KC, Rehoboth Christian girls capture district crowns: Lady Scorps advance to title game

WINDOW ROCK

Kirtland Central got 27 points from senior Aisha Ramone and they needed them.

Ramone had eight of those points in the fourth, including a pair of crucial treys to lift the Lady Broncos to a 55-52 win in the District 1-4A championship game on Friday night.

In other district tournament action, the Rehoboth Christian Lady Lynx captured the District 1-2A title by outlasting Laguna-Acoma 51-46 while To’hajiilee took the league crown in District 1-1A with a 56-49 win.

In District 2-5A, the Farmington girls advanced into today’s title game with top-seed La Cueva with a 65-43 win over Sandia. Tipoff is scheduled for 5 p.m. at La Cueva.

In Friday’s district title game, Ramone had five of KC’s eight treys.

“Aisha had a really good game for us,” the KC coach Devon Manning said. “She’s kind of our quiet leader and she played like a leader tonight. You know, I was very proud of her, and I was proud of all these girls with how they battled.”

Manning said the game on Friday night was a lot prettier from the district playoff game that was played in Newcomb earlier this week.

“It was a good win,” he said. “I thought both teams played a lot better than they did Monday night. It was a seesaw battle, and it could have gone either way. We were fortunate to come out on top.”

The Broncos also had sophomore Emailia Clani in double figures as she scored 10.

For Gallup, senior Michaela McCurtain finished with a dozen points while senior post Hailey Long added 10.

Rylie Whitehair, Gallup’s other post player, chipped in nine.

“We understand that we’re a little undersized when we face Gallup, but I thought we did well,” Manning said. “Whoever was in there battled with them but obviously they (Gallup) scored points and they got rebounds but that is just going to happen because they’re bigger.

“The guards played really good tonight too,” he said. “We

couldn’t just worry about their bigs because their guards got some 3s.”

In the district title game at Rehoboth Christian, the Lady Lynx got 17 points from senior Kari Kallestewa and 16 from Kristen Nastacio to upend the Lady Hawks of Laguna-Acoma.

“Props to Laguna, they came out fighting too,” Pete said. “But I’m so proud of my girls. They wanted it and we got it done defensively.

“Laguna was poise and they wanted too,” he said. “They were making shots but our defense on the end there we were able to execute a little bit more and get some turnovers.”

Laguna-Acoma was led by junior post Silvia Gedman as she finished with 14 points.

In Farmington, the Lady Scorpions got four players in double figures headed by the 22 points turned in by senior Audrey Henderson, who nailed four treys.

The Farmington team also got 13 from junior Kamalani Anitielu, 12 from freshman Kapiolani Anitielu and 10 from senior Kiyaani Anitielu.

“It was a good, a lot of the girls did good in things like execution and putting the team ahead,” Farmington coach Larenson Henderson said. “We shared the ball well tonight and, you know, we’re all healthy.

“Now, we’re going to play in the championship game,” he added.

Henderson said his daughter, Audrey, shot lights out to lead the Farmington team.

“She hit a lot of our 3s,” he said. “She was on tonight and then Kamalani started to come around and, you know, Kiyaani is Kiyaani. She played huge for us. She rebounds, plays defense and she finds people

“I think they were kind of focused on her, but Kiyaani found other people open and we shot the ball well,” he added.

---