Page, Window Rock girls to play for region title

FORT DEFIANCE

Shots were hard to come by.

And free throws were atrocious for both the Chinle Lady Wildcats and Page Lady Sand Devils.

In the end, though, the top-seeded Sand Devils found a way to scrape past Chinle, 33-31, in the semifinals of the 3A North Region tournament on Friday night.

Page is set to play Window Rock in today’s finals at 5 p.m., as the Lady Scouts ran away with a 61-29 win over Monument Valley.

The Sand Devils trailed for over three-plus quarters. It took the lead for good with :35 remaining to quiet the decidedly pro-Chinle crowd at the Bee Hółdzil Fighting Scouts Events Center in Fort Defiance.

“We had a rough, rough start,” Page coach Celeste “Boka” Claw said. “I think that’s the first time we’ve had a start like that. I mean, we didn’t pick it up until the fourth quarter.

“There was just no consistency and we were trying to find our rhythm,” she added. “The crowd and the atmosphere was affecting them. This was their first postseason game so this was definitely an eye opener for them.”

After trailing by as much as 10 points, Page took its first lead, 26-25, at the 4:48 mark of the fourth quarter on a 2-point basket by reserve post Leikara Yazzie.

Chinle regained the lead, 28-25, thanks to a mini 4-0 run that was capped by two free throws from junior post Dizhoon White, who finished with a team-best nine points.

The Wildcats didn’t relinquish the lead until Page scored two inside buckets from senior forward Sofia Cambridge, who led all scorers with 11 points.

Cambridge’s second basket with :35 left gave the Sand Devils the lead for good at 32-30 as both teams finished the contest by making 1-of-2 free throws.

“My team needed the points and I was open, so I scored,” Cambridge said, while adding that the Wildcats gave them a scare.

In its final possession, Chinle called a timeout with 11. 3 seconds left to set up one final play but the three-point attempt by senior Neveah Jishie missed its mark.

“Chinle played us tough and they gave us a good game,” Cambridge said.

Window Rock

The Scouts never trailed but it found some early resistance from MV as both teams played superb defense for the first seven-plus minutes.

Window Rock closed out the final :23 of the opening quarter on a 5-0 run. Senior Devaé Willie hit a three and Melicia Nelson stole the ball near court and scored on a fastbreak layup just as time expired for a 9-3 first quarter advantage.

Nelson added another seven points in the second stanza while Jada Brown, Window Rock’s senior post, chipped in five for a 25-12 halftime lead.

In the third quarter the Scouts picked up where they had left off, scoring the first 11 points en route to a 44-20 margin as Brown put in eight of her 15 points in that period.

“We just played within ourselves,” Brown said when asked about the progression of the game. “At the start we were playing their tempo, which is superfast. But we slowed it down. We were patient, passing the ball around and that is how we got our shots and open looks.”

Nelson led the Scouts with a game-high 18 points while Willie added 10.

For Monument Valley, junior Keiryn Mann finished with eight.

Window Rock coach Gabrielle Whitney didn’t expect to win by 32 points, but she credited her team for limiting MV’s perimeter shooters and challenging every shot inside the paint.

“It all goes back to defense,” Whitney said. “I always tell the girls that our defense is going to help us win games. I’m just so proud of them.”

With the lopsided win, Window Rock will be in the region title game for the first time in Whitney’s tenure.

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