Gallup Invitational opens today: New champion to be crowned Saturday

Posted by Quentin Jodie | Nov 30, 2023 | Basketball |

WINDOW ROCK – A new champion will be crowned on Saturday night at the John Lomasney 48th Annual Gallup Girls Invitational.

Last year’s champion Farmington was not invited back to this year’s tournament as the annual event welcomes in two new teams – Zuni and Dulce High – to the eight-team field.

The three-day girls basketball tourney honors the late John Lomasney, who passed away in 2011 at the age of 63.

Lomasney coached the Lady Bengals for 28 years, compiling a 503-187 career record which included four state titles and a pair of state runner-up finishes.

“It’s gonna be a packed house,” Gallup coach Todd McBroom said of the tournament. “We’ll have Window Rock, Tohatchi, Miyamura and us so there’s gonna be a lot of people there.”

The tournament kicks off at 1 p.m. today with 5A school Piedra Vista playing 2A Dulce. At 2:30 p.m., Window Rock will tangle with Albuquerque St. Pius, a 4A state semifinalist last year.

In the evening session, Miyamura squares off with Tohatchi at 6 p.m. followed by the Gallup and Zuni matchup at 7:30 p.m.

The championship game is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. on Saturday night.

“We’re going to approach it like every game, just doing the routine stuff that we run,” McBroom said of the Lady Bengals’ opening round game. “We don’t change that type of stuff up. We’ll do a walkthrough during first hour in the morning and we’ll get prepared for Zuni.”

Seated in the bottom half of the bracket, the Bengals could see Piedra Vista in the next round. Last season, PV went 6-21 overall.

“I didn’t see PV during the summer, and they had only four seniors last year,” McBroom said of PV and head coach Joe Reed. “He told me that it was a rebuilding year, and that he expected to be better than they were last year.

“We’ll see how much they have grown,” McBroom added.

Last season, Gallup won the New Mexico Class 4A state title, but with a plethora of graduates the Lady Bengals come into the 2023-24 season inexperienced with only three players getting quality minutes at the varsity level last season.

“Every year is a new year, and it brings excitement for every program,” McBroom said. “We’ll have some new faces out there and we’ll see what they can do.”

Like they did last season, the Gallup coach intends to rotate his players in-and-out of the game with the hopes of wearing down opponents.

“We got some kids that sat on the bench and now it’s their turn,” McBroom said. “We’re going to sub them in, and I expect us to be nine deep, maybe 10.”

In the top half of the Gallup tournament bracket, three of the four teams in the field were state semifinalists last season with Tohatchi winning the Class 3A state title.

St. Pius made it to the 4A state semis while Window Rock reached the final four round in the Arizona 3A Conference.

“We don’t get to play that many New Mexico teams, so it’s good to experience that type of play,” Window Rock coach Gabrielle Whitney said of facing St. Pius in the opening round. “I would rather play a real good tough team. Playing them is going to bring out that hunger to, you know, be more aggressive.

“It’s gonna be a fun and interesting tournament, so we’re looking forward to that,” Whitney added. “It’s gonna challenge us mentally, physically, emotionally and spiritual but in the long run it’s gonna help us.”