Serving Clovis, Portales and the Surrounding Communities
Serving Clovis, Portales and the Surrounding Communities
Staff photo: Tony Bullocks Clovis High sophomore guard Teya Morris pulls up for a first-half jump shot during Friday’s girls matchup against Lovington at The Rock. Morris scored a career-best 19 points, including three 3-pointers, to help the Lady Wildcats register a 48-35 victory and improve to 7-10 for the season.
Sports writer
What started out like it might be a runaway for the Clovis Lady Wildcats on Friday night turned into a struggle.
link Staff photo: Tony Bullocks
Clovis High sophomore guard Teya Morris pulls up for a first-half jump shot during Friday’s girls matchup against Lovington at The Rock. Morris scored a career-best 19 points, including three 3-pointers, to help the Lady Wildcats register a 48-35 victory and improve to 7-10 for the season.
But after riding two 3-pointers from sophomore guard Teya Morris and one from sophomore guard Sydni Hill to a 13-1 lead late in the opening quarter, the Lady Cats lost the lead and didn’t really take control until late in a 48-35 win over Lovington’s Lady Wildcats at Rock Staubus Gym.
Morris scored a career-best 19 points and junior guard Jaci Sievers went 8-for-8 from the free throw line in the final period as Clovis (7-10) ended a three-game losing streak.
CHS won the earlier matchup at Lovington 57-32 and appeared early to be headed for a repeat.
“We get up 13-1 and just seemed to fade away all of a sudden,” Clovis coach Jeff Reed said. “It just seemed like we couldn’t ever get it going, but I was proud that in the second half we figured it out and got a win.”
Clovis went nearly the final 10 minutes of the half with only one field goal and Lovington (4-10), which dropped its ninth in a row, took a pair of two-point leads, including 18-16 at the intermission.
Only 1-of-7 from the line in the first half, the Lady Cats went 17-of-26 after halftime, including 13-of-21 in the final period and 8-of-10 in the final 72 seconds — six of those by Sievers.
“Those free throws they had made it look like more (of a spread) than it was,” Lovington coach Stephen Bridgforth said. “Clovis stepped up and hit some big free throws.”
Both teams struggled mightily. Clovis turned the ball over on its first four possessions of the third quarter, yet held Lovington scoreless in that time. The Lady Cats finally tied it on a basket by Morris and, on their next possession, took the lead for good at 21-18 on her third 3-pointer of the night.
Reed thought his squad might have been a bit overconfident after the first-game rout, but the fast start belied that a bit. Morris said she wasn’t sure what happened in the second quarter.
“We just didn’t come out like we should have,” she said. “Coach Reed told us (at halftime) to get after them in the third quarter, and we did.”
Just when it looked like the Lady Cats might be about to pull away again, though, they found themselves in a three-point game with just over a minute left.
Hill knocked down a pair of free throws, and after senior Lexi Valencia scored for Lovington, Morris broke deep on a fullcourt pass following a timeout and got a layup.
Sievers then converted six free throws in the final 45 seconds to finally seal it.
Valencia finished with 13 points for Lovington, including 7-of-10 from the free throw line.
Clovis likely faces a stiffer test tonight at The Rock from Lovington’s District 4-5A rival, Roswell High (14-2).
“I see us improving, coming together as a team and just stepping up,” Morris said. “We’re just going to have to come out and play to our best, and try to keep improving.”
