Lady Scouts rally past Page for region title

FORT DEFIANCE – It was game of two halves.

In the first half, the Page girls basketball team stayed in system. In the other half, Window Rock did what it needed to do to rally past the Lady Sand Devils in the championship game of the 3A North Region tournament Saturday at the Bee Hółdzil Fighting Scouts Events Center.

The Lady Scouts outscored Page 43 to 27 in the final 16 minutes en route to a 57-51 come-from-behind win Saturday night.

“I don’t remember when the last time Window Rock has won regionals before,” said Lady Scout coach Gabrielle Whitney, whose team improved to 24-4 overall. “I really don’t know the history about that, but the girls came together at the right time. I’m glad that we had some leadership on the court and that helped with our comeback.”

That leadership came in the form of senior Melicia Nelson, who was voted the 3A North Region Player of the Year.

Nelson put her team on her back as the senior guard scored 21 of her 25 points in the second half.

And when Nelson wasn’t scoring, she got others involved, setting up her teammates with some good looks at the basket. Junior Devaé Willie was one of the recipients that benefited from Nelson’s passes as she finished with 18 points.

“Mesha earned that player of the year award for sure,” Whitney said. “She’s just a phenomenal player. The thing I love about her is she’s not a selfish player. Not only does she look to score, but she’s also looking to dish that ball. She’s looking out for her teammates.

“Not only is she offensively sound, she’s also defensively sound,” she added. “She can play both defense and offense and that’s why she earned that award.”

Page coach Celeste “Boka” Claw also lauded Nelson’s heroic efforts, especially in the second half.

“Nelson is a great player and she took off when she needed to,” Claw said. “She kept her team’s momentum pretty high and she continued to be a force for her team. Props to Nelson, she deserved the player of the year and tonight she showed why she was selected.

“My team played great and I can’t complain about their efforts,” she added. “They played hard and they battled as much as they can. They kept going back and forth and it was a tough game.”

After being held to four points in the opening half, Nelson scored eight during a 19-6 run as Window Rock erased a 30-17 deficit and tied the contest at 36-all heading into fourth.

The Sand Devils used a 5-0 stretch in the middle of the fourth to gain a 45-40 cushion behind a trey from senior Kylie Benale and a two-point shot from Alyssa Harris, the 3A North Offensive Player of the Year.

Harris, who finished with a team-best 16 points, scored on a transition layup to give Page that five-point lead at the 5:21 mark.

Window Rock, however, leaned on Nelson as she scored eight of the Scouts’ next 14 points for a 56-51 cushion, which included 5-of-6 effort from the free throw line.

“I saw some openings and I knew that I had to take advantage of it,” Nelson said. “I just knew that I had to get to the line. I knew free throws were going to win this game and it did.”

All told, Window Rock marched to the charity line 25 times and made 19 total, with Nelson converting 13-of-17.

“This feels great, especially with how the girls fought back,” Whitney said of hoisting the regional crown. “They didn’t give up and that is something that I’m most proud of. That is what I love about this team, they never give up and they always fight back no matter the score whether we’re up or down. They always have that fight in them.”

Nelson was equally proud of her team.

“It’s amazing to bring this trophy back to Window Rock,” she said. “I think we all came together at the right time. We just needed to stay patient because eventually our shots were going to fall.”

On Saturday morning the Arizona Interscholastic Association (AIA) awarded the two regional finalists the top seeds for the 3A state playoffs.

Page garnered the No. 1 seed with Window Rock at second.

“I’m excited to see what we can do at state,” Claw said. “Who knows, we might meet up with Window Rock again, but state is so unpredictable. There’s always upsets, they’re always teams that come into the playoffs with more momentum than the higher-seeded teams.

“It just depends on who shows up for that night, so we’ll see,” she added.

On Friday Page will host region rival No. 16 Ganado while Window Rock takes on No. 15 Northwest Christian. Both games are scheduled for 7 p.m.

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