Serving the High Plains
Serving the High Plains
Fort Sumner-House defender Avery Cavett (right) blocks the way for Logan guard Reece Goldston during Friday's Class 1A girls basketball semifinal game at Bernalillo. Cavett, the only player from House on the team, played a critical role in the Vixens' state championship run last weekend.
Avery Cavett is the only player from the southern Quay County school district of House as part of its sports cooperative with the Fort Sumner girls basketball team.
Yet it's hard to imagine the Vixens winning a Class 1A championship last weekend without her.
Cavett, a senior, totaled a team-high 15 points and 10 rebounds during a 37-30 victory over Logan in Friday's semifinal at Bernalillo. She went 6-for-6 from the free throw line against the Lady Longhorns during a pressure-packed fourth quarter.
"At times like those, the only thing you can do is be calm and go get your free throws," she said after the game.
"She really came through," Fort Sumner-House coach Ben Segura said.
Cavett then scored a team-high 14 points during a 56-30 victory over Melrose in the title game Saturday at The Pit in Albuquerque. She made a 3-pointer during a critical 10-0 run in the second quarter to help give her team a 36-18 lead at intermission.
Cavett said her coach told her and her teammates before the title game to "play your game and if you see something, do it, let the ball fly."
Contacted at her home Sunday, Cavett indicated she still was basking in the glow of a state championship.
"It feels good," she said. "I'm still wearing my (championship) medal."
Cavett, who lives in House, said she drove 40 miles each way to Fort Sumner for basketball practices during the season. She said her teammates didn't make her feel like an outsider.
"My teammates pushed me to be better every day," she said. "We all worked together well to make this happen."
Cavett said she briefly was ineligible to play for the Vixens early this season because she was taking additional classes at House's The Learning Center so she could graduate early this year.
She later withdrew from TLC and went back to the regular House school.
"I wasn't on the team early and decided to come back," she said.
"I know our team was glad she came back," Segura said. "It was a good teaching moment as far as humility. It took a lot of guts for her to approach us and ask for an opportunity to come back to the team. She made a choice, and I'm glad it worked out."
"House Schools is grateful for the opportunity to participate in the co-op with Fort Sumner," House Municipal Schools superintendent Bonnie Lightfoot stated in an email. "Avery is a very talented basketball player who plays with a lot of heart. This championship is the fourth one in recent years that House athletes have been part of."