Clovis senior Brittany Johnson looks for a teammate during a District 4-5A game Tuesday evening at Carlsbad. Clovis won the contest, 53-44.

CARLSBAD — Clovis High’s girls extended their winning streak to 10 games Tuesday night, but it wasn’t easy.

The Lady Wildcats needed a solid fourth quarter to finally put Carlsbad away and claim a 53-44 District 4-5A victory. It was their 15th victory in the last 16 games.

Clovis (19-4, 2-0 district) jumped ahead 17-10 in the first quarter, but then struggled and found itself behind 39-37 early in the final period before finishing the game on a 16-5 run.

Lady Cats coach Jeff Reed said his team adjusted its diamond-and-one press to more of a three-quarters court press in the final period, and the Cavegirls (12-12, 0-2) couldn’t handle it.

“We just didn’t get after them,” Reed said. “They handled our press well until the fourth quarter.”

Junior Antiesha Brown scored 16 points for the Lady Cats, while senior Brittany Johnson added 15. They combined for 10 points in the final period, including 5-for-6 from the free throw line.

Freshman guard Taylor Edmundson scored 10 points for Carlsbad, but the Cavegirls went down to their sixth loss in a row.

Clovis used a 27-4 fourth-quarter blitz to rally past Hobbs in its district opener on Friday, so now the Lady Cats have posted a 43-11 edge in the final period in district play and limited their two opponents to three field goals in that time.

“Carlsbad played tough,” Reed said. “They fought hard the whole game. We were able to get out of here with a win; it wasn’t pretty, but we’ll take it.”

Carlsbad actually had one more field goal than the Lady Cats, but Clovis went 7-of-8 overall from the foul line in the final stanza and finished 15-for-19 for the game to 4-of-9 for the Cavegirls.

Clovis (19-4, 2-0) — Leia Willis 2 3-3 8, Jadee Isler 0 2-2 2, Antiesha Brown 5 6-7 16, Ashlee Pierson 4 1-3 9, Brittany Johnson 5 3-4 15, Amanda Romero 1 0-0 3. Totals 17 15-19 53.
Carlsbad (12-12, 0-2) — Kali McCormick 2 0-0 6, Kaitlyn Rodriguez 0 1-2 1, Taylor Edmundson 4 0-0 10, Jordan Neatherlin 4 0-1 8, Vianca Villegas 4 1-3 9, Stephanie Franks 3 2-3 8, Montoya 1 0-0 2. Totals 18 4-9 44.
Clovis 17 9 11 16 — 53
Carlsbad 10 12 15 7 — 44
3-pointers — Clovis, Johnson 2, Romero, Willis. Carlsbad, Edmundson 2, McCormick. Junior varsity — Carlsbad 41, Clovis 40.