The Hobbs girls’ basketball team picked up another dominating district win Friday night as the Lady Eagles crushed visiting Clovis 59-28 in Tasker Arena.
As in some of their more recent games, the Lady Eagles jumped out to a big lead early in the game and never looked back.
Hobbs scored first, taking a 2-0 lead, but two minutes later was behind 4-2. That would be the highlight of the night for Clovis though as the Lady Eagles closed out the first quarter on a 21-0 run, taking a 23-4 lead after the first eight minutes.
“We were just pushing the ball up the court and looking for the open person,” Hobbs sophomore Aniya Joseph said. “We were waiting for the good shot before we took it. I think our offensive rebounding was really good too.”
“We tried to execute our plays really well,” Lady Eagle freshman Kyndle Cunningham added. “The run we had, we did good on offense.”
Senior Arilyn Hall had nine points for the Lady Eagles, hitting three treys, all of which came in the first quarter. Her first trey gave Hobbs a 7-4 lead and then she pushed the Lady Eagles lead to 10-4 with another trey. Then, as time expired in the first quarter, Hall hit one more trey, putting Hobbs up 23-4.
The Lady Eagles had several different contributors during their first quarter run and that pleased Joseph.
“It takes the pressure off the posts,” the sophomore said. “It is exciting to see my teammates score and I get happy for them.”
Hobbs had five treys in the first quarter, including three straight to close out the opening eight minutes.
While the Lady Wildcats managed to double their first quarter scoring in the second quarter, it wasn’t near enough to enough to slow down the Lady Eagles who added 17 points to their total. By the break, the Lady Eagles had a commanding 40-12 lead.
Friday night was also the final home game of the regular season so the Lady Eagles honored their seniors before the game. With that, and the huge lead, Hobbs coach Joe Carpenter played his seniors a lot in the second half.
With just under two minutes left in the third quarter, the Lady Eagles took a 35-point lead, putting a running clock in motion. Scoring in the third quarter was identical to the second with Hobbs scoring 17 points and Clovis putting eight on the scoreboard.
Hobbs managed just two points, a pair of free throws, in the fourth quarter.
“We had some weird combinations there in the second half,” Carpenter said. “That was because I wanted to play those seniors. It was senior night. It was all about the seniors and I tried to get them some minutes in the fourth quarter so they would have some memories.”
Bianca Guerra didn’t score, but took several shots, grabbed a rebound, and picked up a pair of fouls. Leilani Clay had two rebounds while Araceli Torres had two points, two boards, and a steal. Rozlynn Ramsey also had two rebounds for the Lady Eagles.
Joseph nearly finished with a double-double for the Lady Eagles. The sophomore star had eight points, but missed a pair of and-one free throws. She also grabbed nine rebounds, all of which came in the first half.
Joseph now had 282 rebounds for the season and 633 for her career. The sophomore needs 19 to break the Lady Eagles’ career record
(651) held by Ayanna Smith (2016-19).
Cunningham had a game-high 12 points while Brynn Hargrove chipped in 11. Cunningham also had five rebounds and three blocks while Hargrove grabbed three boards.
“I though Kyndle played really well tonight. She really wanted the ball. She was looking to score and she rebounded well,” the Lady
Eagles’ coach said.
“We always get that leadership from Aniya Joseph, so that was great.”
Hobbs will close out the regular season on Friday in Carlsbad. With a win, the Lady Eagles will claim the District 4-5A championship and the top spot in the District 4-5A Tournament. Friday night’s game is set for a 7 p.m. tipoff.
“We need to play well Friday and we need to get ourselves prepared,” Carpenter said. “It is always hard to go over to Carlsbad and win. A couple of years ago we lost over there, so there are some bad memories of that place. We need to be ready to go.”
