Top-ranked Lady Wildcats playing with confidence

Posted by Quentin Jodie | Jan 23, 2025 | Sports |

CHINLE – Excluding all regular season tournament games, the Chinle girls basketball team is one of eight Arizona teams that remains undefeated.

The Lady Wildcats improved to 15-0 after beating 3A North rival Window Rock 45-40 on Tuesday night. With that perfect record, Chinle has garnered plenty of attention this season under veteran coach Francine McCurtain. The Wildcats are playing with a ton of confidence as Chinle heads two polls in the latest Arizona Interscholastic Association’s statewide rankings.

The Wildcats are top-ranked in both the 3A conference and in the newly formed Copper Division based on the algorithm used the AIA.

“This is very new to us,” McCurtain said. “I mean, this is the first time that we’ve been ranked that high for the eight seasons that I have been here. I’m really proud of our program and I’m proud of where the girls have led us to.”

Even with its sparkling record, the McCurtain-coached team has been in some close games this season. In fact, six of its wins have been decided by at least five points. Of those games, the difference came down to one made basket in three of those contests.

“What’s great about this team is I have five seniors, and they know what it takes to win,” McCurtain said. “The maturity and experience that we have is huge. They’re very disciplined in when not to foul, when not to take a bad shot and when to get the ball to who’s hot.

Navajo Times | Quentin Jodie
Chinle Lady Wildcat Qoah Yazzie (23) loses the ball over her head during a 3A North Region game with the Tuba City Lady Warriors on Friday night.

“They have an understanding of what needs to be done,” she added. “The girls totally understand that. The great thing is they’re always talking and they’re always asking questions.”

McCurtain said the team’s know-how sets them apart and that has given them a “mental edge” over most teams.

“Coming into the season, I kind of had a prediction that we were going to do something awesome,” McCurtain said. “It really didn’t come into light until we started to play. I was like, ‘Whoa, we do have something here,’ and that has kind of snowballed into this season.”

Barring any downfalls, expect the Wildcats to stay atop the standings. With that, Chinle is projected to earn the top seed in the 16-team Copper Division during next month’s state playoffs.

The Copper Division will feature the top 16 teams from the 1A, 2A and 3A conferences based on the overall AIA rankings.

“For us, this is a big surprise,” Chinle senior guard Qoah Yazzie said. “We really didn’t understand what the Copper Division was until our coaches talked to us. It kind of caught us off guard, but we’re looking forward to seeing what the competition brings.”

And while McCurtain appreciates the respect her team is earning, she does have some qualms about the new playoff system.

“I’m still learning about it, and I’m starting to not like it,” the Chinle coach said with a chuckle. “This new (format) will have the top 3A teams playing the top teams in 2A and 1A, and they do have some really good teams by the way. Some of them are still undefeated.”

Two of those unbeaten teams are 2A schools Miami (11-0) and San Carlos (12-0). In Tuesday’s Copper rankings, Phoenix Country Day (11-2) ranks No. 2 behind Chinle followed by Miami, Snowflake (10-2), Pusch Ridge (9-1) and San Carlos.

The Page Sand Devils (9-4) comes in at No. 7 followed by Valley Christian (11-1), Tuba City (8-4), Pima (10-1), Fort Thomas (9-2), Joseph City (12-1), Payson (12-1), Ganado (8-4), Fountain Hills (8-2) and Tombstone (9-1) at No. 16.

McCurtain would rather play the rivalries they have established in 3A as opposed to playing teams from the other divisions.

“Normally, that is what we expected to have, playing teams in our divisions,” she said. “We were feeding that to the girls throughout the spring and the summer. Now, we’re talking about a whole new division, and playing teams that we don’t know at all.”