Navajo Prep girls advance to 3A title game
Navajo Times | Quentin Jodie
Navajo Prep senior Leilani Wood (30) looks to pass the ball to teammate Lailah McGary on Thursday night during the New Mexico Class 3A girls state semifinal game against the Robertson Lady Cardinals. Navajo Prep advanced into the 3A title game with a 45-55 win.
RIO RANCHO, N.M. – Nothing seems to faze the Navajo Prep girls basketball team.
Despite losing one of its team leaders due to fouls midway through the third stanza, the top-seeded Lady Eagles stayed resilient.
Instead of being thrown off course, Navajo Prep responded with a 9-0 run that helped propel the Eagles to a 55-45 win over fifth seed Las Vegas Robertson on Thursday night in the New Mexico Class 3A state semifinals at the Rio Rancho Events Center.
Navajo Times | Quentin Jodie
Navajo Prep’s Kameron Dale (11) applies pressure on Robertson ball handler Jazelle Mares (3) in Thursday night’s New Mexico Class 3A girls state semifinal game at the Rio Rancho Events Center.
With the 10-point win, Navajo Prep will attempt to defend its state crown with a matchup against No. 2 seed West Las Vegas. The state championship tilt is scheduled for 3 p.m. at the Pit in Albuquerque.
In what could have been a turning point for the Robertson Lady Cardinals, the Eagles lost the service of Lailah McGary, who picked up two quick fouls in succession with 4:54 left in the third.
McGary, who finished with 10 points, was whistled for a personal foul while trying to steal the ball. Afterward, she inadvertently slammed the ball that resulted into a technical, which gave the Navajo Prep starter her fifth foul.
“We’ve seen it all tournament long, even with our boys where they get into foul trouble and their star players fouls out and then things go downhill from there,” Navajo Prep coach Rainy Crisp said. “We talked about that, you know, about trying to stay out of foul trouble. It happened to us in this game, but I’m so proud that we were able to still keep our heads.”
The Cardinals turned that Navajo Prep mishap into a four-point swing as Robertson got within 36-30 with 4:40 left following a 3-pointer from senior post Alyxa King-Greenwalt.
But the unshakeable Navajo Prep team stayed the course and put some distance between them and Robertson with the aforementioned 9-0 spurt behind seniors Kassidy Jones and Shiloh Conn. Jones scored the first five before Conn closed out that run with a pair of free throws for a 45-30 cushion with 2:11 left.
“It’s really hard to bring the whole team together, but I think it’s just all about the mentality and the leadership role that each of us have on that court.” Conn said. “It’s not just me personally, it’s also my teammates like Kassidy Jones. Of course, we have our benched they hyped us up a lot, so I got to give credit to them.”
Navajo Times | Quentin Jodie
Navajo Prep senior guard Shiloh Conn (right) reverses her dribble while being defended by Robertson guard Natalia Martinez on Thursday night at the Rio Rancho Events Center. Conn finished with 15 points, helping Navajo Prep to a 55-45 win.
That momentum changing run was part of a 20-to-11 outing in the third as Navajo Prep stretched a 27-24 halftime lead into a 47-35 advantage heading into the fourth.
“We just talked about who wanted it more,” Conn said of the message at halftime. “We talked about having to discipline ourselves, especially on defense, because in that second quarter I believe we kind of just really let up.
“We let them through our second line of defense and we talked about being hungry and wanting to move onto that championship,” she added. “We talked about coming out stronger, especially in a close game like that.”
Conn led the Eagles with 15 points while McGary added 10. For Robertson, guard Arianna Martinez finished with 11.
The Eagles will now put their focus on West Las Vegas. Navajo Prep played the Lady Dons late in the regular season with the Eagles winning 64-57 in overtime on Jan. 11.
“It’s going to be another dog fight,” Crisp said. “Our 3A is so wide open. We’ve seen that with great games … so it’s really up for grabs. Like Shiloh said, it’s who wants it more.
“West Las Vegas is a great team, very well-coached, quick players, and so for us, again, it just goes back to our defense,” she added. “If we can get stops, if we can get rebounds, hold them into one shot and, you know, then talking care the ball on offense.”
And while Navajo Prep has a slew of players that can step up, West Las Vegas has a playmaker in senior guard Alexis Pacheco.
“She’s a tough player,” Crisp said. “She’s a great athlete and she’s going to get her points, and it’s a matter of us trying to limit her the best that we can. But at the same time, not let anybody else on their team get going.
“It’s a tough challenge, but the way that our girls have been playing, I think we’ll be ready.”
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