Defensive effort sends Gallup girls into home tournament championship game

GALLUP

The defensive pressure came in waves.

That was what the Gallup girls basketball team used on Friday night to defeat the Tohatchi Lady Cougars, 56-25, in the second of two semifinal games during the John Lomasney 49th Annual Gallup Girls Basketball Tournament.

The Lady Bengals (4-0) pressed Tohatchi for the entire night before Gallup head coach Todd McBroom called off the press late in the fourth quarter as Gallup advanced into today’s championship game.

“This group has improved so much from last year,” McBroom said. “It’s not just defensively, but offensively. The effort that this group gives is probably the best that I’ve ever had.

“You know, we had really good groups before, but it seems like we don’t give up layups when we get beat on the press with this group,” he added. “They’re running down the court, and we’re tipping the ball out of bounds. It’s just a lot of kids doing a lot of good things.”

Gallup will play Albuquerque High at 6:30 p.m. for the championship. The Lady Bulldogs advanced to the finals with a 55-44 win over the Rio Rancho Lady Rams.

In the consolation bracket, Ganado upended Thoreau 55-35 while Piedra Vista took care of Tularosa in a 61-16 win.

The final day of the eight-team tournament has Thoreau battling Tularosa at noon in the seventh-place game. Piedra Vista takes on Ganado for the consolation championship at 1:30 p.m.

At 5 p.m., Tohatchi plays Rio Rancho, followed by the championship game.

Behind a strong defensive effort, the McBroom-coached team coerced Tohatchi into 25 turnovers with Gallup scoring 24 points off those miscues.

“Our defense is really good this year,” Gallup senior post Rylie Whitehair said. “That is our main focus this year, which is playing defense because like our coach says, only 8% is offense and the rest is all defense, so we’re really trying to get into that mindset of wanting to play defense and pressuring other teams because we know that a lot of teams can’t handle our pressure.”

For much of the night, Gallup filled in the gaps as Tohatchi had very little room to work with to get the ball past midcourt. And when they did, the Bengals continued to pester the Cougars into taking tough shots.

“Our defense was good, but I think it also comes down to teamwork as well with, you know, communication,” Gallup junior guard Camira Cooper-Randles said. “That is what really pulled us together.”

And while Gallup’s defense was strong, it took the Bengals some time to pull away as Tohatchi trailed 7-6 at the end of the first quarter.

In the second, Whitehair used her 6-foot-2 frame and scored 11 of her team’s 19 points as Gallup opened a 26-11 halftime cushion.

“I had a really good game tonight, but I missed some easy shots at the basket,” Whitehair said. “I knew that I could get some rebounds to recover from that.”

After the break, Cooper-Randles took over the scoring duties as she scored 11 of her 13 points in the second half, which included a 3-pointer at the 2:21 mark that gave Gallup a commanding 33-17 cushion.

“I didn’t expect my three to go in,” Cooper-Randles said chuckling. “I’m just happy that I was able to help my team, especially coming from the first half of making mistakes.”

Tohatchi was led by senior guard Wynter Rose-Sheka as she finished with nine points while junior Shylynn Johnson added six.

“I thought we played good defense,” Tohatchi coach Tanisha Bitsui said. “We were closing out on them, but offensively we just couldn’t score. If we make some shots, the game would be a different story.

“(But) it’s a credit to their defense. I feel like we’re not in sync to where we need to be at this moment,” Bitsoi added. “We’re trying to piece everything together with this group. I’m looking for someone to take on that leadership role.”

Despite the loss, Bitsui says she enjoys playing in the Gallup tournament as Tohatchi will conclude the tournament with a tough game against 5A Rio Rancho in the third-place matchup.

“I like coming to this tournament; we really learn a lot about ourselves,” Bitsoi said. “(Saturday) is gonna be a challenge but that’ why we’re here. We’re going to learn about ourselves and get better.”

As for the Bengals, Gallup is expecting a tough outing with Albuquerque High in the title game as McBroom has some concerns entering the game.

“We got to take care of the ball better,” McBroom said. “I didn’t feel tonight was our best job taking care of the ball. They’re going to get up and press us, and we’re going to have to handle that for 32 minutes, and they’re very athletic.

“They’re kind of a similar team to us, and they give a lot of effort,” he added. “They get up and go and probably the only difference is we have a much bigger big than them. I think that’s where we can outdo them. Hopefully, we can get the ball inside and finish.”

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