Alchesay, Chinle girls to meet in 3A North finals

CHINLE

In a pair of mild upsets, the 3A North girls’ championship game will feature No. 3 seed Alchesay and tournament host Chinle.

Both teams advanced on Friday night, with Alchesay downing No. 2 Monument Valley 60-49 while Chinle got a buzzer-beating trey from senior Lindsey Yazzie to score a 49-46 win over top-seed Page.

“I felt it going in,” Yazzie said of her game-winning shot.

The Chinle guard said that trey was her most significant shot of the year, and that basket came about with the Wildcats scrambling to find what was available.

Chinle coach Francine McCurtain said the initial plan was to look for senior post Aisha Ashley inside, but the Lady Sand Devils had her covered.

“It wasn’t the plan to have her shoot, but we’ve always practiced swinging the ball, especially if you don’t have anything,” she said. “When it didn’t work out, all they did is what they did in practice which is rotate the ball across, and we ended up getting a good shot, and it ended in our favor.”.

The trifecta by Yazzie earned Chinle its first win over Page this year as the Wildcats came up short two times, which includes a 39-37 setback last month.

“The excitement there at the end explains how we feel right now,” McCurtain said. “You know, we’re going into the postseason now, and so getting a win like that gives us a little more confidence. It’s a good win for the girls, and I’m glad they got to experience it.”

“It feels really good to finally beat them,” Yazzie chimed in. “We worked very hard to the end, and we didn’t want to give up.”

With under two minutes left, the Lady Sand Devils took its last lead at 46-44 on two free throws by senior guard Miqueda Taliman.

They had a chance to extend it, but they went cold at the charity line, missing a pair of 1-and-1 opportunities in the closing seconds.

“In crucial times like that, it depends on the player, on how bad they want it,” Page coach Celeste “Boka” Claw said.

Claw said it’s unfortunate they missed those free throws, but she was pleased that her team gave it its best shot.

“Chinle obviously had that desire,” she said. “They wanted it more than us tonight, and I have to applaud them, so I don’t mind losing to them to a 3-point buzzer because each team battled hard.”

The Sand Devils were led by Taliman, who finished with a dozen points while freshman Leikara Yazzie added eight.

For Chinle, Ashley had a game-high 21 points while Lindsey Yazzie chipped in 14.

The fourth-seeded Wildcats will play Alchesay at 5:30 p.m. in tonight’s championship game.

Page would have played MV at 10 a.m. in the third-place match.

In the first semifinals, the Lady Falcons scored the first 13 points, and that leeway gave them some breathing room to hold off Monument Valley.

“The girls did a tremendous job,” Alchesay coach Rick Sanchez said. “We lost to MV twice, and we shouldn’t have lost to them at home, so the girls were like, ‘We’re going to play today, and we’re going to start off good.’

“We came out pressing them, and once we got that lead, they didn’t want to give it up,” he said. “We have a tendency to take a break and have the other team catch up with us, but not this time.”

Sophomore guard Jazz Nosie played an instrumental role in that early lead as she scored seven of her game-best 25 points in that initial run.

At the half, she had put in 16 as the Falcons led 34-22.

The last time they played MV, Sanchez said they doubled-teamed his sophomore guard, which limited her.

But in Friday’s game, Noise benefited from a few plays by passing the ball off before cutting to the basket.

“She’s got such a high basketball IQ,” he said. “Of anybody that I’ve coached, she understands the game, and she tore it up tonight.”

The Falcons also had junior Jeneith Sanchez and senior Brandi Edwards in double figures as they finished with 14 and 11.

For MV, Paris Littleben finished with 14 points while Angel Holiday chipped in 10, and Aiyanna Nash added seven.

MV coach Jason Franklin said the slow start put them in an early hole, and they used a lot of energy to play catch-up the rest of the way.

“A big part of it was shots just wouldn’t go down for us tonight,” he said. “We had a lot of open looks, and we had a hard time seeing the ball go into the baskets.

“We turned the ball over quite a few times, and whenever you do that, you take opportunities away from yourself,” he added. “You don’t give yourself a chance to take a shot, and whenever you’re behind, it’s tough to come back, especially when you’re playing good teams in the 3A North.”

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