MV Lady Cougars take fourth in Utah state playoffs

WINDOW ROCK – The top-ranked Monument Valley Lady Cougars finished their season shy of expectations with a fourth-place finish in the Utah 1A state playoffs last week.

Monument Valley lost in the semifinals to Tabiona, 51-41. That defeat set them up in the third-place match against Rich High School on Saturday afternoon at the Sevier Valley Center in Richfield, Utah.

“It wasn’t what we were hoping for but, you know, we’re OK with that,” said longtime MV coach Terri James, who announced her retirement during an interview with the Navajo Times Wednesday morning.

“The girls were disappointed after that one game with Tabiona,” James said. “When it came down to the third-place game there was really no pressure on them, but they were tired, and they gassed out in that last quarter.”

In that final game, MV led 28-23 after three quarters but the Cougars were held to two points in the fourth while Rich nearly doubled its output from the first three quarters, rallying for a 45-30 win.

MV senior post Neveah Wilson led the Cougars with 10 points and nine rebounds in Saturday’s third-place game.

Mariah Begaye and Shimequa Hudson added nine points apiece while Precious Bedonie chipped in eight.

In the state semis, MV and Tabiona both put in 14 points in the opening quarter. In the second, the fourth-seeded Tigers outscored MV 16 to 9 and led 30-23 at the break.

The two squads added 12 each in the third stanza. Tabiona reached the state title game by outpointing MV nine to six in that final quarter.

“We’ve come back from games to where we’ve been down by 20 points,” James said. “In the locker room we were thinking that we could do this. We were only down seven and in the third we were within four and then we got some fouls called on us.”

The foul count put the Hudson sisters – Shimequa and Shikeeya – and Wilson on the bench with four fouls each.

“That changed the momentum of the game for us,” James said. “It changed the way the girls played. Those fouls really affected us.”

Eventually, those three players fouled out in the fourth quarter, with Tabiona winning by 10 points.

“Tabiona is a good team,” the MV coach said. “But my girls tried. We just couldn’t finish it.”

Shimequa Hudson led the Cougars with 14 points and three treys. Badonie added six and Shikeeya Hudson chipped in five.

With the two losses, MV capped its season at 21-3 overall. Prior to the state tournament, the Cougars came up short to Shiprock, 64-61.

To prepare for the rigors of the state playoffs, the James-coached team played some tough opponents during the regular season. The Cougars beat the likes of Santa Fe Indian School, Rock Point and Colorado’s Montezuma-Cortez.

“When we played bigger schools, I knew my girls were willing to step up,” James said. “They gave it their best and we beat these teams by playing together and playing really good defense.

“That is how we were able to beat these teams,” she added. “It really didn’t matter if they were tall or not, we let our defense decide the outcome of the game.”

The Cougars are set to graduate four seniors later this spring with Bedonie, Wilson, Begaye and Shimequa Hudson having played their final prep games.

The quartet have been with James since their sophomore seasons, with some starting all three years. Due to Covid, MV did not field a team when they were freshmen.

“These girls have been just amazing,” James said. “They’re my captains; they all lead the team, and the underclassmen really look up to them.

“These seniors have been really instrumental in helping the others move along,” she added. “The underclassmen have some big shoes to fill, but I don’t know if they’ll ever be filled.”

Like her seniors, James coached her last high school game after spending 20-plus years on the bench. She plans to remain at MV next year solely in a teaching role.

“The girls knew it was my last year,” James said. “But the younger girls were like, ‘Man, what are we going to do?’ I think you just get accustomed to the way things are, but I know it’s time to turn the reins to someone much younger.

“I’m still going to be there,” she added. “It’s just that I’m going to be watching the game from the stands and not from the bench.”

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