Thoreau girls face familiar rival Zuni in first round

WINDOW ROCK

There is nothing better than hosting a first-round playoff game.

By virtue of earning the No. 8 seed, the Thoreau Lady Hawks will have that honor when they host district rival Zuni in the opening round of the New Mexico Class 3A girls’ hoops tournament. Tipoff is scheduled for 5:30 p.m. at Thoreau High.

“When it comes to the playoffs we’re always hoping to have that home-court advantage,” Thoreau coach Rachel Becenti said. “Having one of the higher seeds is something we’re looking forward to because in the past four season we’ve never hosted a game. We were always traveling, and we’ve never gotten out of that first round.”

Thoreau now has that chance, but the Becenti-coached team will have to get by the Lady T-Birds for the fourth time this season.

The Hawks own a 3-0 record over Zuni, but in the most recent meeting Thoreau barely edged the T-Birds, 46-42, on Feb. 12. Before that, the Hawks had beaten Zuni by double digits.

Admittedly, Becenti would rather play another team from a different district, but the likelihood of that happening was minimized as the northwest district got five teams placed in the bracket.

“We don’t want to see the teams in our district right away,” she said. “Last year we saw Navajo Prep in the first round and that wasn’t fun because we played them all season long.

“I think that’s the downside of having (five) district teams seeded for the playoffs,” she added.

Nonetheless, Becenti feels that her squad is battle-tested for the playoffs as the Hawks finished fourth in District 1-3A behind Tohatchi, Navajo Prep and Crownpoint.

“We had a really tough district,” she said. “There were a lot of great matchups and, you know, we had three teams ranked in the top five all season long.”

For the playoffs, Tohatchi is the highest seeded district team coming in at No. 2 followed by No. 4 Navajo Prep and fifth-seeded Crownpoint.

“That just shows that we’re playing in one of the toughest districts in the state in our class,” Becenti said.

The Thoreau coach is excited about their chances and if they get by Zuni they have the likelihood of facing top-seed Las Vegas Robertson in the next round.

“Robertson is the top-ranked team and they’re tough, but we all want to get to the Pit,” Becenti said. “That’s the ultimate goal.”

For much of the season, Thoreau has relied on junior Leah Delgarito, the Hawks leading scorer.

“She’s matured a lot,” Becenti said of her pupil. “We’ve always talked about composure, and she’s been able to handle that. I’ve had her since her freshman year, and this is her first year leading the team.

“The seniors that graduated last year, you know, they were they were her foundation,” she added. “And now, the other girls look up to her and she’s that rock.”

Becenti said senior Moniquica Charley is another stalwart on the team that has helped Thoreau to a 17-10 overall record.

“She took a year off, but she’s really stepped up this year,” the Thoreau coach said. “It took her awhile to get her footing and when she did she’s been my other go-to girl.”

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