Navajo Prep girls claim fourth straight district tournament crown: Lady Eagles rally for 35-34 win

By Quentin Jodie
Navajo Times

SHIPROCK – The Navajo Prep girls basketball team continued its reign in District 1-3A with another tournament title on Friday night.

The top-seeded Lady Eagles (25-3) secured their fourth consecutive crown, but the Tohatchi Lady Cougars made sure they earned it.

After trailing for most of the contest, the Eagles took the lead for good at the start of the fourth quarter before scraping by with a hard-fought 35-34 win before a large crowd at Shiprock High School.

“We had to switch our mentality,” Navajo Prep girls coach Rainy Crisp said. “In the first half, we were playing it safe, not wanting to make a mistake but in the second half we started to play our game.

“Defensively, we were doing OK, but we were a lot more aggressive on the offensive end in that second half,” she added.

Tohatchi (17-13) entered the district championship game as the No. 4 seed, but the Cougars took out third-seeded Newcomb (51-32) and No. 2 Crownpoint (56-49) on consecutive nights earlier this week for the opportunity to face Navajo Prep.

“First, I want to credit the young ladies,” Tohatchi coach Tanisha Bitsoi said of her squad. “We faced a lot of challenges and adversities this season and, you know, I don’t think anybody thought that we were going to be in this game, so credit them for their toughness and resiliency.”

Bitsoi said her team went through “some bumps and roadblocks” throughout the season, but she feels like they’re coming around at the right time.

“We’re here and I’m confident that this group has what it takes,” she said. “I feel like we’re progressing and we’re peaking at the right time. I knew that our team had that all season; it was just putting it together.

“A lot of it was just having the younger ones playing with the older ones and having it mesh together to where they can collectively click,” she continued. “Now I see that. We have a sense of where we’re at on offense and defense and that chemistry is coming together better.”

On Friday, Navajo Prep opened the fourth stanza on a 7-0 run with senior Kameron Dale nailing a 3-pointer for the Eagles’ first lead in the second half at 31-30 with 7:14 left.

“I was just thinking about my form and being patient because my 3s earlier in the first half were kind of rushed,” Dale said of her dagger. “I just took my time and I let it fly off my hand like it should.”

The Eagles padded their lead to 35-30 following a basket by Dale with 3:20 left.

Tohatchi, however, nailed four consecutive free throws – two each by senior forward Shylynn Johnson and freshman guard Lilliana Hosteen – to get within 35-34 with 2:40 remaining following Hosteen’s trip to the charity line.

With that being the game’s final tally, Navajo Prep burned some precious seconds off the clock in the closing minute as Bitsoi pleaded with her team to foul someone.

After two more fouls, Tohatchi sent Dale to the free throw line with 6.7 seconds. Following a pair of misses, the Cougars secured a long rebound, but they failed to get a shot off in the final six-plus seconds.

“You know, we have a young team with a few seniors leading the way,” Bitsoi said. “At times, our youth shows and there were things that we could’ve, should’ve done, but it didn’t happen.

“I think through that, the experience the freshmen are getting is going to be key to our future, and key to going into next week.”

After a slow first quarter, Tohatchi put up 20 points in the second stanza for a 25-14 halftime cushion behind the play of freshman Jhett Dale, Kameron’s younger sister.

Jhett torched Navajo Prep with three treys as she scored 13 points, which included a 4-of-6 effort from the free throw line.

“She’s just a freshman and she’s had so much growth not only in her game but as a young lady and as an individual,” Bitsoi said. “At her grade (level) and her age, she’s taken in a lot of responsibilities.

“People don’t understand the different things that comes with, you know, the responsibilities and the pressure but she’s been doing that all season. She showed out today and she’s going to continue to do that.”

In the second half, Jhett was held to one 3-pointer as she led all scorers with 16 points.

“She’s a really good shooter and she practices a lot making those game-type shots,” Kameron said of her younger sister. “I feel like her teammates also helped her, too, which is good.

“She’s just a good offensive player and she’s really hard to guard,” she added.

Kameron, who was tabbed the league’s player of the year, shared top scoring honors with freshman teammate Dejahnelle Denetso as they both finished with nine for Navajo Prep.

“I’m so honored,” Kameron said. “I feel like it took me my four years of high school to get this award. I want to thank my coaches for pushing me to my full potential and help me play with full confidence and I like to thank my teammates for making me work for it. I really appreciate this team, and how far we’ve come this season.

Navajo Prep also received eight and seven points, respectively, from senior guard Kamyra Goldtooth and junior forward Leilani Wood.

For Tohatchi, the Cougars received nine points from senior forward Shylynn Johnson.

On Sunday, the New Mexico Activities Association will release the 16-team state bracket with Navajo Prep projected to be the top seed in Class 3A. With that, the Eagles will have a target on their backs.

“That is something that we’ve talked about,” Crisp said. “We’ve known that the past two years, being back-to-back state champs. This year, we’re going to switch that narrative. Our mentality is to look at every team we face as the target. We want to go out there and take care of business one team at a time.”

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