Cavegirls crush Lovington, improve to 7-0

CARLSBAD -- The Carisbad girls basketball team prolonged its winning streak to seven games after crushing Lovington 51-16 on Tuesday.

Carlsbad is off to its best start of the John Zumbrun era, who is in his eighth season as the head coach.

The Cavegirls, the second-ranked 6A girls team in the latest nmpreps.rivals.com poll, continued to play fast and get defensive stops.

With players extending arms to get multiple steals and rebounds, the Cavegirls didn't allow a single point for the first six minutes and 52 seconds of regulation.

At the time, players hoped the shutout would hold up for the rest of the quarter.

"I was hoping so," freshman guard Carsyn Boswell said, cracking a smile.

Lovington did finally get on the scoreboard with a free throw at the 1:08 mark in the first quarter, but Carlsbad didn't fret.

"We were kind of hoping that maybe they wouldn't score at all in the first. But it's OK. We did really good anyways," senior guard Caitlin Carrasco said.

Although that perfection ended, Carlsbad's efforts didn't.

They still had good looks across the floor, shooting from both long-range and in close proximity of the basket.

Carlsbad continued forcing turnovers against Lovington, shutting them down in the paint and limited their outside shots.

The Cavegirls didn't allow more than seven points per quarter - giving up seven in the third quarter, three points in each of the others.

"We always work defense in practice, and it just shows on the court," Boswell said.

Carrasco said rotating fresh legs in and out helped ensure Carlsbad would have the energy to pull off those numbers on defense.

"If we have people come off the bench with new feet, then it's better," Carrasco said. "Fresh people keeps the game going."

Boswell had a game-high 20 points, plus three rebounds and six steals. Senior forward Rylan Gonsalez had 10 points, four rebounds.

Carrasco had eight points, two steals and one rebound. Sophomore point guard Mariel Gomez had three points, six rebounds and six steals.

"We have some leadership going on, we have some growing up going on," coach John Zumbrun said. "We came out locked in, especially on the defensive end. The defense stayed constant."

Carlsbad (7-0) will play at 7 p.m. Friday at Gadsden.

"It's just great to be a part of this team right now. We're doing really good right now. I just want to keep it going," Boswell said.

CARLSBAD 51, LOVINGTON 16

Up next for Carlsbad: 7 p.m. Friday at Gadsden

Up next for Lovington: 7 p.m. Saturday at Hobbs

Current-Argus Sports Editor Matt Hollinshead may be reached at 575-628-5518.