Alchesay girls win first 3A title in overtime

PHOENIX

More than a thousand Native fans from the Navajo and Apache nations filled the stands of the Arizona Veterans Memorial Coliseum on Saturday evening.

Everyone had come to watch the 3A girls’ basketball championship game between No. 12 Chinle and No. 6 Alchesay.

It was a long, intense game with a lot of heart and daring, but Alchesay took the win, 64-62, in overtime.

Both teams were superb defensively, battling face-to-face for most of the game.

In the beginning, the Lady Wildcats’ Qoah Yazzie started the match with a 3-pointer and Chinle finished the quarter ahead, 21-10.

Brandy Edwards made the Lady Falcon’s first basket at the four-minute mark.

However, Alchesay found its rhythm in the second quarter and began going on the offense, quickly catching up to the Lady Wildcats.

At the two-minute mark, the teams were tied 24-24. Then 26-26 before a free throw from Jaylyn Nashio put the Lady Falcons ahead 28-27 at the end of the first half.

At the start of the start of the second half, the Lady Falcons steamed forward. The Lady Wildcats caught up again at 40-40, then 42-42.

The chase continued to the final seconds when, with 16 seconds left in the fourth period, Lady Wildcat Lashante Benalley made two free throws, tying the game 58-58 at the buzzer, pushing the game into overtime.

With four additional minutes to win the title, the two teams tyed for the final time at 60-60 before the Lady Falcons advanced.

Chinle desperately tried to catch up with Aisha Ashley making the final basket, but at the buzzer Alchesay was the winner, 66-64, earning a great cheer from the Apache fans.

This was the Chinle girls’ and coach Francine McCurtain’s first time at the championship game, and they relished it and fought hard to be there.

McCurtain commended her team, especially the seniors, for their effort, saying despite the loss, it was still a good season for the Lady Wildcats.

“I still look at it as a successful season,” McCurtain said. “Even though we came out as runner-up, we went into overtime.

“We fought back, we were ahead, we were down,” she said, “and it was one of those games that is going to be talked about for the whole weekend or even more.

“It was a good season overall,” she said. “We’re ranked No. 12, but we’re certainly not No. 12 anymore.”

Chinle ends its season with a 20-14 record and was third in the 3A North. But they went further than anyone expected, with its players hungry to make up for a season lost to the pandemic.

This was also Alchesay’s first-ever 3A state tournament and its first 3A championship. Alchesay had appeared at state before in the 2A conference.

Lady Falcons coach Rick Sanchez predicted it would be a great game the night before and he was proven correct.

“Not as many good feelings as this,” Sanchez said. “All glory to God because he allowed us to win. He gave me the girls that could do it, and with his grace, we’ll do it again next year.

“It has been magical when you win the state championship,” he said, “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.

“And all the excitement we have here with the crowd – it’s tremendous, lots of fun,” he added.

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