Alchesay boys looking to win 3A East hoops crown

WINSLOW – The transition has been smooth for the Alchesay boys basketball team.

Last season, the Falcons played in the 3A North with some varied results under head coach Kyle Goklish, who returned to the sidelines after a three-year hiatus.

The Falcons are now in the 3A East and with a bevy of young talent, Alchesay is a few wins away from clinching the league crown in its new digs.

On Friday night, Alchesay improved to 11-3 overall and 5-1 in 3A East play after picking up a 68-46 road win over the Winslow Bulldogs (9-6, 4-3).

After leading 28-24 at the break, the Falcons turned up the heat on the defensive end in the final 16 minutes to post their 22-point win.

“Our team defense is what turned the tide,” Goklish said. “Our guys were making their rotations and getting to their spots defensively, so every time (Winslow) missed, we pushed the ball.

“We told the guys that we needed to get out and get some fastbreaks,” he added. “The defense we played turned into offense, and that’s what helped us there in the second half.”

Junior guard Adrian Dosela finished with 17 points with nine coming in the third quarter while sophomore forward Max Antonio added 14.

“We had stick with our game plan, which is to play defense,” Dosela said. On offense, “we were being patient with our shots, and we were making them.”

Antonio added that played within themselves to get the separation they needed in the second half.

“There was a lot of hype going into this game, but we just played our game,” Antonio said. “We just stuck to our defense because (Winslow’s) Isaac David is a big scorer for them. We tried to shut him down.”

David finished with a quiet 14 points as he faced multiple defenders from Alchesay. The Bulldogs also received 14 from senior guard Jace Smith.

“Isaac got frustrated because they were double-teaming him,” Winslow coach Venton Nelson said of his senior post. “Our guards were seeing that, and that opened the 3-point shots and driving lanes for us, but we just couldn’t find our shots.

“You’re gonna have nights like that,” Nelson said. “We just gotta shake it off and pull it together and get ready for our next game.”

Prior to last Friday’s contest, Winslow last played on Jan. 17 as the Bulldogs beat archrival Holbrook by a 59-57 count.

“I have to credit Alchesay,” Nelson said. “They came prepared, and they were ready to play. I think they played a game two nights ago and our last game was (on Jan. 17), so we’ve had no action for seven days.

“I think that hurt us a little bit,” he added. “It stopped our momentum because we were starting to play really well. I mean, we beat Holbrook, and we beat Snowflake in two very close games. But in this game we were flat-footed.”

On Tuesday, the Arizona Interscholastic Association released the latest statewide rankings with Alchesay staying at No. 13 while Winslow dropped three spots to No. 20.

“I wish we would have had this win,” Nelson said. “It would have move us up a little bit, maybe two slots.”

The Nelson-coached team is set to play at No. 30 Show Low (4-9, 1-4) tonight.

Alchesay is also in action this evening as the Falcons travels to Holbrook (10-3, 4-2) for an important region game against the Roadrunners.

The Falcons will then close out the week playing at Show Low on Friday.

“Those venues are always tough to play in, so we got our work cut out for us,” Goklish said.

---