Scouts beat Valley in debut win for head coach Ashley Mitchell

FORT DEFIANCE – Behind a pair of 11-0 runs, the Window Rock boys basketball team gave its new head coach something to cheer about.

The 3A Fighting Scouts opened an 11-0 lead over 2A Valley Sanders on Nov. 15. And although the visiting Pirates hung around in the early going of the fourth quarter, Window Rock posted a 57-44 win in Ashley Mitchell’s debut as head coach.

“We came out strong with our defense, but eventually we got tired, and we let them back into the game,” said Mitchell, who is Window Rock’s first female boys basketball head coach. “They were hitting some key shots and we weren’t hitting our shots that we should have finished.”

Mitchell counted 14 missed shots under the basket as Window Rock had a tough time shaking off Valley.

After yielding the first 11 points to the Scouts and trailing 16-6 at the end of the first quarter, Valley finally got going in the second stanza as it put up 16 points in that quarter to cut Window Rock’s lead down to 27-22 at the half..

Valley’s Jake Apache had the hot hand as he put in eight of his 11 points with a pair of 3-pointers.

“We kind of put ourselves into a little hole at the beginning, but I was proud of our boys,” Valley coach Teddy Goodluck III said. “We came back and at halftime we were only down five.”

After the break, Goodluck felt that his team eased up on the offensive end. The Pirates trailed 41-34 at the end of the third quarter.

The deficit would have been 10 points, but Valley guard Cameron Martinez hit a buzzer-beating trey.

Valley crept as close as 41-36 with under seven minutes left, but the Scouts went on a momentum-shifting 11-0 run with four different players scoring, including five points from Nathan Miguel.

“We came out flat in that fourth quarter and sometimes we come too nonchalant,” Goodluck said.

The Scouts suited 13 players and Mitchell used her bench extensively as seven players scored.

“We’re pretty deep,” the Window Rock coach said. “I have a solid bench and I have confidence they can keep the momentum and tempo going.”

Veteran player Jayden Brown led the Scouts with 15 points while Makye Gilbert and Calvin Begay both chipped in 13 apiece.

For Valley, Jake Apache and Cameron Martinez both finished with 11 each.

“I felt like we made some turnovers, but we never got that conversion at the other end,” Goodluck said. “Overall, I think my boys played well tonight. Basically, it’s a new team, a new group of boys. They’re working hard and we’re improving.”

On Saturday night, the Pirates traveled to Monument Valley and faced its second 3A North opponent. Even though Valley (0-2) came up short to MV by a 52-34 count, Goodluck welcomed its tough early season schedule.

“I really don’t mind that,” he said. “I want to play some tough teams before we get ourselves into conference play. I think we can win our conference this year.

“It’s a matter of getting the boys to believe in themselves,” he added. “We do have some confidence issues so it’s getting the boys’ state of mind in knowing that they can do it.”

Valley will host Red Mesa Tuesday for another non-conference game.

Window Rock (1-0) will be in action also on Tuesday hosting Winslow.

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