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Top-seeded Lady Cats rout Alamogordo

Alamogordo's Stephanie Anderson buried a 3-pointer on the Lady Tigers' first trip down the court Friday night.

Suffice it to say, they had few other highlights.

CMI staff photo: Tony Bullocks

Clovis sophomore Danni Williams knocks away a inbound pass to Alamogordo's freshman Lauren Guinn in the third quarter of Friday night's first round playoff action at The Rock.

Top-seeded and top-ranked Clovis High ran off the next 15 points and held Alamo to just four field goals in a 55-11 Class 5A state round-of-16 drubbing at Rock Staubus Gym.

The Lady Cats (27-2) face ninth-seeded Las Cruces High (21-8), which upended Valley 49-35 on Friday in Albuquerque, in an 8:15 p.m. quarterfinal matchup on Tuesday at Rio Rancho's Santa Ana Star Center.

"The coaches have been telling us to take it one game at a time," said senior guard Niki Cordova, who scored all nine of her points in the first half. "If we work as a team and do what we're capable of, I don't think we can be beaten."

Sophomore guard Danni Williams poured in 23 points for the Lady Cats, who held Alamo (14-14) to five points after the opening period. The game featured a running clock for about the last 12 minutes.

"Our goal was just to play good and get out without any injuries," CHS coach Jeff Reed, whose team had already posted a 43-point win over the Lady Tigers in January. "You've just got to be playing good basketball.

"We had a good defensive night. We stopped pressing and trapping in the second half, and that affected our offense a little bit."

Anderson scored eight points for Alam, including the Lady Tigers' only tally of the second half — a third-quarter 3-pointer.

Overall, it was a businesslike performance for the Lady Cats, who finished the year 16-0 at home and now have a 28-game winning streak at The Rock dating back to a District 4-5A tournament semifinal loss to Carlsbad at the end of the 2011 season.

"I really just wanted to get this game over with so we can focus on next week," Cordova said. "In the second half, we really tried to work on our halfcourt defense, and execute a little better on offense. We're going to need that at state."

 
 
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