Lady Pirates repeat as champions

Posted by Quentin Jodie | Mar 2, 2017 | Basketball |

Navajo Times | Donovan Quintero
The Valley Sanders Lady Pirates prepare for their 2A girls state basketball championship game against Leading Edge Academy Saturday at the Prescott Valley Event Center in Prescott Valley, Arizona. The Lady Pirates defeated LEA, 70-39, to win the trophy.

PRESCOTT VALLEY, Ariz.

Navajo Times | Donovan Quintero
Valley Sanders Lady Pirate Codi Spencer (22) prepares to make her shot for the basket as a Leading Edge Academy defender blocks her path Saturday at the 2A girls state basketball championship game in Prescott Valley, Arizona. The Lady Pirates won the 1A title by a score of 70-39.

Trying to stop the Valley girls’ basketball team at this year’s Arizona Class 2A tournament was like trying to stop a fast-moving freight train – move, or get ran over.

Despite being given the No. 5 seed for this year’s tournament the Lady Pirates dominated this year’s field and won each game by an average of 37 points.

On Saturday, the Pirates jumped on the Leading Edge Academy Spartans from the outset and capped the season with a 70-39 win in the 2A title game at the Prescott Valley Event Center.

With that, Valley repeated as state champions under the tutelage of esteemed second-year coach Dorothy Mitchell.

Afterward, Mitchell told the media they used their fifth seed as motivation.

The Pirates could do little wrong on Saturday as they scored the first 10 points with senior Cherelle Speen putting in four points while sophomore Valiyah Yazzie and freshman Nizhoni James added a trey each.

Leading Edge finally got on the scoreboard at the 4:55 mark, but Valley went on another run. The lead was pushed to 22-2 on James’ trey with 2:20 left in the opening stanza.