Central East shocks top-ranked Clovis West, ends 13-game TRAC home win streak
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- Central East upset top-ranked Clovis West, ending a 13-game TRAC home streak.
- Central East used Ni’Rae Chatman basket to seize the lead and maintain control.
- Coach Chris Maxey scheduled tough nonleague opponents to prepare his team.
Winning on the road against the Clovis West girls basketball team is typically a tall order for any Tri-River Athletic Conference opponent.
The Golden Eagles hadn’t lost a TRAC home game since the 2022-2023 season, when they suffered a narrow 52-51 defeat to Clovis.
But on Friday night, The Bee’s top-ranked Golden Eagles experienced a rare home loss.
In a major upset, 11th-ranked Central East edged out a 50-45 victory, snapping Clovis West’s 13-game home win streak in TRAC play.
“I told the girls just to believe,” said Central East coach Chris Maxey. “Trust in the work they’ve been putting in every day.”
Clovis West (17-2) held a 10-9 lead in the first quarter, but a basket by Ni’Rae Chatman swung the advantage to the Bengals at 11-10, and they never looked back.
Maxey said he intentionally built a challenging schedule this season to prepare his team for TRAC competition, arranging games against tough opponents like Bishop Gorman-Las Vegas, Etiwanda, and Kamehameha Kapalama-Hawaii, among others.
That strategy appears to have paid off for Central East (9-6).
“I just think that it lets the girls know it’s possible,” Maxey said. “Clovis West is at the top of the totem pole. Every year, people say, ‘We want to get West.’ And to actually do it — there’s no question mark now.”
This story was originally published January 10, 2026 at 6:00 AM.
