Crownpoint girls thwart Newcomb’s comeback attempt

By Quentin Jodie
Navajo Times

CROWNPOINT – In a game of runs, the Crownpoint girls basketball team survived a comeback attempt by the Newcomb Lady Skyhawks on Friday night.

Newcomb trailed by as much as 18 points early in the second half, but with the momentum the Skyhawks pulled within a point.

The No. 3 Lady Eagles, however, closed out the District 1-3A contest on an 8-3 run to post a 53-47 win.

Crownpoint improved to 17-4 overall and 6-1 in the district race while the fifth-ranked Skyhawks dropped to 14-8 and 4-4.

“This was one where we had to bear down and make sure we take care of business,” Crownpoint coach Byron Murphy said of his team’s final run. “We had to lock them down on defense and we had to do our thing on offense.”

In that final stretch, senior guard Kathryn Francisco nailed a jumper at the 2:17 mark to initiate that run. The Eagles then received back-to-back transition layups from senior Courtney Craig and junior Audrey Riley for a 51-44 cushion with 49 seconds left.

Newcomb closed that gap with an old-fashion, three-point play from senior Katlyn Washburn before Craig added Crownpoint’s final tally with a breakaway layup following a steal with seven seconds left.

“We dug ourselves in hole,” Newcomb coach Nathan Brady said. “(But) when we play defense, we’re a pretty a pretty good team because that turns into easy offense for us.”

Brady emphasized the importance of playing good defense as his team were caught napping when Crownpoint scored a couple of uncontested baskets.

“If we just walk, and we just watch our man, we get beat back door,” he said. ““But when we play good man-to-man pressure defense, we can be a darn good team.”

The first quarter was a battle with Crownpoint emerging with an 11-8 advantage. But in the second, the Eagles found some rhythm to gain some separation. Crownpoint junior Miley McMillan started the quarter with a 3, which was answered by a basket from Newcomb’s Aaliyah Yazzie.

The home team then scored 13 of the next 15 points, which included six by Craig, and entered intermission with a 27-12 advantage.

Following the break, Francisco hit a basket and nailed 1-of-2 free throws for its largest lead at 30-12 with 6:51 left in the third.

But for the remainder of Friday’s contest, Newcomb showed why they’re a dangerous team. They made some key stops on the defensive end, and they received an offensive boost from the scoring duo of senior Lethia Yazzie and Nelson.

The two players combined for 20 points in the third stanza with Yazzie putting up 12 of her team-best 18 points as Newcomb closed the 18-point gap to 40-37 heading into the fourth.

In the fourth, Nelson, who finished with 16 markers, got her basket to drop as Newcomb pulled within 42-41 with 6:22 left. At the other end, Crownpoint point guard Holly Jiron nailed a 3-pointer off the backboard for a four-point cushion, but Nelson answered with a baseline trey with the scoreboard reading 45-44 in Crownpoint’s favor with just over four minutes remaining.

“At halftime, we talked about getting to the free throw line and taking the ball strong to the hole,” Brady said. “As long as they could see maybe one or two (baskets) go in, we could build on that. Then we put into their mindset about getting one stop and executing on offense.”

That strategy put some unwanted pressure on the Eagles as they had to look to its veteran players to pull out the win.

“I put in a lot of my bench players, and I let them play,” Murphy said on his teams’ near collapse. “I’m trying to get them that experience, and when we went with them, they closed that deficit on us.”

Crownpoint was led by Craig as she finished with a team-best 18 points while Francisco added 13 and McMillan put in 10.

“They’re my captains, and a lot of their teammates feed off their energy,” Murphy said of the three leading scorers.

Crownpoint will be in action today as they face No. 6 Tohatchi Cougars (12-10, 5-3). Tipoff is scheduled for 2 p.m. at Crownpoint High School.

“That’s going to be another tough district game,” Murphy said. “I know Tohatchi is going to bring it and I know coach (Tanisha) Bitsoi is going to have her girls ready.”

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