Lady Bears rack up 2 much-needed wins

FORT WINGATE, N.M.

It hasn’t been easy to get the ball rolling for the Wingate Lady Bears.

Before last Friday night, Wingate had won only one game but the Bears picked up a pair of much needed wins over the weekend to improve to 3-5 overall, which includes a 48-35 triumph over the Monument Valley Lady Mustangs.

“This is a good win for us, playing an Arizona team,” Wingate coach Larrison Whitehair said. “Last year we played them at their house and we got it handed down to us. They were a good team last year and tonight we were a good team and our girls are happy with the ‘W.’”

After a slow start to the season, Whitehair said there were a lot of good things that went right in last Friday’s win as the Bears scored on its first five possessions to open up an 11-0 cushion.

Junior guard Jewels Leslie started that run with a trey and what followed were some good looks at the basket as junior post Tomiandra Curley and senior guard Octivia Long combined for eight points.

“The team chemistry was there,” Whitehair said. “That’s what I’ve been waiting for and I know that we have it within ourselves to continue to play like that.”

The Mustangs finally got on board at 4:32 mark when Kaylee Yazzie was fouled while shooting a 3 as she connected on three free throws.

MV finished out the quarter on a 5-2 run and at the start of the second stanza they pulled within 13-10 on a putback by Angel Holiday.

The Mustangs closed that gap down to 17-16 after Tierra Sandoval scored four straight with just under four minutes of the opening half but the Bears led 27-23 at the break thanks to a pair of treys, one each from Leaira Casamero and Leslie.

The Bears carried some of that momentum into the second half as they scored 11 straight for a 38-23 advantage after Curley’s two-point basket with 2:53 left.

MV, which finished with 12 turnovers in the third stanza, cut that margin down to 11 at the end of the third but the damage was already done.

The Mustangs got as close as 38-30 but the Bears responded with a game-ending 10-5 run to earn its second win of the season.

“We attacked the basket and we stayed focused,” said Whitehair, whose team posted a 46-40 win over Quemado on Saturday night.

As a team, Wingate finished with six treys and Whitehair attributed that to the their ball movement.

“Our big girl was real impressive tonight,” the Wingate coach said of Curley. “She was being strong at the bottom and we were able to get our outside game going.

“We’re a good shooting team,” he added. “I believe in these girls on every shot they take. Right now their feeling good shooting behind the arc and I’m happy with the results.”

Leslie led the Bears as she scored 15, which included three treys. Casamero, who added three treys too, finished with 11 while Long helped out with 10. Curley, meanwhile, chipped in eight.

MV, which was down three players, was led by Holiday, who finished with a dozen points.

“We had 31 turnovers, nine missed free throws and some missed layups,” Monument Valley coach Jason Franklin said of his team that is mostly made up of underclassmen.

With it being early in the season, the fourth-year MV coach said he’s hoping to correct those mistakes as the Mustangs dropped to 3-4 overall.

“That is what we finished talking about,” he said. “Yes, we’re young but we can’t use that as an excuse. We can’t be comfortable with losing and if we continue with that we’re going to finish in last place for the fourth straight year in our conference.

“I’m not willing to accept that and they’re not either,” he added.

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