Tohatchi girls advance: Lady Cougars to play top seed Robertson

By Santiago Ramos Jr.
Special to the Times

RIO RANCHO

In the end, the No. 4 seed Tohatchi was not rattled by the No. 5 Tucumcari Lady Rattlers.

After holding a 22-19 lead early in the third quarter the 22-9 Lady Cougars reeled off 19 consecutive points to sink Tucumcari 48-23 Tuesday morning during the Class 3A girls state basketball quarterfinals at the Rio Rancho Events Center.

Tohatchi’s Crra Cecil scored a pair of quick baskets while teammate Kaina Bia buried a trey and scored on a putback as the Lady Cougar offense got untracked. A trey by Mariah Bia put the finishing touches on a 19-0 spurt and 41-19 advantage heading to the fourth quarter.

The 20-7 Lady Rattlers never were able to get back into the game as the Lady Cougars cruised to a 25-point state quarterfinal win.

“The girls made some adjustments,” said Tohatchi coach Tanisha Bitsoi who guided her team to the 2017 state title that was followed by a state runner-up the following year along with 2020.

“We made adjustments as far as our rotation,” she said. “The rotation was a little different. Also, their defense picked up. I felt like in the first half we weren’t capitalizing on their mistakes and that was key.”

Bitsoi felt that they did a better job at that and eventually they wore down the Rattlers.

“I felt that if we kept pushing the ball and eventually they would falter,” she said. “They kind of got desperate at times. Offense sells tickets, defense wins games and the hard play wins championships.”

The Tohatchi coach said her girls responded. And they did it in a big way with its defense. She also added that they rebounded better in that second half.

“Rebounding and defense, and having (that) urgency and energy – those things always give you a chance in any game,” she said.

Cougar junior guard Brooke Badonie led the team with 10 points along with seven rebounds, four assists and two steals before going down with an injury with five minutes left in the game. Tohatchi had 10 of 13 players break into the scoring column.

The Lady Cougars held the Lady Rattlers to single digits in each of the four quarters – 8 points in the first, 7 in the second, 4 in the third and 4 in the fourth quarter

Despite the win, Tohatchi shot a poor 31 percent (18 of 58), but Tucumcari finished with a horrible 11 percent (5 of 46).

Tohatchi will go up against top seed and defending state champion Robertson in one of the state semifinals Thursday at 8 a.m. at the Events Center. The Lady Cougars were eliminated by Santa Fe Indian School in the state semifinals last year.

“We’re excited,” Bitsoi said of the Final Four. “The group has faced a lot of challenges, a lot of adversity this season. For them to get this this Final Four game again we’re really proud of them.”

The Tohatchi coach said if they do the little things they have a chance of beating Robertson and she’s very appreciative of the fan support they have.

“Our fans are very proud of our young ladies,” she said. “We’re thankful and grateful that we get this chance again.”

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