Valley girls end two-game losing streak

Posted by Quentin Jodie | Feb 1, 2024 | Basketball |

POLACCA, Ariz. – It took a two-game losing streak for the Valley Sanders girls basketball team to find its niche again.

The Lady Pirates came up short to Many Farms, 53-52, on Jan. 20 followed by a 62-40 loss to St. Johns on Jan. 23.

On Saturday night Valley vented its frustration and romped past Hopi by 33 points, 75-42, in a key 2A North Region contest.

“I think the two previous games got to them,” longtime Valley coach Dorothy Mitchell said. “They wanted to come out strong and take advantage of being a team because we’ve lost our little fire.

“Now, they’re ready and we’re coming back strong,” she added.

The Pirates dropped eight treys in the opening half and seized a 47-20 halftime cushion. Valley sharpshooter Kaelyn Nez had three of those early treys as she put her team on her back for 23 first-half points.

“I liked the way we started,” said Nez, who finished with a game-high 30 points on four treys. “I have to give credit to my teammates because we stuck with the game plan, which was to pass the ball around and get open shots.”

The Pirates nailed their first pair of threes and led 11-2 following an old-fashioned three-point play from Nez with 4:55 to go in the first quarter.

The Bruins finally got going as they cut that deficit down to two points, 11-9, following a five-point effort from Karela Cook, who led Hopi with 11 points.

But Valley closed out the opening stanza on a 10-2 run, which included back-to-back treys from Nez and sophomore guard Trinity Mitchell (12 points).

Nez then capped the run with a layup for a 21-11 cushion heading into the second quarter.

The Valley guard added another 11 markers as the Mitchell-coached team widened its lead to 27 points at halftime, 47-20.

“We got the looks we wanted,” Dorothy Mitchell said. “They were moving the ball around, making passing and cutting situations, so we were on target with that.”

With an insurmountable lead, the Valley coach utilized her bench extensively as the Pirates finished the second half with 29 points.

Reserve Megan Nez made the most of her minutes as she scored 12 points.

On Monday, Valley came up short to league champion St. Johns, 60-56, for its final regular season game. With that defeat the Pirates finished third in the 2A North Region standings with an 8-4 record.

St. Johns won the league with a 12-0 record and earned a first-round bye in the seven-team 2A North Region tournament that got underway on Wednesday night.

No. 2 seed Round Valley (9-3) hosted No. 7 Greyhills (0-12) while third seed Valley entertained No. 6 Hopi (3-9). In the No. 4/No. 5 matchup, Many Farms (7-5) took on Piñon (3-9). Scores for those games were not available as the paper went to print.

The winners of Wednesday’s game advance into Friday’s semifinals with the survivors playing in Saturday’s championship game. The semis and finals will be held at St. Johns High School with the championship game slated for 7 p.m. Saturday night.

“I like our chances,” Mitchell said of winning the tournament. “I’m confident and the kids are confident, too. If we can play like the way we did tonight I think we can get there and win. We just have to play together and make a run in every game.”