Clean sweep: Lady Pirates take over second seed in 2A North Region

BURNSIDE, Ariz.

A two-week layoff has taken its toll on the Valley Sanders girls’ basketball team.

The 2A school was placed on COVID-19 protocol, and it returned to action last Thursday.

It came off the break with two straight losses to St. Johns (8-0) and Round Valley (4-4).

Since then, the Lady Pirates have been trying to make up some ground as it moved into second place in the 2A North Region race with a 5-3 record following Tuesday night’s doubleheader win over third-seed Ganado (5-3).

“Well, this was a confidence booster for these girls because we’ve been losing and, you know, we haven’t had enough practice time to get back where we were,” Valley Sanders coach Dorothy Mitchell said. “COVID really hurt us because I know we’re still out of shape, so we’re gonna work on that.”

On Monday, the Pirates defeated Many Farms in a doubleheader, and they fortified those wins by outlasting Ganado on Tuesday.

The Pirates won the first contest by a 51-41 count, and they completed the sweep with a hard-fought 55-47 win in the nightcap.

“We had good ball movement,” Mitchell said of the second contest. “That is what is we enjoy doing, but we haven’t done that in a while, so it was amazing that they took care of the ball, and they had good ball movement.”

Of course, it took some time for the Mitchell-coached team to get into a rhythm as Ganado raced out an 8-2 lead behind two baskets from junior guard Kiyarra Curtis in the opening quarter.

The Pirates finally got settled in, cutting that margin to 17-14 at the end of the quarter.

Valley took the lead for good at 18-17 when junior forward Madison Yazzie hit the back end of a two-shot foul with 5:17 to go before the half.

The Pirates extended that lead to seven, but the Lady Hornets used an 8-2 run in the closing seconds to get within 30-27 at the break.

To close that gap, Ganado got a pair of 3s from Curtis and Kilauna Bitsuie.

“They have a good team, and they have good shooters,” Mitchell said of Ganado. “We tried to get a hand up there, but they can shoot the ball.”

The Hornets made seven treys as a team, including four in the second half as they stayed within striking distance despite Valley going up by as much as nine.

Bitsuie’s trifecta got Ganado within 51-47 with 3:22 left, but Valley ended the contest on a 4-0 run.

The Pirates had three players in double figures, with senior Erin Mitchell leading the way with a team-best 19 points while sophomore guard Kaelyn Nez added 11 and senior Raehanna Goatson chipped in 10.

“Of course, (the outcome is) disappointing, but we tried,” Ganado coach Mike Bitsuie said. “Sanders is a well-coached team, and they were ready to play.”

The longtime Ganado coach said Mitchell was the difference maker as she played an all-around game with several assists to go with her 19 points.

“She killed us,” he said. “She’s a really good player, and they wanted it a little bit more than us, so they deserved to win.”

Curtis led the Hornets as she finished with a game-high 20 points, including five treys. Kilauna Bitsuie, meanwhile, added 11.

In the first game on Tuesday, Ganado got off to a fast start, leading 13-4 in the opening quarter behind Curtis’ two treys.

The Hornets, however, cut that margin down to 27-20, with Mitchell (12 points) scoring eight.

In the third, Kaelyn Nez put in 14 of her game-best 20 points as Valley gained a 40-39 edge, heading into the fourth.

In the final quarter, the Pirates outscored Ganado 11 to 2 as it picked up a 51-41 triumph.

“In the first game, we were in control,” the Ganado coach said. “We had a good start, but they came firing in the second and third quarter, and they put us away in the fourth, so they’re a very good team.

“Our inexperience shows here and there, and all we can do is try and get better and better,” he added. “Our turnovers killed us, and that led to easy baskets for them. They got a lot more easier baskets than we did.”

Ganado, which will close out the season with a doubleheader with Hopi on Friday and Piñon on Monday, was led by Curtis. The Ganado guard finished with 13 to lead Ganado, while senior post Mya Dalgai added 12.

Mitchell said they came out flat in that opening quarter, but her team righted its ship in the final three quarters.

“We haven’t been in the gym for that long, so that has a lot to do with it,” she said. “You know our chemistry was there, but we couldn’t shoot the ball.”

Valley player Erin Mitchell said the latest wins are needed as the team is looking to make another playoff run.

“It feels good, we’re slowly coming back together,” she said. “For a while, it was hard because of the two weeks we sat out with COVID, but it’s all falling back into place.”

Goatson added that the team had been able to bond, something they didn’t do during their two-week pause.

“We kind of fell apart, but this week we’ve had some team bonding,” she said. “We’re building our sisterhood really strong.”

Valley will resume action tonight with a pair of games at Piñon, followed by two games at Hopi next Tuesday.

The Pirates can solidify the No. 2 seed for next week’s 2A North Region tournament by sweeping both opponents. Nonetheless, Dorothy Mitchell is hoping they can finish out the season.

“I’m just looking at completing this season since we didn’t have a season last year,” she said. “That’s what I want to foresee, having these guys complete our season as a team. I think it’s really important.”

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