Spirit Drum stays with Monument Valley: Cougars uses second half surge to defeat archrival Whitehorse

OLJATO, UTAH – The Spirit Drum will continue to reside with the Monument Valley Cougars.

In the late game Friday night, the top ranked MV girls basketball squad defeated archrival Whitehorse by a 73-48 count as the prized hand drum will be exhibited at Monument Valley High School for at least another six days.

The two Utah schools have a long and storied history, but not since the 2015 sports season have the two teams battled for the drum. Entering last Friday’s game, Monument Valley possessed the drum, having won the volleyball game last fall.

On Tuesday No. 8 Whitehorse will have a chance to take that drum home when it hosts MV in a rematch.

“It’s part of our tradition,” MV coach Theresa James said. “The last team playing that wins earns the drum and I think the pressure of that, and with the gym being so packed, made it a big atmosphere for the girls tonight.”

And from what James can conclude, that environment made it tough for her girls to get settled down as MV trailed 13-8 at the end of the first quarter.

“We started out slow, just sluggish and I think it was nerves,” James said. “I think a lot of my girls were feeling the pressure, so they were nervous. Normally, our gym does not get this full so we kept telling the girls to relax.”

It took nearly 11 minutes for the Cougars to get going as the James-coached team finished out the first half on a 14-5 run to seize a 30-23 cushion.

MV carried that momentum into the second half as it blew past the Raiders in the third period, outscoring the visitors 29 to 11. Senior post Neveah Wilson made her presence known inside the paint by scoring 12 of her game-high 29 points.

“We just have to find ourselves,” Wilson said of their third-quarter outburst. “When we did that, we played as a team, and we started to make our baskets.”

The Cougars also got a combined 14 points from sisters Shimequa and Shikeeya Hudson in that pivotal quarter.

“Shimequa was a little frustrated at the start of the game, and it took her awhile to get going,” the MV coach said. “She’s our leader and once she relaxed and starts to play the other girls will follow her.”

In the final stanza, Wilson added another six points while senior forward Precious Bedonie put in eight of her 18 points as the two players were too much for Whitehorse.

“That was huge,” James said of the team’s double threat. “We focused on getting the ball to them so a couple of times we lobbed it to them. We knew we had the height, so we used that to our advantage.

After keeping pace with MV for the first half, Whitehorse coach Joni Dickson said her team got overwhelmed by the Cougars’ size in the second half.

“We got a little confused with our defense and we weren’t adjusting because in the first half we were keeping them out of the paint,” Dickson said. “We didn’t come out of the half with the same intensity, and I think that just comes with confidence.

“We know how Neveah and Precious play so we’re very familiar with them,” she added. “They made a lot of short jumpers and they just excelled at it.”

Whitehorse was led by guard duo Heidi Clark and Shunbaah Begay as both players finished with 11 apiece. The Raiders also got seven points from junior Shayla Miller and six from Harmony Thomas.

Despite being blitzed in the second half, Dickson is looking forward to the rematch on Feb. 6 with MV.

“It’s a tough loss, but there’s a positive to take from this,” the Whitehorse coach said. “I mean, we were ahead after the first quarter, and we were down five points at halftime so that means we were contending with the No. 1 team in the state.

“This was a good test for us, and it allows us to see what we still need to improve on,” she added. “We told the girls not to hang their heads because we still have our home game with them. We still have the state playoffs too.”

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