Tuba City, Window Rock boys advance

CHINLE

With an at large berth on the line, the Tuba City Warriors increased its chances of making the Division III state basketball tournament.

The Warriors posted a huge 65-61 win over Holbrook in opening round of the sectional tournament at the Wildcat Den in Chinle on Wednesday.

“We’re on that bubble whether we make it or not but the big motivation was we had to come out, we had to execute and do what we needed to do,” Tuba City coach Ryan Brown said. “Fortunately, we did that. We showed up tonight and the defensive intensity was there.”

On the other side of the bracket, the Monument Valley Mustangs fell to Window Rock by 62-60 count on a last-second shot by junior Tyrese Brown. That basket by Brown may have cost MV’s chances of making state as the Mustangs are on the outside looking in.

On Friday, Window Rock plays No. 2 seed Winslow at 5:15 p.m. while Tuba City will take on top seed Snowflake with the winner’s advancing into Saturday’s championship game.

The state seating committee will release the state tournament bracket this weekend with the top 24 teams making state.

“We’re sitting at No. 29, but hopefully the other teams will lose down the stretch,” Monument Valley coach Anderson Holiday said, while adding that they lost a few close games to some of the top teams in Division III.

“These tough losses really took a toll on us,” Holiday said.

In Wednesday’s contest the Mustangs got off to a great start with Royce Charley and Kane Parrish combining for 20 points in the opening quarter as the Mustangs led 20-14.

Holiday said his club shot the ball very well by being patient on offense. In addition, he said his kids stuck to the game plan defensively.

Despite turning the ball over six times in the next period, MV closed out the first half on a 7-2 run after Window Rock momentarily gained a 27-26 lead on a basket by senior post Myron Wauneka.

In that run the Mustangs hit four free throws and got a three-point basket by Merwin Sullivan.

After the break Window Rock capitalized on a few Mustang turnovers and regained the lead at 40-37 on a three-point shot by Casey Billy. Nonetheless, the Mustangs managed to tie the game at 42 all at the end of the third quarter.

The game remained tight as both teams went back and forth before the Scouts opened a 57-50 advantage with 2:05 left in the game on a putback by Brown.

Window Rock coach Raul Mendoza said they gave up too many open looks but he felt they gave a better effort in the second half to gain that seven-point advantage late in the game.

“They shot the ball very well,” he said of MV. “Defense has been our strength all year but tonight we seemed like we were not ready to play defense. We became impatient.”

The Scouts did receive a scare late in the game when MV’s Mitch Hurley hit three consecutive treys and tied the game at 60-all with six seconds left in the game. Rather than call a timeout, Mendoza allowed his players to make the final call as Brown hit a baseline drive just as time expired.

“If we didn’t get a good shot right off the back I was going to call a timeout,” Mendoza. “Fortunately, we did something right for once. We got the ball to the open man and made a layup.”

In the earlier game, the Warriors withstood a 19-point first half effort turned in by Holbrook’s Abrian Dixon. Dixon scored 14 of those points in the opening quarter that earned his team a 17-16 lead.

The Warriors, however, used a 15-0 run that started at the tail end of the first quarter into the second to gain a 31-22 halftime cushion.

“We made some adjustments to how our game plan was set up,” Brown said. “We wanted to pressure the guards up on top. They were still getting some open looks whether we were in a zone or matching up.”

Nonetheless, Brown said they contested most of those shots as he eluded to Dixon’s outburst.

“We knew that we needed to really watch where he was on the floor at all times,” Brown said of Dickson. “When we made that big push we were moving and being active on defensive, and we able to produce some points as well.”

Brown felt that Joey Mathias lifted the team offensively as a sophomore scored eight of his 17 points in that run.

In the second half, the Warriors built a 46-36 lead with 2:36 left in the third quarter after Urijah Yazzie capped a 10-6 run.

To their credit, Holbrook got within a few buckets in the fourth quarter, but Tuba City answered each run with a basket to regain the momentum.

“They have the shooters and guards to make that push from time to time but we were able to get some stops and get the momentum going,” Brown said. “We were able to get that going late in that third and we were able to make a run for ourselves.”

Davian Yazzie led with 21 points while Mathias had 17. For Holbrook Dixon finished with 27 points, which included 7 treys.

 

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