Tuba boys stay in contention in 3A North race

BURNSIDE, Ariz. – Any chance they had, the Tuba City boys basketball team kept its 3A North Region game with Ganado at a frenetic pace.

That tempo helped the Warriors stay in contention for one of the top seeds in the conference race as Tuba City notched a 58-55 win over the Hornets on Saturday night.

“That’s our goal every time,” Tuba City coach Robert Blackhat Jr. said. “We don’t have any height, so we run. We don’t have guys that are 6-footers, so I told the guys that speed and shooting is going to get us up there.

“Of course, this was a region game, and we needed this win,” he added.

With the three-point win, Tuba City moved into a two-way tie for second in the 3A North race with Chinle as both team have amassed a 3-1 mark. Page leads the region with a 5-0 record.

On Wednesday night, Tuba City hosted Chinle in an important region game. Results for that contest were not available as the paper went to print. The two teams will have a rematch on Friday night at Chinle High.

“We played Page, and we lost by two,” Blackhat said. “We were up most of the game and it was a good game. Page has a good team and I like what coach Justin (Smith) is doing.

“He has a good program going on there,” he added. “Right now, I’m not looking at the standings. I’m just focused on game by game. I told my boys to not worry about the standings, just focus on our plays, focus on being positive and it’ll come.”

Against Ganado, the Tuba City coach mobilized his entire troops as all 13 players got action on the court with eight of them scoring.

“Bottom line, it came down to work ethic and utilizing my bench,” Blackhat said. “My starters actually came in as my second group tonight. Our second group got to start, and we did that in our last game with Hopi.

“My starters got to see a different view,” he added. “They watched the second group start and after that we were constantly rotating. We had fresh legs out there all the time and we pressed, pressed, and pressed.”

Senior guard Tyler Tsinnie led the Warriors with 13 points. Seven of those points came in the fourth quarter as his old-fashioned three-point play earned the Warriors a 56-50 cushion with 1:25 left.

“I saw that we were in the bonus, and I wanted to get to the rim,” Tsinnie said. “I made a spin move and I wanted to get (the defender) off of me. I went up strong and I got the fouled and it went in.”

The Warriors also received a dozen points from Koyan Saufkie.

Ganado, which led 13-2 in the early going, were paced by senior Kyren Todechine as he finished with 22 points on 9-of-15 shooting. Senior Keon White added 13.

Ganado coach Korey Curtis praised his team for giving Tuba City all they could handle.

“I’m proud of their efforts,” Curtis said. “Win or lose, that is what I look for personally.”

As a first-year coach, Curtis is hoping to rebuild the Ganado program that lost some core players off last year’s team that went 10-16 overall. Currently, the Hornets own a 2-14 record as the Hornets are looking for its first 3A North Region win.

“I feel grateful stepping into this position,” said Curtis, who initially applied to be the JV coach.

“One of the biggest challenge this year is just trying to rebuild the team,” he said. “This year we’re focused more on their efforts and work ethic. I believe that has to be the foundation of everything we do.

“We have to measure our success off of the little progress that we make,” Curtis added. “Our progress is going to be built off the effort. I think with us being so close, it shows that we’re improving.”

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