Clovis North Girls Basketball team is 5-0 after defeating Ventura 65-42

Clovis West’s Laney Amundsen looks to dribble past a defender in game against Ventura on Tuesday, Dec. 2, 2019. (Ryan Kish/Clovis Roundup)

Savannah Tucker scored 30 points and the Clovis North Girls basketball team defeated Ventura 65-42 on Tuesday night. With this win, the Broncos move to 5-0 on the season.

The Broncos had a nine-point lead at the half but a 13-point quarter from Tucker helped Clovis North put up 20 points in the third quarter. Additionally, the Broncos found success on defense, limiting Ventura to just ten points in a showing that virtually sealed the game.

“We started out a little slow, but I’m proud of them for battling back and finding a way, that’s what it’s going to take this year,” said head coach Heather Long after the game.

Long explained that the only change she needed to make to address the slow play was to simply tell her team to, “move a little quicker.”

What this year has in store for the Broncos is up to only the team themselves according to Long. “It’s up to them, the sky is the limit, they’ve got a lot of the pieces and they’re a really special group that has been together for a very long time,” Long said.

Clovis North enters this season with six seniors and two juniors and tonight 52 of their 65 points were scored by upper-classmen players.

Rowan Hein added 12 points for the Broncos and five other players scored points on the night.

Ventura’s Amaya Fuentes scored 24 points in the game. The Broncos were unable to find a way to cover the 6-foot-3 center who would go on to score 57% of her team’s points, all while towering over any defender Clovis North could put on her.

“Credit to them, we had no answer for the big girl inside, she did a great job,” Long said, referencing Fuentes. “We struggled with that but our kids found a way so I’m proud of them for that,” Long added.

Clovis North will now travel to Lake Balboa, Calif. to play Birmingham High School on Thursday, Dec. 5.

Ryan graduated from Buchanan High School in 2018 and is currently a student at Clovis Community College and plans to transfer to a four-year school to complete a degree in journalism or political science. Ryan was born in Pennsylvania, has lived in four states, and thinks the Yankees need to be more creative with the design of their batting practice hats.