Top seeds advance to 2A North Region title games, Hopi boys to play Round Valley

ST. JOHNS, Ariz.

The boys and girls championship games of the 2A North Region tournament will pit the top two teams in today’s finales.

On Friday night the No. 1 Hopi boys took care of fourth seed Piñon, 74-32, in the top half of the bracket. The Bruins will take on No. 2 seed Round Valley at 5 p.m. in the title game as the Elks edged third seed St. Johns, 52-48.

In the girls contest, top seed St. Johns and No. 2 seed Round Valley both advanced with the title game scheduled for 7 p.m.

In the semifinals, St. Johns defeated fourth seed Many Farms 66-32 and Round Valley coasted by No. 3 Sanders Valley 59-34.

Valley will play Many Farms at 3 p.m. for third place. The boys third place match will start at 1 p.m. with Piñon playing St. Johns. All games will be played at St. Johns High School.

“We really wanted another shot at St. Johns,” Valley coach Dorothy Mitchell said. “They’re one of our biggest rivals but we’re happy to play Many Farms.”

The Pirates have some unfinished business to take care of as Many Farms upset Valley 53-52 on Jan. 20.

“We would like a little payback,” the Valley coach said.

Against Round Valley, the Mitchell-coached team became undone with an eight-minute drought as the Elks went on a 24-0 run.

After Valley senior guard Kaelyn Nez pulled the Pirates within 19-17 with a transition layup with 3:28 left in the opening quarter, the Pirates didn’t score again until sophomore Neveah Benally connected on 1-of-2 free throws with 3:18 remaining in the second stanza. By then the Elks led 43-18.

“We just couldn’t shoot at all tonight,” Mitchell said. “I mean, that was really discouraging.”

It didn’t help that Nez, Valley’s leading scorer, got into foul trouble early as she picked up her third infraction in the opening quarter. She eventually fouled out late in the fourth and finished with eight points.

The Pirates also lost the services of senior post Netalia Sandoval due to an ankle injury she sustained in the first quarter.

“She’s our workhorse inside,” Mitchell said, “and when she left the game I didn’t have a workhorse in there so that was difficult to make the adjustments.”

Freshman Harli Haws led Round Valley with 21 points while senior post Brenli Haws added 16.

Many Farms

In the late game, Many Farms gave St. Johns all it could handle for one quarter as the Lobos trailed 13-8 heading into the second.

St. Johns, however, turned up its defensive pressure, holding Many Farms to only four points for the rest of the half as the top seed opened up a 35-13 advantage at the break.

St. Johns upped that lead to 49-17 heading into the fourth.

“I think we’re getting there, but the pressure that St. Johns and Round Valley brings gets into our heads,” Many Farms coach Tracy Todecheene said. “We cannot overcome that pressure. We just need to run our plays and not rush things.”

In its best quarter, Many Farms put up 15 points in the final period, which included three treys. Sophomore wing Samara Pahe nailed a pair as she led the Lobos with eight points.

St. Johns had balanced scoring with 13 players recording at least two points, with senior guard Elli Otto leading the way with 10 points.

Hopi

Piñon limited the high-scoring Bruins to just seven points in the first five minutes. But as Hopi established its pressing game, the tide began to shift as the Bruins led 31-11 heading into the second.

“We came out very aggressively like we wanted,” Hopi coach Rick Baker said. “We tried to set the tone right off the back and we pretty much did that in the first quarter. From there we just played hard.”

With the momentum, the Bruins rolled to a 74-32 win as they were led by the senior combo of Izaiah Silas and Deonta Riley. The pair combined for 41 points with Silas leading the way with 21 markers.

“Our defense is good,” Riley said. “We like to run a lot and we’re really athletic. We just have a lot of energy and we just mesh really well together.”

Piñon was paced by Owen Tsosie and Harrison Crosby, as the two players finished with eight points apiece.

Like his teammates, Riley is looking forward to the rematch with Round Valley as the Elks defeated Hopi 58-56 on Jan. 23.

“We’re definitely motivated for this game,” the Hopi guard said. “We beat them by (17) points the first time and the last time we weren’t feeling it.

“It’s going to be a big stage, but I feel like we can get it,” he added.

The Bruins will have to contend with Round Valley’s size as the Elks feature a few players at least 6’3”.

“They’re a very well-coached team,” Baker said of Round Valley. “They have some size, and they run a lot of half-court stuff on offense and defense, so we’re going to have to try and expand it full court.”

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