Clovis West’s seventh straight section girls basketball crown comes with sweet revenge
Saturday night at Selland Arena was a bit personal for the Clovis West High girls basketball team.
Losing to Clovis North on Feb. 4 left an ugly taste in the Golden Eagles’ mouths.
So much, Clovis West took it out on the next three opponents, winning by an average score of 83-24.
It was much the same in the Central Section Division I final as the top-seeded Golden Eagles routed No. 2 Clovis North 73-38.
Clovis West won its seventh straight section title.
“We were out for blood,” said Clovis West senior Madison Campbell, who will play at USC next season. “We never lost to a team in the Valley since third grade. This was personal, and we wanted to make a statement.”
Clovis West made eight 3-pointers in the first half, five by sophomore guard Nikki Tom who finished with a game-high 26 points.
“We were very upset when we lost to them” in Tri-River Athletic Conference play Feb. 4, Tom said. “We worked hard in practice and we used that as motivation for today.”
Clovis West coach Craig Campbell said blowing out Clovis North was unexpected. But, he added, the Golden Eagles found sharp focus since the Clovis North loss. “A lot of paying attention to detail, not overlooking anybody else.
“To see the kids put that into the performance the way they did was tremendous.”
Now both teams await Sunday’s state playoff bracket announcement, likely Open Division appointments for both Clovis West (29-3) and Clovis North (25-5). Last season, Clovis West made the Southern California Regional final after winning state in 2017. Clovis North lost last season in the SoCal Open quarterfinals.
This story was originally published February 23, 2019 at 8:25 PM.
