Crownpoint boys win chess match over Navajo Prep

CROWNPOINT

In a classic chess match, the Crownpoint boys’ basketball team got some key steals and crucial blocks to upend Navajo Prep on Tuesday night.

After a 25-all stalemate at the half, the hometown Eagles pulled away from Navajo Prep in the second half with a 59-48 win.

Crownpoint senior Kordell McMillian played a major hand in that 11-point win, using his defensive smarts to get the Eagles going.

McMillian had three huge blocks and several takeaways that Crownpoint capitalized at the other end.

“I thought my defensive effort was good tonight,” McMillian said. “I just try to bring what I can every time I play.”

“Playing Navajo Prep is really tough,” he added. “You have to be on your toes every time, you have to stay alert all the time because they’ll swing the ball really quick, and they’ll move up and down the court really fast.”

Second-year Crownpoint coach Thale Goodluck said his pupil made a difference as the Eagles improved to 12-6 overall and 4-1 in District 1-3A play.

“Kordell is one of those players that can make (defensive) plays when it seems impossible,” Goodluck said. “He has the speed for it and he has the jumping ability to make blocks.

“With those two, it just makes him a really tough defender,” he added. “And if he makes good reads, he’s going to get those steals and blocks.”

“Obviously, this win was huge for us because we needed to bounce back from the Zuni game,” McMillian said of their only district setback to the T-Birds on Jan. 20 when they came up short 40-38.

McMillian made his presence known in Tuesday’s win, especially in the second half, as one of his blocks assisted Taye Harvey with a transitional layup for a 31-27 lead with 5:06 left in the third.

Behind a 7-3 run, the Goodluck-coached team extended that margin to 38-30 going into the fourth.

Navajo Prep got within 40-35 on a 3-point play from senior Kylen Littlehat with 6:45 in the fourth, but Crownpoint got the momentum back with trey from senior Ladainian Willie after a timeout.

After two more baskets, Crownpoint pushed its lead to 47-36.

Despite that 11-point deficit, Navajo Prep made one final push, getting as close as 47-43 behind five straight points from Littlehat with 2:13 to go.

Nonetheless, an inside bucket from junior post Tyrell Archie spearheaded Crownpoint’s game-ending 12-5 run.

“We did some good things; we went on a few runs, but at the end of the day, there was some big momentum swings that they had,” Navajo Prep coach Matt Melvin said of Crownpoint. “We didn’t do enough to crush it and swing it back. They made more plays than us tonight, and those guys did a heck of a job at finishing the one-on-one battles.”

With both teams trying to force the issue with its defense, Melvin said it created “some sloppy turnovers.”

“There were times to where both teams threw the ball around and threw it away,” he said. “We both had opportunities, but I think they just finished more on our mistakes than we did.”

Melvin said this was the team’s first game back after taking a nearly three-week pause.

“We’ve been off for almost a month,” Melvin said. “It is what it is. You can’t make excuses. I mean, once you hit district, you have to be ready.”

The Navajo Prep coach said they have all their district games rescheduled.

“It hasn’t cost us anything, but we definitely had some rust tonight,” he said. “At the end of the day we had an opportunity to win, and we just couldn’t find a way to do it, and they did.”

Senior guard Dontrelle Denetso, who finished with a team-best 23 points, led the visiting Eagles. Littleben added nine.

For Crownpoint, Archie had 22 while McMillian chipped in 12, and Tsosie finished with 10.

“This was really big because it gets us in a higher placement in the district and for state,” Tsosie said of the significance of Tuesday’s win. “Navajo Prep is one of the best teams in the state and district, so this is huge.”

Crownpoint is currently tied with Newcomb in the district race as both teams have compiled a 4-1 record followed by Zuni (2-1), Tohatchi (1-2), Navajo Prep (0-1), Thoreau (0-2) and Wingate (0-3).

“There is a lot of parity in the league right now,” Melvin said. “Newcomb, Zuni, and Crownpoint are sitting there with one loss, so right now, it’s still shaking itself out. We’ll see how it plays out, but it’s gonna shake itself out quick.

His counterpart concurred.

“I think our district is pretty fair,” Goodluck said. “If everybody shows up to play, anything can happen. When we played Zuni, our boys weren’t ready, and we got caught.

“Tonight was a different story,” he added. “The boys have been prepping mentally and physically for Prep, and it came out in our favor in the end.”

---