3A North Region Tourney: Lady Wildcats holds off late Monument Valley rally to advance

By Truman Begaye
Special to the Times

KAYENTA – Senior guards Desiree Yazzie, Elayah Pete and Cheyenne Littleman combined for 42 points as the Chinle Lady Wildcats advanced past Monument Valley with a 64-61 win in the first round of the 3A North Girls Basketball Tournament at the Nash Center in Kayenta on Tuesday night.

Yazzie led Chinle with 16 points while Pete and Littleman added 13 a piece in a game the Wildcats controlled most of the night before surviving a late Mustang rally.

Monument Valley senior forward Tehya Yazzie scored 16 points to lead the Lady Mustangs, followed by senior guard Kanon Dalton with 13 and sophomore Meggan Sandoval with 12.

Chinle head coach Francine McCurtain said the emphasis coming in was defense and attacking the basket.

“We have to make sure we’re playing defense. There’s a couple of girls on the other side who can really take the ball to the basket and can shoot,” McCurtain said. “And not only that, but we gotta learn how to attack the basket, so a couple of the girls, like Cheyenne, started to take it to the basket.”

Chinle opened the game with a 14-10 lead after the first quarter behind five points from Desiree Yazzie, four from Brianna Benally and a 3-pointer by Haidyn John.

The Wildcats stretched the margin in the second quarter, outscoring Monument Valley 21-14. Littleman poured in 10 points during the period while Yazzie added five, giving Chinle a 35-24 halftime lead. Dalton paced the Mustangs with six second-quarter points while Tehya Yazzie added five.

Monument Valley began its comeback in the third quarter, winning the period 14-12. Dalton scored five points and Sandoval added three as the Mustangs trimmed the deficit to 47-38 entering the fourth.

The final quarter turned into a sprint. Sandoval scored eight points and Tehya Yazzie added five as Monument Valley steadily chipped away. Dalton’s late layup cut the margin to three in the closing seconds, but Chinle held on at the free-throw line to secure the 64-61 victory.

Pete scored nine fourth-quarter points for the Wildcats while Desiree Yazzie and Caitlyn Ashley each added three to keep the Mustangs at bay.

Monument Valley coach Sophie Patterson said the late push came too late.

“Just pressure the ball. Play good defense, and they did, but they needed to come out like in the first quarter, second, third quarter,” Patterson said. “Just as flat as we could be.”

With the win, Chinle (16-13, 1-1) advances to face top-seeded Tuba City (22-3) on Thursday.

“They’re a great team. They have a lot of veterans that are kind of hanging around and know what to do,” McCurtain said. “To try and stop all of that, we have to be a team. No matter what happens, we’re gonna start as a team and we’re gonna finish as a team. We’re gonna use this to go into our postseason for state too.”

Monument Valley now awaits the AIA rankings and a possible pool-play berth in the 3A State Championship beginning Feb. 12.

Get instant access to one of our many e-edition subscriptions HERE at our Navajo Times Store.

---