Lady Cat subs step up against Storm

Coming off their first home loss in nearly four years, Clovis High’s girls tried to start a new streak on Friday without two-time New Mexico player of the year Danni Williams.

The senior guard sat out Friday’s game against Rio Rancho Cleveland at Rock Staubus Gym with a blister on her bunion, but no matter. The Lady Wildcats had plenty to overwhelm Rio Rancho Cleveland 65-32.

link Staff photo: Tony Bullocks

Clovis High freshman Teya Morris steals the ball from Rio Rancho Cleveland junior Megan Bass during Friday’s game at Rock Staubus Gym. Morris scored seven in the Lady Wildcats’ 65-32 win over the Storm.

Williams, averaging more than 25 points this season, could be back to practice by Monday, Lady Cats coach Jeff Reed said. CHS plays at rival Portales on Tuesday night.

Without her, the team ended up with a relatively balanced attack that had seven players with six or more points and three players in double figures, including junior guard Jenna Spencer — who more than quintupled her scoring total for the season (2) with 11 points, all in the second half.

Spencer said she thought she’d to see some action with Williams out, but admitted she didn’t expect to score like that.

“I just knew if anybody got in foul trouble, I’d go in,” she said. “I didn’t expect to score that much.”

Senior guard Nichele Hyman had 14 points and senior post Shelby Jones also finished with 11 for the Lady Cats, who fell behind 2-0 on a basket by Cleveland’s Audriana Chavez 17 seconds into the game and then allowed only one more field goal until the final minute of the half.

“Truthfully, I didn’t know what to expect,” Reed said. “I was hoping people would step up with Danni out, and they did that.”

Clovis (15-2), which had its 45-game home winning streak snapped on Tuesday in a 68-59 setback to Roswell High, forced the Storm into 27 turnovers, all but three in the first three quarters, with a variety of pressure defenses. Meantime, even with subs playing large stretches, the Lady Cats committed just 10 floor errors, and four of those came in the final 3 1/2 minutes.

“I didn’t think we were going to win by that much,” said Spencer, noting that some of the CHS reserves who usually play two to three quarters in the junior varsity game were limited to one on Friday. “I think we got some confidence as things progressed.”

Hyman’s 3-pointer gave the Lady Cats a 16-4 lead with under two minutes left in the quarter, and an 8-0 run to start the second period made it 24-6.

Senior post Katie Howerton finished with eight points for the Storm (6-10), while junior forward Jade Hill tossed in seven.

Reed is anxious to get Williams back, of course, but said he couldn’t have imagined things going much better in this one.

“I was pleasantly surprised,” he said of his team’s overall play. “It was a good win for us against another team from the (Albuquerque) metro area.”