KC coach singles out defensive effort in win over Bloomfield

ALBUQUERQUE

It didn’t take long for the Kirtland Central girls basketball team to distance itself from its quarterfinal opponent.

Top-seed KC seized a 23-6 lead en route to a 73-31 win over district rival Bloomfield Tuesday night at the Pit in Albuquerque.

“Overall, I’m very satisfied,” said KC coach Devon Manning, whose team improved to 28-3 overall. “I can’t be too disappointed. I think the only thing we did wrong today was foul trouble and maybe free throws.”

“But overall, I told them in the locker room this is the best that I’ve seen them anticipate, the best that I’ve seen them rotate on defense,” he said. “They did everything we practiced these last two days against that zone.”

KC’s 73-point total was the most points scored in the eight games played at the Pit on Tuesday as the 5A girls also had its quarterfinals.

Of those points, the Lady Broncos scored 39 points off turnovers. The KC defense forced 35 turnovers, which includes 28 steals.

“The defense,” Manning said when asked what he was more pleased with. “The defense led to our offense. I’m OK with scoring 50 points if we only give up 30.

We pride ourselves on the defense end first, and then the offense will come if we’re playing good defense.”

“I think the only way we could be dominant is if we all work together on defense,” KC senior guard Jaylene Harris-Rhea said. “We have a specific rotation and I think we really did good with that. You just have to have that energy.”

With the margin being so lopsided, Manning substituted freely and he had 11 players score at least two points.

KC was led by senior Aaryanna Lansing as she finished with 15 points and six steals. Harris-Rhea added 14 points and five steals.

Bloomfield got nine each from juniors Aliya Quintana and Danielle Johnson as the Lady Bobcats got to the Pit under first-year coach Brady Rivers.

“I’m proud of the young ladies,” Rivers said. “I’m going to tell them that we’ve come a long way this year.

“I mean, we lost 11 games and six of them have been to Gallup and Kirtland, so we did a great job,” he added. “We don’t have a reason to hang our heads. We lost to a real good basketball team, to a defending state champion team that is very well-coached.”

River said the defensive pressure KC presents is difficult to contend with, especially without a point guard.

“Honestly, we started the season looking for a point guard, and we ended the season looking for a point guard,” he added. “We just don’t have a point guard and they (KC) do a really good job of rotating and so we don’t have a player that can kind of settle things down.”

The Bobcats ended the season at 18-11 overall.

With the 42-point win, the Broncos will shift its focus on No. 4 seed Hope Christian. The Lady Huskies advanced into the semis with a 62-48 win over No. 5 Artesia. Tipoff is scheduled for an 8 a.m. start Thursday morning.

“We’re in for a battle Thursday morning,” Manning said. “They probably have the best post player in 4A. We have to try and keep her off the boards as much as we can. It’s the second, third opportunities we have to worry about.

“Hopefully, we can get into the legs a little bit, but you know we’re in for a tough game,” he said. “Hopefully, we wake up soon enough Thursday morning to play a very tough team.”

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