Top-ranked Ganado wins 3A North regular season title

WINDOW ROCK

The Ganado Lady Hornets proved they were the dominant program this year in the 3A North Conference.

The top-ranked Hornets (21-3) finished the regular season as league champs with a 9-1 record, which included wins over Chinle and Tuba City last week.

Ganado defeated upstart Chinle by a 40-36 count on Jan. 23 with senior point guard Camille Uentillie finishing in double figures.

“Camille led us with 14 big points,” Ganado coach Mike Bitsuie said. “She made some clutch free throws down the stretch.”

In this wire-to-wire game, Bitsuie said they didn’t shoot the ball too well but they got it done defensively.

“It was a hard, tough-fought game,” he said. “We played very well on the defensive end. We played good post defense and we helped each other. Our defense pretty much carried us.”

In addition to Uentillie, Bitsuie had four others contribute offensively with sophomore Jayla McIntosh finishing with seven points while Janaya McIntosh, Amber James, and Michelene Coleman had six points apiece.

Last Thursday, Ganado outscored Tuba City in every quarter and won 52-40.

“We had a sluggish start but we slowly built our lead,” Bitsuie said, while noting they led 26-18 at the break.

---