Team effort helps Ganado capture sectional title

Posted by Quentin Jodie | Feb 18, 2016 | Basketball |

Navajo Times | Adron Gardner
Ganado Hornet JaeLynn Curley (10) attempts a field goal on the Sedona Red Rock Scorpions during the Arizona Division IV, Section I basketball tournament in Flagstaff Friday.

FLAGSTAFF

A day after turning in a shoddy performance against Round Valley, the Ganado Lady Hornets were ready to face the Sedona Red Rock Lady Scorpions last Friday night.

The Hornets canned 11 treys in a three-point shootout against Sedona Red Rock at Flagstaff High School. The Scorpions made eight threes but Ganado answered every basket and defeated the top seed of the sectional tournament in a hard fought 52-45 win. With that the Hornets earned the No. 5 seed for this year’s Division IV state girls basketball tournament.

“Obviously our girls stepped up in their shooting and they made some big shots tonight,” Ganado coach Mike Bitsuie said. “We made our free throws and overall it was good team win. We played good defense and I am proud of the way our girls played.”

With Sedona Red Rock’s length and size, Bitsuie said it was important for his club to make shots, especially with the Scorpions employing a zone defense for much of the night.

“Their length is not what we are used,” he said. “They play a good zone defense so we had to move the ball and, of course, we had to make shots against their zone.”

Bitsuie said the Hornets bounced back nicely after they were held to eight points in the second half against Round Valley, which included a complete shutout in the third quarter.

There was no of that in the championship game as the Hornets took the lead for good at 19-18 on a three-point shot from sophomore reserve Camille Uentillie with 2:37 left in the opening half.

That basket by Uentillie started a quarter-ending 9-0 run as Ganado led 25-18 at the break.