Game of runs
Lady Bengals fend off Silver in 4A quarters

ALBUQUERQUE

In a game of runs, the Gallup Lady Bengals had one explosive one that turned the tide in its 4A quarterfinal game with No. 7 Silver on Tuesday night.

The second-seeded Bengals (26-4) opened the third quarter on a 13-0 run as that helped Gallup fend off the Colts (22-7) in a 58-48 tilt at the Pit in Albuquerque.

“I thought we played hard,” Gallup coach Todd McBroom said. “Defensively, we played really well. We forced 32 turnovers on them and so that’s always a positive. When you can do that, even when you don’t have your best night necessarily shooting the ball, you can still find a way to win.”

The Bengals will now focus on third-seeded Albuquerque Academy as the Chargers advanced with a 66-44 win over No. 11 Shiprock in its quarterfinal matchup. Tipoff is scheduled for 8 a.m. inside the Pit.

“They’re a good team, and we’ll have our hands full Thursday morning,” McBroom said of Academy, which boasts four players above six-foot, including 6-6 junior post Harper Dunn.

In Tuesday’s game, Gallup junior Mykeia Vicenti led the Bengals with a double-double, scoring 11 points while adding a mind-blowing 12 steals.

“She has quick hands and quick feet,” McBroom said of Vicenti. “She’s one of the best in the business when it comes to defense.”

Vicenti said her dozen steals were a career high as she pestered Silver’s ballhandlers the entire night.

“Today, we kind of started off really slow,” Vicenti said. “None of our shots were falling and that frustration was coming in between the team. We were getting outrebounded, and I felt like I had to step up my game in order to win.”

With Gallup struggling early, Silver jumped out to 7-0 cushion with just under five minutes.

After missing on its first six shots, Vicenti nailed Gallup’s first field goal at the 3:18 mark of the first quarter. That shot ignited a 12-0 spurt that carried over in the second. Junior post Kayden Tsosie capped the run with two-point shot for a 12-7 cushion with 4:55 left before halftime.

Gallup nursed its lead to as much as 11 points, but Silver received a late 3-pointer from junior Justinne Altamirano as the Colts pulled within 24-16 at the half.

Following the break, Gallup appeared to gain control of the contest thanks to a 13-0 run. During that scoring spree, junior guard Payton Johnson hit back-to-back treys while Tsosie added four points as the Bengals gained a commanding 37-16 lead following 1-of-2 free throws from senior Summer Joe with 4:35 left in the third.In the fourth, however, the Colts rallied behind three treys, two by senior Nyssa Tinajero, to get within 45-38 with 1:57 following a made 3 by senior Taylianna Castillo.

That was a close as the Colts would get as Gallup killed some clock down the stretch as they put the Bengals at the free throw line after a couple of empty possessions.

“I think they cut it to seven but at the same token we just need to slow it down,” McBroom said. “Give them credit. They hit some shots and those are shots that they didn’t hit in previous games, and they hit them tonight, so hats off to them.”

In that final quarter, Tinajero put in eight of her game-best 20 points as she was the only one in double figures for Silver.

Gallup countered that attack with five players scoring at least six points, headed by Vicenti’s 11 points. Tsosie added eight while Maria Nez, Johnson, and Joe scored six apiece.

“That’s how we do things,” McBroom said of their balanced attack. “We’re always well-rounded. I think maybe three times all year we’ve had someone score 20 or more and so we’re very balanced with what we do.

“It’s about sharing the ball and having good teamwork and the girls do a great job with that.”

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