know which group’s going to show up,” Pack said. “With youth and adversity you never know what your going to get.”

The Melrose girls beat Clovis Christian 29-21 Tuesday night.

Taniel Roberts tallied 10 points for Melrose (9-5) in a low-scoring affair highlighted by numerous turnovers and poor shooting.

Freshman Jennifer Schaap had seven points for Clovis Christian (8-5), and despite the Lady Eagles’ struggles from the field coach Max Kralicek said his team played strong defense.

“We’re actually giving 35 points a game,” Kralicek said. “We just don’t score enough points. We need someone to step up and score some baskets.”

In other area girls games Tuesday:

* Muleshoe’s girls tuned up for a District 2-2A showdown at Friona on Friday with a 45-34 victory over Bushland on Tuesday night at Muleshoe.

The Lady Mules (14-8, 5-0 district), co-leaders in the district with Friona, pulled away from a three-point lead at halftime by outscoring the first-year Lady Falcons 16-6 in the third quarter. Cholov Hernandez led Muleshoe with 16 points.

No one had more than six points for Bushland.

“We started running our offense like we needed to,” Muleshoe coach Shana Simms said of her team’s third-quarter success. “They were a lot bigger than us, and we settled for too many 3-pointers in the first half.”

* Farwell ran away to a 74-44 District 5-1A victory over host Bovina. The Lady Blue (9-11, 1-1 district) opened a 16-6 lead at the quarter and were never in trouble.

Senior post Britton Barrett led three players in double figures for Farwell with 20 points, while freshman guard Tiffani Jones was close behind with 17. Senior post Jessica Bachicha took game honors with 21 points for the Fillies (9-9, 0-2).

* Texico pulled away in the second half to register a 43-32 non-district win over Fort Sumner at Texico.

Junior guard Faith Martin was the only player in double figures for the Lady Wolverines (11-4) with 10 points, but four others chipped in at least six points. For the Vixens (5-5), senior Alex Owens and sophomore Racheal Chavez each scored 12 points.

In area boys games:

* Bovina opened District 1-5A action with a 54-40 victory over Farwell at home. Sophomore guard Jesus Rocha scored eight of his game-high 22 points in the first quarter to help the Mustangs (6-7, 1-0 district) open a 21-10 advantage.

Senior guard Alex Olmos led the Steers with 12 points.

* Muleshoe rode a balanced attack to a 47-36 District 2-2A victory over visiting Bushland. Senior post T.J. Brantley led the Mules (11-6, 2-1) with 12 points, including 8-of-12 at the free throw line.

* Texico bounced back from its loss to Elida in the finals of the EPAC tournament on Saturday with a 72-47 victory over Fort Sumner at Texico.

The Wolverines (12-3) outscored the Foxes in each quarter, putting the game out of reach with a 25-13 burst in the final period. Junior post Daniel Schueler matched a career high with 22 points for the Wolverines, while junior forward Casey Crist went 12-of-14 from the line and finished with 14 points.

“We played a lot better the second half,” Texico coach Richard Luscombe said. “The first three minutes (of the game) we played really well, but then we got lackadaisical. We were going through the motions.”

Vincent Sena and Berry Stinnett scored 11 and 10 points, respectively, for the Foxes (3-8).

— Compiled by CNJ staff