Alchesay completes comeback to reach title game, Lady Falcons to play top seed Monument Valley

CHINLE

In a frantic finish, the Alchesay Lady Falcons scored the game’s final eight points to surprise No. 2 seed Window Rock Friday in the semis of the 3A North Region tournament.

The defending 3A state champs reached tonight’s championship game by capitalizing on four Window Rock turnovers, including two steals that led to a 44-43 come-from-behind win.

“When all five of them play ‘D,’ we’re tough to beat,” Alchesay coach Rick Sanchez said. “If the girls get to where they need to be, we can cover the floor. Sometimes we forget, but when all five of them play ‘D,’ they can tear it up.”

The Lady Falcons will play top-seed Monument Valley at 5 p.m. at the Chinle Wildcat Den as the Lady Mustangs posted a 55-42 win over the host team.

After a stagnant third quarter, MV put the game away in the fourth by outscoring Chinle 13 to 4.

“We watched what Alchesay did to Window Rock, and I kept reminding the girls that we don’t want a team to hang around,” MV coach Jason Franklin said. “Chinle can hit free throws, and you don’t want to do that in a close game.”

The Wildcats were a perfect 6-of-6 at the charity line, but that was not enough to keep pace with MV.

“I give a lot of credit to Monument Valley,” Chinle coach Francine McCurtain said. “They have a lot of experience, and they have a lot of seniors that know what they need to do as a team.

“We came out with a game plan, and it worked for a little bit, but we stopped executing,” she added. “Our shots weren’t falling, and so we ended playing a little desperate here and there.”

MV got off to a 23-12 start in the opening quarter, and in the second, Chinle cut that margin down to 37-30 at the break.

In the third, points were hard to come by as both teams combined for nine points, with MV outscoring the Wildcats 5 to 4.

“We just couldn’t score,” McCurtain said. “We have a pretty young squad, and they’re looking at each other on who’s going to take over.”

Franklin said they went away from their game plan after a productive first half.

“That third quarter was ugly,” he said. “We lost sight of getting paint touches, whether that be by a pass or the dribble. The layups we were getting in the first, second quarters all came from paint touches.

“We kind of lost sight on that, and we got too fond of shooting from the outside,” he said.

MV got three players to score in double figures, with senior guard Kierra Johnson and sophomore post Keiryn Mann putting up 13 points, while senior guard Shyrai Shorty added 11.

Senior guard Shaundiin Yazzie had a game-high 16 points with two treys for Chinle. The Wildcats also got 10 points from senior Temyra Bia.

Alchesay

Trailing 41-33 with 4:01 to go, the Falcons rallied behind the seven points turned in by junior guard Jazlyn Nosie to complete the comeback.

Before that outburst, Nosie was held in check for the first 28 minutes as she finished with eight points.

The Falcons had other players pick up the slack early in the contest, with nine players scoring at least a point.

Senior forward Jenieth Sanchez led the way with a team-best 14 points.

“Jenieth is tremendous inside at 5-foot-nothing,” Sanchez said. “She blocks out well, and I got a new girl (Ramona Gregg) who is playing for us since January.

“She’s a sophomore, and she’s tough inside,” he said. “She’s strong, and that’s a real big asset for us because she’s always in there, and she battles.”

Window Rock got a game-high 17 points from Melicia Nelson as her two free throws at the 4:01 mark gave the Scouts a 41-33 cushion.

She added a midrange jumper during Alchesay’s late run, but that wasn’t enough to hold them off.

Window Rock coach Gabrielle Whitney said her club lost its composure, and it’s something to learn from.

“It’s just us having that confidence to finish out games,” she said. “The girls have to believe in what they’re capable of doing, and I think we lacked that late in the game.

“We can only learn from this,” she added. “We just have to move forward from here and concentrate on the state playoffs.”

The Scouts will play Chinle in the third-place game, with that contest having a 10 a.m. start.

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