2022: Great season for girls hoops
Navajo Times | Cyrus Norcross
Rock Point Lady Cougar Arainne Begay (10) jumps over Fort Thomas Apache Allen Gilbert (45) for the rebound during the 1A State championship game held at Findlay Toyota Event Center Feb. 19. The Lady Cougars won the state championship with a score of 64-43.
WINDOW ROCK
It was a great year for girls basketball for the 2021-22 season.
Three area teams were crowned state champions with the Alchesay, Kirtland Central and Rock Point girls winning their respective titles.
Navajo Times | Cyrus Norcross
The starting five of the Alchesay Lady Falcons walk in unison during the Arizona 3A state championship game. The Lady Falcons captured the title with a 64-62 overtime win over Chinle.
The Alchesay Lady Falcons clashed with region rival Chinle in the 3A Conference title game with the Falcons winning the state title in a thrilling 64-62 overtime win.
“It has been magical when you win the state championship,” Alchesay coach Rick Sanchez told the Navajo Times. “It’s wonderful. We’ve been so close in so many games, and it’s just wonderful how the girls responded and just played and got through all the adversity.
In New Mexico, the Kirtland Central Lady Broncos notched the school’s 20th state crown as the top-seeded Broncos led from start to finish and earned a lopsided 55-32 win over No. 3 Bernalillo in the New Mexico Class 4A title game.
Navajo Times | Donovan Quintero
Kirtland Central Lady Bronco head coach Devon Manning holds the game-winning ball over the team as part of its celebration and victory over the Bernalillo Lady Spartans at the UNM Pit in Albuquerque on March 11.
“Our strength all year has been our depth,” KC coach Devon Manning said. “There are a lot of minutes out there that our girls gave us that don’t show up in the stat sheets.”
The Broncos ended a 10-year drought with the fourth-year coach winning his first state title.
Previously, he coached KC to two other state championship games.
“I can tell you it feels a lot better being on the other side,” Manning said. “You know, I think we had to go through our bumps and bruises to really understand what it takes to get here, you know, to actually win the ballgame.
In the Arizona 1A Conference title game, the Rock Point Lady Cougars captured a second state title by defeating Fort Thomas 64-43, capping the season on a 15-game win streak.
“I’m feeling awesome,” Rock Point coach Andrew Reed said afterward.
This was Rock Point’s second state title as the Cougars were unable to defend its 2020 crown when the global pandemic shut down the Navajo Nation.
“I just want to thank everybody on the reservation back home,” Reed said. “I know they were behind us the whole time, and also the other teams from Red Mesa, Chinle – their support is a family thing.”
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