'We're a threat'

I n the small Gallup Catholic gymnasium, Frank Hale paced the waxed wooden floor.

When he yelled for a timeout his voice faded into the ocean of Gallup Catholic and Magdalena fans sporting green and maroon.

Hale wasn't nervous, he didn't even need to be heard over the sea of fans, but that's how it's always been.

With his team of 12 young women that make up the Lady Panthers basketball team, Hale has always found himself having to do little coaching.

Not because the players know everything but because they want to win so much that they often realize what their mistakes are and coach themselves through it.

"We run a motion offense," said Hale, Gallup Catholic's head coach. "You give them a few tools to work with, it gives the team a lot of leeway with decisions to make on the court."

The motion offense has given his team wiggle room to make mistakes and to learn from them, as they did in the District 6-1A championship game Feb. 28 when they defeated Magdalena, 51-46.

The Lady Panthers have won the district championship title for the last three years but are still waiting for that blue state championship trophy.

Gallup Catholic senior guard Lavonne Yazzie said she and the team will do everything they can to get it.

"I've been wanting this since my freshman year," Yazzie said. "It's just one of these games we wanted revenge so bad."

She said earlier in the season the team played in a mostly 1A tournament in southern New Mexico and defeated four of the top 1A teams in the state.

"We're better than the teams they (Magdalena) regularly play," Yazzie said. "Everybody knows we're like a threat."

Gallup Catholic also stripped Magdalena of an undefeated season, defeating the team nearly a week before the district championship to give them their first loss of the season.

"Magdalena has always been the team to beat in our district," Hale said. "When it came to the end of the season we've always had to compete with Magdalena for the district championship.

"We had to follow-up and defeat them again. In a way Magdalena's a good measure of where we are going into the postseason. It gives our team a lot of confidence going to the postseason."

Hale said with the help of leaders on the team like Yazzie and junior guard Chelsea Thomas, his hopes are high.

But there are some things that need work.

"There are sometimes when we get carried away with the run and gun," Hale said. "It's basically the kind of team we don't want to be. We try to do a lot of running, we like to push the ball...we can kick that ball to the outlet and quickly pass.

"If we can execute quick passes we can make a lot of quick scores that way," Hale said.

Yazzie brings her quick feet and fearless drives to the team, while Thomas is the point guard calling the shots.

Both know the game and what needs to be done to win.

"We all worked as a team, that's pretty much what got us the win," Thomas said. "We were talking about how we always want to come out strong, we all feel that we have a strong team this year, we feel we can win state."

The Lady Panthers host Carrizozo Friday at 6 p.m. in the first round of the state playoffs.

Kirtland Central 51, Shiprock 50

In the Kirtland Central victory over Shiprock, Lady Broncos head coach Charles Kromer said the game could have gone either way.

"Both teams came out in the third quarter and couldn't score," Kromer said. "It got down to the last quarter, we had a 13-point lead and they (Shiprock) made two to three three-pointers on us."

The Broncos swept the district with an undefeated record of 9-0.

Shiprock head coach Brady Rivers said he wasn't sure why his girls couldn't perform in the first three quarters but was pleased with their finish.

"We just didn't play a disciplined game, we looked kind of like we were just running around out there," Rivers said. "The first three quarters we honestly didn't play that well. Fourth quarter we just tore it up. We pulled the switch in the fourth quarter. I think the girls still have something to play for."

No. 4 Kirtland Central will host No. 13 Los Alamos on Friday at 7 p.m.

No. 6 Shiprock will host. No. 11 Albuquerque Academy on Friday at 7 p.m.

Crownpoint 53, Tohatchi 38

In the District 1-3A showdown, the Crownpoint Lady Eagles skunked the Tohatchi Lady Cougars with a 15-point win.

Crownpoint head coach Sherri Moore said she was proud of her team's performance.

"The biggest thing is we came out ready to play, we played the best first half of the season," Moore said. "It's a good feeling, but that's only one goal of the season."

Another goal is to win a state championship and they will start that effort on Friday when they host No. 11 Robertson at 6 p.m.

In other 3A action, No. 16 Wingate travels to No. Pojoaque on Friday at 6 p.m.; No. 12 Santa Fe Indian School travels to No. 5 Hope Christian on Friday at 7 p.m.; No. 13 Thoreau travels to No. 5 St. Michael's on Friday at 7 p.m.; and No. 14 Miyamura travels to No. 3 Lovington on Friday at 7 p.m.

Navajo Pine 52, Rehoboth 42

The Navajo Pine Lady Warriors' victory over Rehoboth for the District 1-2A title was what the team hoped for, said Navajo Pine head coach Janet Murrieta.

"We just made some changes on the defensive end, made some adjustments to their outside game," Murrieta said. "The girls stepped up and did their jobs.

"The last three minutes the girls played a prefect three minutes," she said, "they rebounded...made critical steals."

In Murrieta's 11 years as the head coach of the Lady Warriors, Navajo Pine has been runner-up five times but they finally won a district championship.

Navajo Pine hosts Coronado on Friday at 6 p.m.

Navajo Prep 98, Coronado 19

The Navajo Prep Lady Eagles completed District 2-2A with a record of 5-0 and the district title.

"It was good," said Navajo Prep head coach Rainy Crisp, "we just continued to play where we left off."

The Lady Eagles will host Rehoboth Lady Lynx on Friday at 6 p.m.

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