Longshot Clovis West Rocks Buena, 72-55 : Prep basketball: Central Section champion overcomes height disadvantage with blistering performance from three-point range.

Slinging long-range shots with remarkable accuracy, Kristi Fulton and the Clovis West High Golden Eagles of Fresno rocked a Southern Section giant Tuesday night.

Fulton, making seven of 10 attempts from three-point range, scored 22 points and Staci Oddo blistered the perimeter for 16 more as a much smaller Clovis West defeated Buena, 72-55, in the first round of the Southern California regional Division I basketball championships.

It was only the 35th loss in 410 games for the Bulldogs’ 16-year coach, Joe Vaughan. No less foreign than the defeat was the outside shooting by Clovis West (26-2) that he witnessed.

“That was the best perimeter shooting that I’ve seen in the last few years,” said Vaughan, whose eighth-seeded Bulldogs finished 25-4, equaling his worst loss total at Buena. His teams have won two state and 14 Channel League titles.

Fulton, a 5-foot-7 senior guard virtually ignored by recruiters from NCAA Division I colleges, increased her season three-point field-goal total to 91.

The left-hander did not attempt a shot inside the three-point arc against Buena.

It was her 25-foot shot with four seconds left in the first half that punctuated a 13-0 Eagle run to close the second quarter. It gave Clovis West a suddenly commanding 38-25 lead and the Central Section Division I champion did not relinquish command thereafter.

Buena opened the third-quarter scoring with jump shots by Lianne Ishikawa and Alisa Ewin but Oddo repelled the brief momentum with three consecutive jump shots, including a three-point basket.

Consecutive three-point baskets by Fulton made it 51-33 and the Eagles were looking ahead toward their Thursday semifinal contest at home against Washington.

“They might have problems if they go against somebody who is big inside, but if they keep shooting like this they are going to be tough,” Vaughan said of Clovis West, which has no player on its roster taller than 5-9.

Conversely, the Bulldogs average 5-11 across their front line, but Clovis West more than compensated for its lack of height with excellent rebounding position, to say nothing of its long-range shooting display.

That’s old hat for Fulton, who averages 16 points a game and commonly makes five of six three-baskets a game.

“She’s got the green light, absolutely,” Clovis West Coach Jose Hernandez said. “She has been very consistent. I just wish some university would recognize her.”

Fulton, who carried a 3.6 grade-point average, began practicing long-range shooting as a freshman.

“I just kept moving back to see how far I could move out and keep making shots,” she said. “I feel really confident with it.”

Buena dug itself a hole in the first half by making only eight of 34 shots.

Jennifer Wells led Buena with 18 points and guard Mia Palkie, who has accepted a scholarship to Utah, added 14.