Golden Eagles dominate defensively, cruise to win over Kimball

Aaliyah Seuell looks for an open teammate in the Golden Eagles’ 75-31 win over Kimball in the Nike Central Valley Showdown. Seuell had 18 points in the contest on Dec. 5, 2019. (Michael Ford/Clovis Roundup)

With a new season, new opportunities arrive for teams to leave a stamp on Central Section basketball history.

But, in order to do that, they will have to get by the Clovis West Golden Eagles girls.

The 7-time defending Valley champions have gotten off to yet another scorching hot start this season, going undefeated through the first three games of the season, and that trend continued with a 75-31 victory over the Kimball Jaguars in the first round of the Nike Central Valley Showdown at Clovis West.

Senior guard Aaliyah Seuell led the Golden Eagles with 18 points, with 12 coming in the third quarter alone.

She was backed with nine points from freshman guard Etoyah Montgomery.

But it was the defense that allowed the Golden Eagles to stretch out an enormous lead.

Clovis West played suffocating full-court press defense, making it difficult for the Jaguars to even get the ball past their own free throw line in the first quarter.

But, head coach Craig Campbell, ever the perfectionist, was not satisfied with that end of the court for his team.

“We gave up way too many fouls, way too many free throw attempts,” Campbell said. “Those two things have to fix for us to be where we want to be this year.”

Still, the Jaguars struggled immensely to score the ball and had just three points in the first quarter and 11 in the half.

Kimball’s offense perked up in the second half when it found ways to break Clovis West’s press by passing the ball up the court to the unguarded offensive player, which in turn led to several fast break opportunities. But Kimball was unable to consistently capitalize by making good looks at the hoop.

With the victory, Clovis West maintains an undefeated record and will move on to its second opponent Friday against Bakersfield.

Michael graduated from Fresno State in May 2019 with a Bachelor of Arts degree in print journalism. During his time at the university, he served as sports and managing editor for The Collegian, Fresno State’s student-run newspaper. In addition to the Clovis Roundup, Michael has written for The Fresno Bee, the Kingsburg Recorder and Selma Enterprise. He has a passion for sports and can be found on the sidelines at local games, bringing the citizens of Clovis the athletics news they deserve.