Lady Cats post 17th win

CLOVIS - Clovis High's girls are certainly in the 16-team Class 5A state tournament field.

They made doubly sure of that on Friday night, converting 23-of-25 fourth-quarter free throws to seal a 66-43 District 4-5A victory over Roswell High at Rock Staubus Gym.

Clovis (17-9, 2-4 district), ranked 12th in 5A by MaxPreps, hopes to move up a bit when the New Mexico Activities Association releases state pairings on Sunday.

"I think we were in before (Friday's win), but now we're playing for a better seed," Lady Wildcats coach Jeff Reed said. "I think if we can be around 10th, 11th or 12th, we definitely have a better chance to get a win in the playoffs."

CHS was slated to face the Lady Coyotes (10-15, 0-6) in a first-round district tournament game on Tuesday at The Rock, part of a doubleheader with boys teams from the schools also facing off. Winners travel to second-seeded Carlsbad on Thursday, with top-seeded Hobbs hosting both Thursday winners in the finals on Saturday.

Sophomore guard Zarai Lewis, scoreless in the opening stanza, finished with 18 points to lead four Lady Cats in double digits. Senior guard Yvonne Fuerte added 16 points, senior guard Luisa Chavez scored a personal-best 12 and junior forward Ali Thomas added 10.

The Lady Coyotes finished the game with 31 fouls to 12 for Clovis, losing one player to personals while three others finished with four. The difference was style of play - Roswell High launched a bevy of long 3-point shots while the Lady Cats attacked the basket.

"We let them go on a little run hitting 3s (three in the third frame to keep the margin within 10)," Chavez said, "but then we settled down and took control again."

Clovis opened a 30-15 halftime lead, but it could have been more were it not for 7-of-17 free throw shooting. The Lady Cats, shooting 63 percent for the season as a team coming in, were 26-of-29 over the final two cantos.

With the lead, they spread Roswell High out in the second half to open the court.

"We came around and pulled through," Reed said. "We went to a spread offense and said, 'If they're going to keep doing what they're doing, they're either going to give us opportunities to score or put us on the free throw line."

Chavez, 7-for-7 from the line in the fourth quarter and 8-for-9 for the game, said it wouldn't be a big deal facing the same team just four nights later.

"We know them, they know us," she said. "It's just a matter of stepping up, making our shots and playing smart."

Junior Daci Smith and freshman reserve Emma Esquivel scored 11 points each for Roswell High, while freshman guard Alayna Tarin added 10 off the bench. Smith and Tarin each had three of the Lady Coyotes' eight 3-point baskets.

Clovis boys 51, Roswell High 45 - At Roswell, the Wildcats led virtually all the way in posting their third win of the season over the Coyotes.

Senior guard Juan Hernandez scored 17 points and senior post Andrew Hall added 13 as the Cats (5-21, 2-4) nailed down the third seed and a district tourney home tilt against the Coyotes (6-20, 0-6).

Roswell High led early 5-4, but the Cats went in front for good after that, leading 27-20 at halftime. Their biggest margin was 10 points.

CHS also won the game with the help of foul shots, going 10-for-12 in the final stanza and 12-of-15 overall.

"It was good for us to get one on the road," CHS boys coach Jaden Isler said. "It was our first road win of the season."

It was a much different game than the earlier district tilt at The Rock, won by Clovis 86-77 in overtime.

"We really defended pretty well tonight," Isler said. "They've got some good shooters, but we pretty much kept them under wraps."

Junior guard Ivan Miramontes was the lone double-digit scorer for Roswell High, finishing with 16 points.