Clovis’ Brittany Johnson challenges Roswell High’s Chantale Riddle under the basket during Friday’s Milk Cow Classic matchup at The Rock.

Clovis High girls coach Jeff Reed figures more tight games are coming for the Lady Wildcats.

Friday night, they passed a stiff test, converting 11 consecutive free throws in the second half — all by Antiesha Brown and Brittany Johnson — and holding off Roswell High 51-45 in the Milk Cow Classic at Rock Staubus Gym.

The Lady Cats (14-4) won for the 10th time in 11 games while snapping the Lady Coyotes’ nine-game winning streak. Brown finished with 19 points and eight rebounds while Johnson had 14 points, 10 in the fourth quarter when she went 6-for-6 from the free-throw line.

“We really had to execute the little things tonight,” Johnson said. “Coach (Jeff) Reed really emphasized having a good defensive game.

“We did what we had to do.”

The Lady Coyotes (14-4) got 19 points from senior center Chantale Riddle and 11 from sophomore guard Shanice Steenholt.

Trailing 24-13 late in the first half, Roswell held the Lady Cats scoreless for a nearly six minute stretch that carried over to the third quarter.

During that time, the Lady Coyotes scored 14 unanswered points and opened a 27-24 lead.

“We kind of came out a little slow,” Johnson said of the start of the second half. “It took us a little while to get going, but we kept them down and got the lead back.”

Clovis rallied back to lead 38-31 at the end of the third quarter, then took the lead for good 41-39 on a short jumper by sophomore Ashlee Pierson with 3:28 left in the game.

Johnson scored eight points in the remaining time. Brown and Johnson each hit two free throws in the final 30 seconds after Roswell closed to 47-45.

“I thought it was a very physical game, and we lost the physical part of it,” Roswell High coach Joe Carpenter said. “I take my hat off to (Clovis); they made shots at the end. Jeff does a good job with them.”

Carpenter knew this weekend would test his team. He said he’s never beaten the Lady Cats at The Rock in nine seasons as coach, and added the Lady Coyotes will have their hands full tonight with Rio Rancho (16-1), Class 5A’s top-ranked team.

“We put all our eggs in a basket,” he said. “We really wanted to beat Clovis tonight.”

The Lady Cats face Goddard (4-13) at 7 p.m. today.

“It was a good learning experience,” Reed summed up. “We needed a game like that. We’re going to be in that situation again, and hopefully we’ll handle it a little better each time.”

Rio Rancho 66, Goddard 36 — The Rams trailed 9-7 after the first quarter, but dominated the rest of the way.

Rio Rancho got 13 points each from seniors Ashlynn Steffensen and Megan Muniz and 11 from senior Tracy Fosterling. The Lady Rockets were led by 12 points from senior Marissa Mapp.