Gallup stuns Kirtland Central in OT, claims District 1-4A tournament title

By Lee Begaye
Special to the Times

KIRTLAND, N.M. – After multiple losses to Kirtland Central this season, the Gallup Lady Bengals (26-2, 8-2 in District 1-4A) finally broke through, defeating the Lady Broncos (25-3, 10-0) in a thrilling overtime battle at Bronco Arena on Saturday night.

The 73-69 victory ended Kirtland Central’s 13-game winning streak and handed the Broncos their first district loss of the year.

Kirtland Central had dominated opponents all season, winning by an average of 43 points per game, while Gallup’s only two losses had come at the hands of the Broncos, with an average margin of 19.5 points. The Bengals had not beaten Kirtland Central since Feb. 20, 2024 and had dropped their last five meetings.

Senior center Ryle Whitehair led Gallup with 23 points, while junior forward Summer Joe added 14 and sophomore forward Kayden Tsosie contributed 11. For Kirtland Central, junior center Krista Tsingine-Yazzie paced her team with 19 points, followed by junior Zoey Benally with 15.

Both teams came out firing, with Gallup making its first five shots to take a 12-7 lead in the opening two minutes. Kirtland Central responded with a 6-0 run, taking a 13-12 lead on a layup by freshman forward Allyson Tsosie with under five minutes remaining.

Gallup briefly reclaimed the lead at 14-13 before Kirtland Central strung together four straight points to go up 17-14 with less than 90 seconds left in the period. With a minute remaining, Tsosie was fouled on a layup and converted the and-one, tying the game at 17-17. However, Tsingine-Yazzie grabbed an offensive rebound and scored in the final moments, putting the Broncos ahead 19-17 at the end of the quarter.

Kirtland Central shot 8-of-15 from the field but struggled from the free-throw line, missing all three attempts. Benally led with seven points, while Tsingine-Yazzie added six.

Gallup, meanwhile, shot an efficient 9-of-11 from the field and was 3-for-3 from the line, led by Tsosie with seven points and Whitehair with five.

KC opened the second quarter on a 7-3 run, extending its lead to 26-20 after a 3-pointer by Benally with five minutes left in the half. Whitehair responded by drawing consecutive shooting fouls in the paint, sinking all four free throws to even the score at 26-26 with 4:25 remaining.

The Broncos answered with a 3 from Benally and a layup by sophomore Akeelah Joe to go up 31-26, but Gallup responded with a 9-0 run. Summer Joe fueled the surge with four straight baskets in the paint, giving the Bengals a 35-31 advantage. Sophomore guard Maria Nez added a free throw, and Tsosie ended Kirtland Central’s nearly three-minute scoring drought with a layup to trim the Bengals’ lead to 35-33 at halftime.

Joe led Gallup’s second-quarter charge with eight points, while Whitehair added six. Benally continued to lead the Broncos with six points, and Tsosie contributed four. Kirtland Central shot 6-of-16 (37.5%) from the field, while Gallup shot 5-of-13 (38.4%).

Kirtland Central tied the game at 35-35 early in the third quarter on a layup by Tsingine-Yazzie, but Gallup quickly regained control. Whitehair buried a 3-pointer, then found senior guard Alysha Slinkey for an easy layup to put the Bengals up 40-35 with 6:35 remaining.

The Broncos fought back, cutting the lead to 43-41 at the 4:25 mark. Kirtland Central added a free throw to make it 46-42 with 3:30 left, but the Bengals closed the quarter on a dominant 9-0 run. Joe knocked down two 3-pointers, while junior guard Natalie Dixon added another from beyond the arc, extending Gallup’s lead to 55-42 heading into the fourth quarter.

Gallup shot 7-of-13 (53.8%) in the period, while Kirtland Central managed just 4-of-10 (40%). Camira Cooper-Randles and Joe led the Bengals with six points each, while Tsingine-Yazzie accounted for eight of the Lady Broncos’ nine points.

The Broncos roared back in the final quarter, opening with a 14-2 run in the first four minutes. Gallup struggled with turnovers and made just two free throws during this stretch, allowing Kirtland Central to close the gap to 57-56.

After Tsingine-Yazzie fouled out, Whitehair sparked a 7-1 Gallup run to extend the Bengals’ lead to 64-57 with under two minutes left. However, Kirtland Central had one more rally left. Nocki scored four straight points, and Benally’s free throw brought the Broncos within two at 64-62 with 45 seconds left.

After Gallup missed a 3-pointer, Tsosie raced down the court but was called for traveling with 18 seconds remaining. On the ensuing play, Whitehair and Dixon tried to advance the ball past midcourt, but Tsosie intercepted a pass and drove to the basket, tying the game at 64-64 with 2.1 seconds left. The Broncos’ home crowd erupted as the game headed to overtime.

Kirtland Central shot 6-of-16 (37.5%) in the fourth, while Gallup struggled at 3-of-10 (30%).

The extra period started with both teams exchanging baskets, tying the score at 65-65. Whitehair then took over, scoring five points to put Gallup up 70-65 with 1:44 remaining. Nez and Dixon added three free throws down the stretch to extend the lead to 73-65.

Kirtland Central’s Kaylyn Cadman and Benally both missed free throws in the final minute, and Benally hit a 3-pointer as time expired, finalizing the score at 73-69. Gallup outscored the Broncos 9-5 in overtime, with Whitehair contributing six points.

The Broncos struggled from the free-throw line all night, finishing 9-of-25 (36%), including 2-of-6 in overtime. Gallup fared better, making 15-of-26 (58%), including 4-of-11 in the extra period.

Gallup head coach Todd McBroom was unavailable for comment after losing his voice during the game. Kirtland Central head coach Devon Manning, however, did not hold back.

“Gallup punched us in the mouth early,” Manning said. “They attacked, and I thought we had a good flow in the first quarter, but then our offense got a little selfish. We turned the ball over way too much in key situations, and overall, this might be the worst we’ve played all year.”

He also pointed to the Broncos’ struggles at the free-throw line. “Good teams don’t miss 17 free throws. We just weren’t ready to play,” he said. “Maybe we were too confident and thought we’d walk over Gallup, but we didn’t play with a lot of respect for them. Right now, we better have it, or if we see them again, they’ll beat us by more than four.”

Manning emphasized the need for mental toughness moving forward.

“The biggest thing we need to fix is what’s between our ears,” the KC coach said. “Free throws are a mind game, and the girls didn’t play up to the expectations of Kirtland Central basketball. Certainly not to the 40-year legacy of Kirtland Central Basketball”

Kirtland Central earned the No. 1 seed for the upcoming 2025 Nusenda Credit Union Girls Basketball State Championships 4A tournament while Gallup was seeded second, putting both squads on the opposite side of the 4A bracket.

KC will host No. 16 Goddard (13-14), while Gallup will entertain No. 15 Artesia (10-16) on Friday night.

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