St. Michael boys learn pandemic lessons in first game

Posted by David Smith | Jan 28, 2021 | Basketball |

CHINLE

Last Thursday, St. Michael Indian School had its first game against Colorado City’s El Capitan. Playing a doubleheader, the boys’ and girls’ varsity teams played two games apiece.

The boys suffered defeats in both games, losing 57-26 in the first game and 43-29 in the second.

Special to the Times | Krista Allen
A St. Michael player dribbles the ball away from El Capitan player Aydan Holmes (22) on Feb. 21 at Page High School.

However, the boys weren’t deterred and instead used it as a learning experience, as told by junior player Dayshon Dalgai.

“I think the games went pretty good,” he said. “My teammates really communicated. We went into that game mentally prepared and we learned from our mistakes. I think the second game was better than our first.”

Despite the tough game, St. Michael’s assistant coach Patrick Dalgai, Dayshon’s father, also believed the games went well.

“From my point of view, they did good overall,” Patrick said. “They played two games. The first game it was a game that took them some time to adjust to because of the situation of what they have to go through as far as wearing their masks and just playing basketball again.

“The second game I think they adjusted and adapted to the situation and they did pretty good overall and I was proud of them,” he said.

Another aspect about the game that presented a challenge to everyone is all the new COVID-19 precautions set forth by the Arizona Interscholastic Association and the CDC, including playing in an empty gym and wearing a facemask throughout the competition.

“The masks were something to get used to, still something to get used to,” Dayshon said. “But we wear them while at practice and I think of the boys wear them at home to get used to them.

“Having no crowd there was different,” he said, “but I could hear my teammates communicate with me, I got to hear my coach tell us what to do and correct our mistakes. And we cheered our team on, on and off the court, us teammates were our own fans out there.”

This was the first time in years that St. Michael played against Colorado City and the team did their best against an unknown team.

“They were a tall team, we had to adjust to it, to their quickness and that new knowledge out there on the court,” Dayshon said.

“And I think we got that down later in the first game and we picked it up in the first half of the second game,” he said. “And so I think we adjust quickly, we know what they are going to do and we just played our game.”

Another challenge was that they had a small roster to work with and couldn’t afford lose any players.

“We had to re-strategize our game and apply to make sure our boys remain in the game, all five, without getting into foul trouble or injuries,” Patrick said. “It was a challenge, all five of them did well and I was surprised on how they changed and adapted to the game against who they played.”

With their next game on Wednesday, Dayshon said he and his team will continue to work hard as they have always done and savor this season.

Both he and his father now know what they can work on, on what to improve and the boys now have experience in playing in this new season filled with COVID-19 precautions.

“We look forward to these games, we’re so thankful to be out here again, doing what we love and we just so honored to be out here, representing our school, the parents and the fans, we thank them for letting their child play out there during this pandemic,” Dayshon said. “We’ll be doing the best we can out there. ”

Patrick felt the same way. Even though he is a coach, he shares the same passion and thrill for the game as the young athletes as they play in this unprecedented season.

“The head coach, Dwayne Anderson, and I are just glad and honored to coach these boys at this time,” Patrick said. “I know there was a lot of pros and cons to having this season happen, for the boys this year and we went ahead and took that initiative and volunteered to coach these boys throughout the season, knowing what we have to go through, what we have to face with this COVID-19 virus.

“We just need to be careful,” he said, “comply with all protocols and if we have that in place, we should be good to go and we just look forward to this season and having a winning season this year.”