Navajo Prep girls top Santa Fe Indian in title game

ALBUQUERQUE

Of the four title games played at the Striking Eagle Native American Invitational, the Turtle Bracket featured two of New Mexico’s top 3A girls teams.

Behind 33 points from sophomore Aniya Johnson the Navajo Prep Lady Eagles pulled away from Santa Fe Indian School in a 61-49 tilt.

“It was good,” Navajo Prep coach Rainy Crisp said of playing SFIS. “Like I was saying earlier, I’m really glad that they came to this tournament. It really beefed up the tournament.”

Lady Braves assistant coach Terry Morrison was equally elated in seeing the Eagles in the blockbuster finale as SFIS had some trouble handling Navajo Prep’s press.

“It was two really good teams and you got to give them credit because they just do what they do,” Morrison said. “They press and they have a really good player, and they made some shots when they needed to.”

In one of her biggest games this season, Johnson hit 11 field goals and made 10-of-11 free throws, which helped her earned the tournament’s MVP award.

The Navajo Prep forward had to earn those points as Santa Fe Indian brought the intensity with their post play.

“Before the game, coach got all the post (players) together and she got us ready for them,” Johnson said. “We practiced our rebounds and our shots and I think it really helped us during the game because we had to go up strong against them.”

Behind three consecutive treys, two by junior Madisen Valdez, the Braves started off strong by taking an 8-3 advantage two-and-half minutes into game.

The Eagles worked its way back with Johnson scoring eight points while senior guard Laila Charley added four.

Charley’s buzzer-beater knotted the contest at 17-all going into the second.

The Crisp-coached team nailed a pair of treys to start the next frame as Navajo Prep led 23-19 after Alexis Sandoval’s basket with 6:21 to go.

The Eagles pushed its lead to as much as seven as they team wreaked havoc with its press, forcing Santa Fe Indian into eight turnovers in the second quarter.

“We thrive on our press, and our girls are making sure that we keep players in front,” Crisp said. “That’s the biggest thing … and, you know, a steal is a bonus, and a turnover is a bonus.”

At the half, Navajo Prep led 31-26.

After the break, the Braves used a 6-0 run to retake the lead at 32-31 on a three-point shot from senior point guard Jordan Torres with just over six minutes left in the third.

The Eagles regained the lead on a pair of free throws from Johnson and they capped the third on a 6-0 run for a 43-36 cushion.

The Braves got down by as much as 10, and a few times they closed the gap down to seven but the team couldn’t draw any closer.

“I thought we executed perfectly in that first quarter,” Morrison said. “And you know they crept back in and credit Navajo Prep. We did not handle their pressure very well. We’d make a good run and we’d settled down, but I felt that they kept their composure better than we did.”

After those initial minutes, Morrison said her team started to play at Navajo Prep’s pace.

“We decided to play their tempo instead of our tempo, which is power and finding the open shot,” she said.

Torres led the Braves with 14 points while Valdez added 13 and senior post Cameron Conners chipped in nine.

Morrison said playing Navajo Prep uncovered some things they need to work as they are set to start District 2-3A play with top-ranked Las Vegas Robertson on Jan. 19.

“This was a good eye opener for us,” she said. “We got to clean some things up but I think we’re going to be OK.

“The game was good and Navajo Prep just played better than we did tonight,” she added.

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