Page Lady Sand Devils rally past Tuba City, advance to Copper Bracket finale

By Lee Begaye
Special to the Times

KAYENTA – The fifth-seeded Page Lady Sand Devils punched their ticket to the Copper Bracket championship game with a hard-fought 46-41 win over No. 8 Tuba City Lady Warriors on Friday night at the Nash Center in Kayenta.

Page overcame a slow start and a halftime deficit by locking down the Warriors in the third quarter, allowing just three points to seize control of the game.

The Lady Sand Devils were led by the Yazzie sisters, with senior center Leikara Yazzie scoring 14 points and senior guard LeLaura Yazzie adding 13. Meanwhile, Tuba City’s offensive push was spearheaded by senior guard Eriana Begay with 12 points, senior center Natasha Acothley with nine, and junior guard Aubrey Begaye with eight.

This was the fourth meeting between the two teams this season, with Page winning the series 3-1. The Sand Devils won their regular-season matchup but fell to Tuba City in the semifinals of the 3A North Championship tournament, 53-41.

Both teams struggled to find their rhythm in a low-scoring opening quarter. Tuba City edged out to an 8-4 lead before Leikara Yazzie converted a tough left-handed layup and completed a three-point play, cutting the deficit to 8-7 in the final minute of the first quarter.

The Lady Warriors were led by Begaye with four points, while Acothley and freshman guard Nakota Tallman each added two. Page’s scoring came from Leikara Yazzie with five points and LeLaura Yazzie, who sank two free throws.

The second quarter saw an offensive explosion, with Tuba City outscoring Page 19-15 to take a 27-22 halftime lead. The Lady Warriors opened with an 8-2 run, extending their advantage to 16-9. By the 3:44 mark, they built a 22-12 lead before Page called a timeout. The Sand Devils responded with a quick five points, cutting the deficit to 22-17.

With just seconds left before halftime, Page had narrowed the gap to 24-22. But Eriana Begay electrified the crowd with a deep 3-pointer at the buzzer, pushing Tuba City’s lead to 27-22 at the break. Begay led the Warriors with six points in the quarter, while sophomore Trece Tsingine added a 3-pointer, and five other players contributed two points each.

For Page, three players—Aubree Savage, Issianna Brown, and LeLaura Yazzie—led with three points each, while three others chipped in two apiece.

The third quarter marked a turning point as Page’s defense smothered the Lady Warriors, limiting them to just three points. The Sand Devils methodically chipped away at the deficit, tying the game at 29-29 with under five minutes remaining. With just over two minutes left in the period, LeLaura Yazzie drained a jumper from the top of the key, giving Page a 31-29 lead—their first since the opening minutes.

LeLaura Yazzie fueled Page’s charge with five points in the quarter, while junior forward Tayla Franklin contributed four, and Leikara Yazzie added a field goal.

Tuba City, meanwhile, struggled offensively, managing only three free throws—two from Begay and one from junior guard Thalia Clitso. Despite the slow scoring, Begay reached a personal milestone, notching her 1,000th career point early in the period. By the end of the quarter, Page had taken control, leading 33-30.

In the final frame, Tuba City made a last push, opening with five quick points to reclaim a 35-33 lead. But Page responded immediately, with junior guard Aubrey Dobson sinking a free throw after drawing a foul to make it 35-34.

Acothley hit a jumper in the paint to push Tuba City’s lead back to three, but on the next possession, Leikara Yazzie squared up at the top of the key and buried a 3-pointer, tying the game at 37-all with 3:33 remaining. The Sand Devils then turned up the intensity, going on a 4-0 run to take a 41-37 lead, forcing Tuba City to call a timeout.

Coming out of the huddle, Begay slashed to the basket for a tough layup, cutting the deficit to 41-39. But Leikara Yazzie responded by drawing a foul and calmly sinking both free throws to make it 43-39.

On Tuba City’s next possession, LeLaura Yazzie came up with a crucial steal, and drew a foul as she knocked down 1-of-2 from the line, extending Page’s cushion to 44-39.

With less than 10 seconds remaining, Begaye hit Tuba City’s final basket, but Dobson was fouled immediately and iced the game by hitting two free throws, securing the 46-41 victory.

Page head coach Celeste Claw was thrilled with her team’s resilience.

“Words can’t explain—I’m just so excited for these girls. They fought hard,” Claw said. “We started off slow, but we came back in the end.”

On breaking Tuba City’s press, Claw credited a key mentality shift: “We’ve been working on a ‘stop, score, stop’ mindset. We just needed to stop them, score, stop them again, and work our way back in. That was our momentum going into the second half.”

When asked about the key players who carried them to victory, Claw pointed to the Yazzie sisters.

“They’re the ones that keep the team together,” she said. “That was our conversation at halftime—letting them lead the way.”

Despite an injury scare, Claw had no concerns about LeLaura Yazzie’s ability to push through.

“She had momentum herself, and I think she was feeding off of that to push through,” Claw said.

As for the Copper Bracket final, Claw made it clear that Page is focused on one thing—winning. “It doesn’t matter what division we’re in,” she said. “We don’t want to go home.”

Tuba City head coach Michael Balcerek acknowledged Page’s strong second half that turned the tables for the Sand Devils.

“Page came out in the second half with a game plan, and they executed it well,” he said. “We hurt ourselves and got in our heads.”

Asked if the team played too conservatively after halftime, Balcerek disagreed.

“No, we wanted to make them uncomfortable,” he said. “We knew everything was going to run through two players, so we focused on them. But in the second half, everyone on their team stepped up. They played a well-rounded game toward the end.”

With the five-point win, Page advances as the Sand Devils will take on second seed Phoenix Country Day on Saturday night. The title tilt is scheduled for 6 p.m. at the Veterans Memorial Coliseum in Phoenix.

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