Gallup boys turn back Miyamura to keep district title aspirations alive

GALLUP

The Gallup boys basketball team did its part to stay in the hunt for a regular season district crown on Wednesday night.

The Bengals, who donned their away jerseys, closed out the District 1-4A contest on a 10-2 run over Miyamura in the final 3.5 minutes to post a 49-40 win at Gallup High School.

The game was originally scheduled to be played at Miyamura High, but the school was having issues with its gym.

“Our execution was pretty on point,” Bengals coach Ryan Becenti said of the late rally. “We were taking care of the ball. We were still getting a little lost on defense, but we were attacking the basket.

“That’s our go-to strategy every game,” he added. “We want to try to attack the basket and get to the free throw line and get easy buckets.”

The nine-point triumph improves Gallup record to 16-7 overall and 6-1 in the district race. The win also sets up a winner-take-all showdown with the Bloomfield Bobcats on Friday night. The Bobcats will host that pivotal game owning a 14-9 record, which includes a 6-1 mark in district.

Earlier this season, Bloomfield defeated Gallup 51-44 on Jan. 28 before the Bobcats fell to Miyamura, 33-32, two days later.

“It’s a big game for us,” Becenti said. “You know, we just need to execute our game plan. We need to play together and for us it always starts on defense.

“We got to play good defense, and we got to rebound the ball,” he added. “If we can do those things, we have an opportunity to be in the game.”

In Wednesday’s contest, Gallup leaned on Joshua Keeto as the senior guard put in seven of his game-high 16 points in the final quarter.

“We came into this game expecting win, but our execution on defense and offense wasn’t always there,” Keeto said. “Some of our shots weren’t falling, but we still shot the ball. We got some open looks on the bottom, but we just didn’t finish.”

Keeto scored five of his points early in the fourth as he nailed a 3-pointer and a two-point shot that gave the Bengals a 37-30 cushion with 5:45 left.

Miyamura, however, staged a rally and closed within 39-38 with 3:57 remaining after senior forward Ayden Nevayaktewa sank back-to-back treys.

But the Patriots couldn’t get over the hump as Gallup junior wing Hanson Atazhoon (nine points) carried the Bengals to the finish line with a pair of buckets that ignited that late 10-2 run.

“You know, this is a tough place to play,” Miyamura coach John Zecca said. “We were supposed to be in our gym, but it’s OK. I told the boys, don’t leave here thinking that it was unfair because stuff happens.

“We had to adjust, and I was proud of the way they didn’t quit after halftime because we just did not play a very good first half,” he added. “We were down by 15 and we knew that we weren’t going to get it all back in two possessions.”

Zecca credited his team’s 2-3 zone defense as they made some stops to make it a one-possession game midway through the fourth stanza.

“They just kept fighting and defensively they did a good job,” Zecca said. “That’s what they’ve been doing most of the year.”

But when Gallup went up 43-38 with 2:22 left after a pair of buckets by Atazhoon, the Patriots had to abandon that zone defense as the Bengals were looking to kill some clock.

“We practice man defense, too, because we know that teams are going to pull it out like that,” Zecca said. “Sometimes we just miss our assignments, or we get overzealous and we kind of did that at the end. Maybe we just helped a little too much when we didn’t need to, but Gallup took advantage of it and they’re a good team.”

Nevayaktewa led the Patriots with 11 points while junior forward Brayden added 10.

Miyamura (7-16, 4-3) will close out the regular season with three games starting on Friday when the Patriots host Kirtland Central. On Wednesday, Feb. 18, they play at Bloomfield before entertaining Shiprock on Friday, Feb. 20 for its finale.

“We have to win the district tournament,” Zecca said of advancing to the postseason. “I think losing tonight takes us out of the running to win the regular season in district, so we have to focus on getting better and be ready for that tournament.”

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