Page starts ‘marathon’ region race at 3-0

Posted by Quentin Jodie | Dec 28, 2023 | Basketball |

FORT DEFIANCE – The four-hour bus ride home proved to be a pleasant one for Page coach Justin Smith and his Sand Devils basketball team.

Page pulled away from host Window Rock in a 3A North contest last Friday night to earn a 71-47 win.

“I’m always happy to walk away with a win,” Smith said. “Overall, we played good. We played OK.”

The Sand Devils got a game-best 20 points from junior post Tyree Stingley. Joseph Benally added 14 with three treys for the Sand Devils, Maximus Reid chipped in a dozen and Bryce Williams helped with 10.

The Smith-coached team finished the opening quarter on a 11-2 run behind Williams’ four points as Page led 15-6 heading into the second period.

The Page team did get a scare when Williams got hurt at the 3:08 mark of the first quarter. On that play, the Page guard got his basket attempt to drop, but on the way down he fell awkward, and he needed medical attention.

His teammate, Preston Ross, completed the three-point play by knocking down the free throw. After being evaluated, Williams returned to the lineup, and he added six more points during the rest of the game.

In the second stanza, Reid had the hot hand for Page, putting up seven of his final tally for a 35-20 halftime cushion.

Meanwhile, Window Rock (1-9 overall, 0-2 in 3A North play) was paced by senior guard Kanaan Marranito as he scored half of his 18 points in that eight-minute second quarter.

Marranito added another five in the third, but the Fighting Scouts trailed 57-37 going into the fourth.

In addition to Marranito, Window Rock had two other players in double figures with Jaylen Brown scoring 13 and Tyrin Watchman chipping in 10.

The Sand Devils closed out their 24-point win by outscoring Window Rock 14 to 8 in the fourth quarter as Smith used his bench extensively.

“We have a lot of returners,” the Page coach said. “All of them but four played last year. If we can put it all together, I think we can be a good team.

“We’re meshing but, we’re just not there yet,” Smith said. “We really haven’t played our best game yet. Like Tyree, he scored (20) tonight, but he had 41 on Tuesday against Kanab (Utah).

“He missed a lot of bunnies,” he added. “Joey didn’t really have a good game either. When we all play a great game together, I think we can make a deep playoff run.”

Defensively, the Window Rock team allowed some backdoor cuts and Page was able to cash in on those opportunities.

“We ran our sets, and I thought we executed pretty well, but I don’t think we were cutting hard enough,” Smith said. “I don’t think we were finding them because heck it was open all night.

“Once you start feeding that, the post player becomes the guy,” he added.

The big road win improved Page’s record to 8-5 overall and 3-0 in the 3A North. And while it’s a good start, Smith said they have a long road ahead of them.

“It just got started,” he said of the region race. “I look at it as a marathon and not a sprint.”