Clovis West flies into danger zone again before Eagles soar to victory in NorCal playoffs
The Clovis West High boys basketball team would prefer not to fall behind by double digits.
But the Golden Eagles proved once again that they are not rattled by large deficits, and might even play some of their better basketball when climbing out of a hole.
No. 2 Clovis West trailed by as many as 16 points to No. 7 Sheldon-Sacramento on Wednesday before rallying for a 63-55 victory in the first round of the NorCal Open Division playoffs.
Clovis West (31-1) advances to host No. 3 Modesto Christian (28-5) in a semifinal matchup at 6 p.m. Saturday.
Trailing big has become a bit of the norm for the Eagles of late.
Just prior to the NorCal playoffs, Clovis West fell behind 20 points in third quarter of the Central Section final against St. Joseph before storming back for a 72-63 overtime victory.
In addition, Clovis West won regular-season games against Clovis North and Central despite trailing by 17 and 22 points, respectively.
So even though some among the packed audience inside the Clovis West gym might’ve felt uneasy after the Eagles fell behind 24-8 after one quarter Wednesday, Clovis West players and coaches certainly were not ready to fold.
The Eagles reduced the Huskies’ lead to seven points by halftime then pulled within two points after three quarters. Then Clovis West outscored Sheldon by 10 points in the final quarter.
Clovis West, whose lone loss this season was to Pleasant Valley-Chico back in late December, has won 16 straight.
Clovis West faces Modesto Christian for the first time since the teams played twice during the 2019-2020 season, when the Eagles won the first game 91-65 but lost the second meeting 56-55.
Clovis West girls
The third-seeded Golden Eagles girls basketball team defeated No. 6 Folsom 51-48 in the opening round of the NorCal CIF Open Division playoffs.
Clovis West (28-3) trailed 11-8 after one quarter but made key adjustments to outscore the visiting Bulldogs by eight points in the second quarter and enter halftime up 27-22.
That second-quarter run proved to be just enough cushion to help the Golden Eagles withstand Folsom’s second-half push.
Clovis West, which was outscored by two points after halftime, trailed 46-45 after Folsom made a pair of free throws late in the fourth quarter.
But the Eagles answered back with five straight points before Folsom scored again to come within two points.
The Eagles then made a free throw in the closing seconds to keep Folsom at a distance.
Clovis West, which has won 10 consecutive Central Section titles, moves on to the regional semifinals to face No. 2 Archbishop Mitty (28-1), which opened up its state playoff run with a 74-36 victory against No. 7 San Ramon Valley (26-5) on Wednesday.
It’ll be the first time Clovis West and Archbishop Mitty face off since the Golden Eagles beat the Monarchs to capture the 2017 CIF State Open Division championship.
That state championship took place on a neutral court in Sacramento.
This upcoming semifinal bout will be held Saturday at the Monarchs’ gym in San Jose.
Archbishop Mitty’s lone loss this season was to Carondelet-Concord back in late December. The Monarchs have since won 19 straight games by an average of 33 points per game.
This story was originally published March 2, 2022 at 9:51 PM.
