Top-ranked KC girls silence Gallup crowd in runaway win over No. 2 Bengals

GALLUP – Entering Saturday night’s District 1-4A showdown, the Kirtland Central Lady Broncos had bragging rights as the best girls basketball team at the Class 4A level.

The top-ranked Broncos (20-2, 6-0 in district) solidified its status as the team to beat by overwhelming No. 2 Gallup (20-2, 4-2) for the second time this season as KC switched gears and turned a tight game into a rout.

A 20-0 run at the start of the second stanza changed the complexion of the game as KC won 70-45 before a capacity-filled crowd at Gallup High School, which was a stark contrast to the last time they played. On Jan. 25, the Broncos pulled away with a 52-38 win.

“We just came out ready to play,” KC coach Devon Manning said. “These girls, they were ready. They understand and we understand how good Gallup really is. They’re (the Bengals) very well-coached and we understand if we don’t come in ready to play, we could have easily been on the other side of that scoreboard if we weren’t ready play.

“We’ll probably see them once for sure, maybe twice more,” he added. “This game just means we’re 6-0 in district. It’s not the state championship; it’s not the district championship, so come Monday, we’ll be ready to rock and roll and focus to play next week.”

Behind a pair of 3s from junior post Krista Tsingine-Yazzie and freshman guard Allyson Tsosie, the Broncos seized an early 10-2 lead as Gallup coach Todd McBroom had to call a quick timeout with 5:40 left.

That break paid immediate dividends as the Bengals put together a 13-4 run to go up 15-14 following an old-fashioned 3-point play from senior guard Alysha Slinkey with 1:19 left.

That one-point advantage was Gallup’s only lead of the night as Tsingine-Yazzie scored on a putback with 19 seconds left that earned KC a 16-15 edge heading into the second.

The comeback by Gallup got its hometown fans in a frenzy, but the nature of the game took a significant turn in the next stanza.

In stunning fashion, the Broncos silenced the Gallup hopeful by scoring 20 straight points for a 36-15 cushion. Defensively, the Broncos forced Gallup into 10 turnovers and a woeful 0-for-7 shooting.

“Going into the second quarter, I asked those girls, and I said, ‘we need to pick up the energy and intensity a little bit on the defensive side’ and they certainty did that,” Manning said. “You know, we were reading, (and) we were we were in sync with each other. Whoever was on the floor, all five girls were in sync that second quarter.”

With the Broncos discombobulating Gallup on the defensive end, it opened the doors for KC to score at will. In fact, the Manning-coached team either hit free throws or recorded a basket in nine of their 14 trips to open that 21-point cushion.

Gallup finally scored when junior post Summer Joe hit two free throws with 2:37 left before halftime. At the break, KC led 42-20.

“I tried to call some timeouts, and stop the momentum but they got hot,” Gallup coach Todd McBroom said of the Broncos. “I mean, they hit (four) 3s in that quarter and it’s tough when that happens.”

Midway through the third, Gallup found some new life without the service of senior post Rylie Whitehair, who sat on the bench at the 5:31 mark after picked up her fourth foul with the Broncos leading 52-29.

“Obviously that helps, you know, having a great player like (Rylie) sit on the bench for most of the game,” Manning said. “But we (also) had two girls in foul trouble there in the third quarter with Allie and Krista, so we kind of weathered the storm a little bit.”

Despite having Whitehair riding the bench, the Bengals chipped away at KC’s 23-point advantage and closed within 56-45 on a 16-4 run as sophomore post Kayden Tsosie put in six points while senior guard Alysha Slinkey and sophomore guard Mykeia Vicenti added a pair of 3s.

The Broncos, however, finished out the third with sophomore guard Elaina Clani and Allyson Tsosie hitting a pair of layups in the final 19 seconds of the quarter.

“At halftime, I told them we needed to cut (their) lead down to 10, and that will give us a shot,” McBroom said. “We had it down to 11 with 20 seconds left (but) they had that 4-0 run and that was kind of the back breaker that hurt us.

“If we take away that run away, maybe the fourth quarter would have been different,” he added.

The KC coach acknowledged that the two baskets by his guards dampen Gallup’s spirits heading into the fourth as KC went with a stall tactic in the final eight minutes.

That ploy worked as Gallup had to come out and guard KC as the Broncos used their speed to get some easy looks at the basket.

Gallup, meanwhile, missed all five of its attempts with KC outscoring them 10-0 in the fourth.

Tsingine-Yazzie led KC with a game-best 19 points while Clani added 14 and Allyson Tsosie chipped in 10.

The Bengals had three players – Whitehair, Slinkey and Kayden Tsosie – finish with 10 points each.

“I thought I played much better,” Tsingine-Yazzie said. “When the girls got me the ball, I made some post moves.

“Sometimes, I passed it back for them to take open shots,” she added.

And while she contributed with double figures, Clani conceded that the 25-point win was mostly done on the defensive end.

“I think we took their middles away,” Clani said. “That’s the main part of our defense because their guards were struggling a little bit when we were pressuring them.”

That pressure produced 24 turnovers, as Gallup couldn’t find any rhythm on offense. McBroom contributed that downfall to not taking care of the ball.

“You know, we got to take care of the ball better,” the Gallup coach said. “I mean, that’s the main focus right now.”

Despite losing two games to KC, McBroom remains optimistic to seeing the Broncos again.

“We got two weeks left of the regular season, and then we got the district tournament, and I plan on being in Kirkland three weeks from tonight,” McBroom said. “And so, we’ll get another shot at them; we got to just work for the next three weeks and get better.”

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