Lady Cats clobber Artesia

ARTESIA — Clovis High's girls used a fast start Friday night to breeze to their 13th consecutive victory.

Sophomore guard Danni Williams scored 28 points and the Lady Wildcats built a 22-point halftime lead in a 69-45 thumping of Artesia.

The Lady Cats (19-1) return to Rock Staubus Gym for a 7 p.m. game today against Roswell Goddard.

Williams scored nine points in the first quarter, which ended with the Lady Cats well in command at 23-9. Junior guard Brandi Gomez finished with 12 points, and seven other players broke into the scoring column.

"We really got off to a fast start, but 45 points (allowed) is too much for us," CHS coach Jeff Reed said. "Offensively we did all right. We could've scored more, but we missed some point-blank shots."

The Lady Bulldogs (14-8) played Clovis relatively even in the second half, but their 39-17 halftime deficit was far too much to overcome.

"The second half we had a letdown on the defense end," Reed said. "I wasn't real pleased with that."

Senior forward Amy Horner scored 16 points for Artesia, but no one else managed more than eight for the Lady Bulldogs.

"They were big and aggressive, and they took it to us," Reed said. "They crashed the boards really good. It was a good test for us with (District 4-5A rival) Hobbs coming up."

The Lady Cats, ranked No. 1 in Class 5A, host the third-ranked Lady Eagles Friday. Hobbs lost on Friday night to Eldorado 52-45.