Wingate girls outlast Many Farms in overtime thriller

WINGATE, N.M. – In a topsy-turvy contest, the Wingate Lady Bears needed an overtime session to dispatch the visiting Many Farms Lady Lobos on Friday night.

The nondistrict contest featured three ties and three lead changes with Wingate coming on top with a 60-59 win.

“Ahh man, this game was really intense,” Wingate coach Lanette Johnson said. “Coming in, I knew Many Farms was going to be tough, so I’m really proud of what we did tonight.”

Wingate senior Morning Sky Iron Moccasin kept her team afloat as she scored 11 straight points during a six-minute stretch late in the contest.

The Wingate point guard scored six at the end of regulation and then she tallied all of the Bears’ five points in overtime.

“We kind of struggled in the fourth quarter,” said Iron Moccasin, who finished with a game-high 22 points. “We just kind of sat back, which we shouldn’t have. We should have kept playing hard, but I’m glad we got to see the ‘W’ because I think this is gonna help us get ready for the teams in our district.”

The Bears (9-4) opens District 1-3A play with Crownpoint (8-6) on Tuesday night. Tipoff is scheduled for 7 p.m. Earlier this year, Wingate defeated Crownpoint 57-44 during the Wingate Holiday Classic in December.

On Friday, the Bears got a key 3-pointer late in the third from junior sharpshooter Rhianna Begay for a 46-40 cushion. But the Lobos put together an 12-2 run to start the fourth.

Junior Keira Crosby scored the first six points as Many Farms opened up a 52-48 cushion with 3:06 in regulation after an inside shot from senior post Jillian Begay.

Wingate, however, leaned on Iron Moccasin as she tied the game at 55-all with a pair of free throws with 11 seconds left in regulation.

With enough clock to run one final play, the Lobos saw that opportunity go awry when they turned it over on a back court violation.

In overtime, the Lobos had 19 seconds left to win the ballgame, but Jillian Begay’s game winner came up a tad short as time expired.

“We were hoping for a backdoor basket,” Many Farms coach Kahia Lemothe said of the final sequence. “We had a play designed, and we were hoping to use a down screen backdoor, but they didn’t run it.

“Even in the first initial set,” she added, “they didn’t run that, so on the sideline, I was hoping that they just try and score.”

Earlier in the game, the Lobos ran that play to perfection as they earned a couple of easy baskets. But in crunch time, that play didn’t fully developed as Wingate eked out the one-point win.

“That just comes with experience,” Lemothe said. “None of my girls have been in that position before. We played Navajo Prep and Whitehorse in the (Chinle) Southwest tournament, and the same thing happened.”

In those two contests, the Lobos fell to Whitehorse (39-37) and Navajo Prep (43-41).

“It’s the smallest things, like having patience and having that game awareness that is hurting us,” the Many Farms coach said. “You can have all the talent and skills in the world, but if you’ve never experienced that or if you were never taught what to do in that situation, you really don’t know what to do.”

Despite coming up short, Lemothe appreciated the fight in her team as Wingate led 14-9 in the opening quarter. The Bears stretched that margin to 27-16 in the middle of the second period behind a 10-0 run

Many Farms, however, responded with its own 10-0 run as the Lobos trailed 27-26 at the break.

“They came out a little stronger than we did,” Lemothe said of Wingate. “That is not how we usually come out. They outplayed us in that first quarter and that played a huge impact in the fourth quarter.

“We didn’t start to show up until late in the first half,” she added. “I’m grateful that we showed up.”

Jillian Begay finished with a double-double for Many Farms as she scored 10 points and collected 13 rebounds.

“Even though we didn’t play our game, this was great competition for us,” Jillian Begay said. “Everyone on the team contributed and that is what I’m most proud of. “

The Lobos also had seniors Raelene Harvey and Abrianna Chato finish with 12 and 10 points, respectively.

For Wingate, Rhianna Begay complimented Iron Moccasin’s production with 19 points, which included three treys.

“To be honest, I was really scared of taking my shots,” Rhianna Begay said. “But my coach kept telling me to shoot and that gave me confidence. I had confidence in myself and that is why my shots were going in.”

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