Lady Pirates keep win streak going

NAHATA DZIIL, Ariz.

The Lady Pirates made its win look easy.

But that’s because it only had fun.

“They had fun, they were just happy, and they were enjoying themselves throughout the game,” said Valley Sanders Lady Pirates head coach Dorothy Mitchell on Thursday night.

The 16-9 Lady Pirates hosted the 15-11 Chandler Prep Lady in the 2A play-in game, with Valley advancing into the 16-team bracket.

The Lady Pirates didn’t waste any time and took over the game, ending the first quarter with a commanding 26-5 score.

Lady Pirates Cheneil Spean, Madison Yazzie, and Kaelynn Nez all contributed to helping their team in the first quarter. On the Lady Titans’ end, guard Jill MacDonald and Lailani Hall kept their team from ending the quarter scoreless with a combined five points.

In the second quarter, Valley’s Trinity Mitchell got most of the points for her team and posted 13 before halftime.

The Lady Pirates never let off in the second half and commanded the game and tempo until the final buzzer signaled, handing the Lady Titans an 86-20 loss.

Coach Mitchell said while the team had fun, she noticed that the defensive side showed weakness.

“Our defense, we kind of slacked off on our defense,” she said. “We really need to work on just defense — sliding our feet and just finishing.”

Mitchell said they also need to continue working on using the backboard.

“We’ve been working on our backboard shots forever, seems like every day, and we still miss those easy backboard shots,” the coach said. “I think that’s our weakness, (which) is getting into the backboard.”

While the 16-team bracket for the girls 2A state tournament won’t be released until Saturday, but Mitchell is anticipating they will take on 2A North rival St. Johns on Feb. 17 in Prescott, Arizona.

St. Johns leads the series at 2-1, with Valley winning the latest game on Feb. 4 with a 61-52 win.

Before that, St. Johns defeated Valley twice on Jan. 9 and Jan. 24.

Mitchell said the team wasn’t working together, which is why they lost those two earlier games.

“We just were not working as a team. There was no teamwork,” she said.

The Jan. 24 loss seems to have motivated them, as the Lady Pirates are on a seven-game winning streak, including their win over Chandler Prep.

“So, now I think they really want it, and they’re playing more as a team,” she said.

Mitchell thinks the 21-4 Horizon Honors Lady Eagles will become the No. 1 seed in the girls 2A division when the bracket is released.

“You know, we’re just going to take one game at a time, so we’re just looking at St. Johns right now,” Mitchell said. “Hopefully, it’s not St. Johns, but if it is, we got to get ready.”

Tickets for the 2A playoff games are purchased only online at gofan.com.

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