Piñon clinches No. 4 seed with win over Valley Pirates

By Quentin Jodie
Navajo Times

SANDERS, Ariz. – For a good part of this season, Piñon boys basketball coach John Hubbell was looking for his team to connect and trust one another.

In other words, he was looking for them to build that team chemistry. On Saturday, that chemistry was on full display as the Eagles locked in the No. 4 seed for the upcoming 2A North Region tournament with a 59-50 win over the Valley Pirates for its regular season finale.

“The season is coming down to the end and we’re starting to see that team chemistry,” Hubbell said. “You want to build that team chemistry early in the season, but a lot of the kids are new to the program and so we were trying to build the chemistry.”

Hubbell said that process has been a “rollercoaster” ride but they’re starting to come together.

“There were some games that I thought we should have won, but that’s been part of the growing process,” he said.

In the nine-point win, Piñon had junior Lando Jones and seniors Lukus James and Landon Lee finish with 14 points apiece. James did most of his damage inside the paint while Jones and Lee combined for six treys with Jones nailing four.

Jones had the hot hand early as his two early 3s helped the visiting team to a 13-1 cushion with 4:37 remaining in the opening quarter.

After a series of missed shots, Valley finally got going as the Pirates pulled within 16-10 heading into the second stanza with junior shooting guard Tyrin Nicotine pumping five of his game-high 24 points.

Piñon maintained its lead in the second stanza thanks to Lee’s seven points in the quarter as his fourth basket earned the Hubbell-coached team a 25-17 edge with 3:45 left before the half.

Valley cut that deficit down to 29-23 at the break with freshman Kristopher Benally nailing a last-second bucket just as the buzzer sounded.

The Pirates made another push late in the third quarter, trailing 39-37 with 1:15 left following a two-point basket by junior Jayquan Allen.

That was a close as Valley would get as the Eagles capped the period with three treys, including two from Jones for a 48-39 advantage.

Piñon carried that momentum into the fourth, stretching that margin to its largest lead at 57-41 on a basket by Lee with 2:39 left.

“We got within two, and they got on a little roll there with some big 3s,” Valley coach Teddy Goodluck said of Piñon. “What started out as a little cup became a flood. Before you know it, they were up (16) points on us, and we got it back down to nine.”

The Valley coach reiterated that his team has had a tough time finishing out games this season.

“That’s been our Achilles all year long, just the ability to finish a game out,” Goodluck said. “It’s nothing against the boys. I mean, we only got three boys that are seniors. We’re going to do some work with boys that are coming back for next year. We’re going to get that establish, finishing out games and get that squared away.

“That is one thing we need to do, which is to finish out a game,” he added. “If we finish a game, we’ll be a lot more successful with our outings.”

The first round pairings for the 2A North Region tournament had yet to be release as of Tuesday afternoon. The two coaches agreed that Valley would have to make the trip to Piñon on Thursday night for the first round matchup with the Eagles earning the No. 4 seed and the Pirates the fifth seed.

“That was what today’s game was for, whether we’re going away or whether they were going to come here,” Goodluck said. “The preferable choice was that we would have won tonight, and they would have to come back here on Thursday.”

The Piñon coach says playing at home has its advantages.

“The one thing about away games is the boys get too comfortable on the bus” Hubbell said. “We have to try and wake them up and try to get them to them to the gym early so that they can dribble and shoot around to warm up.

“That’s the issue that you have when you’re on the road,” he added.

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