Clovis West narrowly escapes upset in Central Section basketball championship against Clovis
Winning a 13th consecutive Central Section champion never came easy this time for the Clovis West girls basketball team.
While at first when the Golden Eagles opened with a 17-2 lead, it seemed they were going to roll to a convincing win in the Central Section championship at Selland Arena on Saturday night.
It was anything but that for Clovis West (32-0), which saw a determined Clovis team that were primed for an upset win. The Cougars (24-8) had chances as the game went to overtime which saw the Golden Eagles outscore the Cougars 13-4 for a 53-44 victory in a Central Section Division I championship game.
“We’re up 17 and we just lost focus defensively,” Clovis West coach Craig Campbell said. “We know they have a really good shooting team and they had three 3s in the second quarter, and not only did they get the points, but they played off that momentum and that energy. I was really frustrated that we just checked out their uncontested 3s.”
It was a big scare for Clovis West because Clovis had taken a 37-36 lead on a 3-pointer by Sadie Sin with three minutes remaining. A minute later, Jaylnn Jasso hit a 3-pointer with two minutes remaining for a 40-38 lead with two minutes left.
Clovis had a chance to win the game before the end of regulation but misfired on a shot that sent the game into overtime.
In overtime, however, the Cougars were called for two technicals that left coach Cooper Steele wondering why they were called. He claimed the referees said he was issued a warning earlier in the game but didn’t recall one before he was called for a technical.
Mahloni Warren then made two free throws that gave Clovis West a 43-40 lead with 2:34 remaining in overtime. Minutes later, a second technical was called. This time on Jasso for kicking that left Clovis questioning the call.
“I didn’t know I had a warning but I was just trying to get clarification,” Steele said. “I don’t think there was a warning at the table.”
Asked again about the warning, Steele said the referee told him ‘I’ve already warned you to stop talking to me.’ “I didn’t hear a warning and there was no warning at the table. I need clarification on that, but I got to be better than that.”
Clovis West will find out where it will be seeded in the CIF state playoff and likely will be in the Open Division, hoping for a high seed. Clovis could be in Division I.
Division I boys
Top-seed St. Joseph didn’t want a repeat runner-up finish like what happened to the Knights in last year’s Division I championship.
Back in the title game and this time facing Buchanan, St. Joseph (31-1) made sure Saturday’s game wasn’t close and led from start to finish en route a 54-33 victory.
A year ago, St. Joseph lost to Clovis North 69-60 in last season’s D-I championship.
Buchanan (26-5), which knocked off the defending Central Section Division I champions Clovis North in the semis last week, suffered its worst loss of the season.
Buchanan’s top scorer Connor Sheets was held to eight points.
Despite the loss, the Bears had a big season that was topped by a Tri-River Athletic Conference, led by coach Tom Orlich and Sheets.
Buchanan is not done as it will play in the CIF Division I state playoffs. The Bears will find out their seed and opponent when the pairings are announced Sunday.
Division III boys
Strathmore’s Isaiah Colunga made a basket midway through the fourth quarter for a 41-39 lead and Diego Lopez followed with a 3-pointer as the Spartans held on for a 45-41 victory over Granite Hills, giving the school its first section title since 1937.
This story was originally published March 2, 2025 at 6:45 AM.
