Clovis basketball capsule - Feb. 23

District 2-6A girls semifinal

No. 3 Clovis (17-11) at No. 2 La Cueva (14-10), La Cueva H.S., Albuquerque, 7 p.m.

Last time out: Clovis rallied from a 39-33 fourth-quarter deficit to force overtime, then edged Manzano 49-46 in the extra period of Wednesday night's district quarterfinal at Rock Staubus Gymnasium.

La Cueva last played on Saturday night, hosting none other than the Lady Wildcats in the regular-season finale for both teams. And the Lady Bears staged a fourth-quarter rally to beat Clovis 52-45, cementing the No. 2 seed and guaranteeing that any district tournament rematch with the Lady 'Cats would be held at La Cueva High.

Last meeting: That Saturday game at La Cueva. See above.

The lowdown: Just as if this were a video game, Girls Basketball 2K18, things get tougher at each level as Clovis climbs up to it. The Lady Wildcats easily dispatched sixth-seeded Santa Fe, 57-32, in Tuesday's first-rounder at Staubus Gym, then had a much tougher go of it against fifth-seeded Manzano in Wednesday's overtime thriller at the Rock.

Now comes second-seeded La Cueva on the road — the long and winding three-and-a-half hour road to Albuquerque. The Lady Wildcats already beat La Cueva once, rallying to top the Lady Bears 46-38 on Jan. 30 at the Rock. But then came last Saturday's fourth-quarter disappointment at La Cueva.

Bottom line, the Lady 'Cats proved they can get it done. The question is, can they get it done in Albuquerque?

"We know we can beat them," Clovis senior guard Syndi Hill said after scoring a team-high 15 points Wednesday night. "But we've just got to go up there and do the little things right and make sure we do everything we need to. It'll be a good game."

"(Wednesday) was a huge step," Clovis head coach Jeff Reed said. "Maybe we can build on that. If we beat La Cueva, it doesn't get any easier. Then we've got to go to Eldorado (for the final) and I don't know if we're driving back and forth (to and from Albuquerque) or spending the night. ... But, I know that whatever we're doing we've got to step up because it's going to be a tougher game than this (Manzano) game, and this was pretty stinkin' tough."

— Compiled by Staff Writer Peter Stein