Top-seed KC girls make quick work of Lovington in 4A quarters

ALBUQUERQUE

The Kirtland Central girls basketball team displayed its offensive firepower on Tuesday afternoon.

The top-seeded Lady Broncos scored in bunches en route to a 68-25 win over No. 9 Lovington in the Class 4A state quarterfinals inside the famed Pit on the University of New Mexico campus.

“No, not really but I know we’re capable of it,” KC coach Devon Manning said when asked if he had a feeling the game would be a one-sided affair before it started. “You know, we come in respecting the opponent. Lovington has some pretty good players on their team, but these girls are a little hungrier this afternoon.”

KC (27-3) picked off the Wildcats (20-9) for 21 steals and scored 31 points off turnovers, as the Broncos put the game of reach early in the contest.

“We were just all over them basically the entire game,” Manning said. “They weren’t getting good looks. We made their big shoot shots from seven, eight feet instead of three, four feet, so Krista (Tsinigine-Yazzie) battled her tonight, Saige (Sorrelhorse) battled her too, so overall, I can’t be mad.”

Offensively, the Broncos made 26-of-60 shots, which included a 9-of-32 effort from beyond the 3-point line. Of those shots, 22 were assisted.

“We had 26 field goals and 22 assists,” Manning said. “You know, we’re sharing the ball pretty well and hopefully we can keep that going.”

KC senior Haylee Nocki and junior Allyson Tsosie shared top scoring honors with 24 points each as the two combined for eight treys.

“I was getting more open shots instead of quick shots,” said Nocki, who connected on 10-of-16 field goals, including a 4-of-9 outing from the 3-point line.

Manning added that his club got those open looks by shifting Lovington’s defense.

“We were just trying to move them corner to corner,” Manning said. “You know, they’re big, but we feel like if we get them shifted from one corner to the other, I felt like our high-low was going to be there.

“Second half, I thought we did better at that. We missed some layups early in the game on the high-low, but it started out well with Haylee hitting the first 3 of the game. Then after that, we just got rolling.”

After nailing the game’s opening trey, Nocki hit a couple more as the Broncos raced out to a 21-6 first quarter lead. The KC guard added her fourth 3 to start the second, which was part of a 16-0 spurt. Later in the quarter, Tsosie capped that scoring run with a pair of 3s as the Manning-coached team opened a 34-6 advantage.

Lovington coach Chief Bridgforth admitted that his team took a beating against the high-powered Broncos as KC took a 38-9 advantage at the break.

“We knew we were playing arguably the best team regardless of class,” Bridgforth said. “It’s hard to get ready for that. Don’t get me wrong, they beat us, and we took a beating, but I really felt like we weren’t us, for sure in the first half.

“I just felt like we got shook up and it was hard for us to recover,” he said. “I thought, the second half we showed flashes of being us, but give them credit. They do what they do, and they do it very well.”

Lovington senior guard Ashelynn Borunda praised KC for giving them fits the entire game.

“They look like they were in great shape and overall, they were getting after it,” she said. “They weren’t tired, and it helped a lot with their defense. When we would turn the ball over, they would just execute on the other end.”

Senior post Abbi Shouse described KC as the “more seasoned” team.

“They’re really tough,” Shouse said. “They were definitely a more seasoned team. They’ve been here before. They know what to expect, and they know how to play together, and they really do know how to force the ball. Overall, they’re just a very good, well-balanced team.”

With the win, KC moves into Thursday morning’s quarterfinal as the Broncos will play No. 4 Hope Christian at 11:30 a.m. at the Pit. The Lady Huskies pulled away from No. 5 Valencia for a 48-35 win in their quarterfinal game.

“I think they’re tough and, you know, they got athletic bigs, and athletic guards,” Manning said of Hope. “They run that 1-2-2 defense, which gave Valencia a lot of fits today, so we got to prepare for that that.

“The size does not mean anything to us because almost everyone we’ve played this year has been bigger than us,” he added. “We’re probably the smallest team in the 4A bracket now, so size isn’t really an issue for us. We just gotta stay true to who we are.”

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