Earning respect

It wasn't just a dream.

The Thoreau Lady Hawks defeated then-No. 1 Kirtland Central, 42-40, in the semifinals of the Lady Bronco Invitational.

They made it to the championship game and earned the respect they had once longed for.

It was what Thoreau head coach Valerie Antone told her team would happen if they worked hard.

"The things that I know that we needed to work on was a lot of fundamentals," Antone said. "Ball handling, passing, shooting, defensive drills, boxing out, rebounds. We've been working really hard in practice trying to make sure it's a team effort and a team goal."

Antone was previously the boys' basketball head coach for Thoreau and decided to take on a new task this year by coaching the girls.

 "I knew that the girls had a lot of skills and a lot of potential, and I knew that I had seen in them that they wanted to push themselves," she said. "They just needed extra guidance and making sure they pushed themselves in every game, every practice to have someone there to make sure they stayed on course."

Ten of the 11 players are seniors.

Christina Sanders, a senior, said it wasn't hard for the team to pick up on what Antone had to say. Sanders said they knew what she wanted and they had an automatic respect for her.

"She told us the past game she seen we had talent but it wasn't put to use," Sanders said. "Defensively we made a lot of improvements. She's been mostly working on the fundamentals. The little things are what matters the most, that's what she's been focusing on the most.

"She's a tough coach," she said. "It's not like we're scared of her and the respect is there."

Antone said is pleased with the team's performance but they could be a lot better.

"We still need to work on our ability to mentally, emotionally handle the pressure of tough games," she said. 'Whether it's tough meaning it's a bigger school, a lot more talented or if it's just big games, close games at the end. Those are the things we walked away from especially this past weekend. I'm very impressed with what they've done so far."

The Lady Hawks showed their improvement and weaknesses at the Webb Toyota Lady Bronco Invite last week.

They came out a little sloppy in game one against Taos, but they pulled through with a 42-17 win. Then came the big win against Kirtland where they jumped ahead early and followed through with the victory. Then onto the championship game against Shiprock, where the Lady Chieftains defeated the Lady Hawks, 52-26.

It was a wakeup call for both Thoreau and Kirtland Central but mostly for Thoreau.

They learned that they needed to finish the job and how important it was to remain focused.

"I think overall what they hopefully have walked away from is that we have such great potential," Antone said. "That we have all the ingredients to come out on top.

"It was a confidence booster but winning the game against Kirtland was great," she said. "But when we came back against Shiprock and it just showed once again the things we need to work on."

Serina Yazzie, a senior, said playing in the tournament was an eye opener for her. She said though they got a big win against Kirtland the tournament was simply practice for something bigger.

"When we played Kirtland we were focused, basically we all played with our hearts," she said.

 "One thing I told the girls was people respect you girls as players, they respect that you wear the uniform," Antone said. "I love what I'm doing with these girls. I love spending time with them I love seeing them develop, not just as players but as individuals."

 "She pretty much motivated us more because she teaches, she made us look beyond what basketball is used for and how it would help you later in life," Miller said. "We felt like we had no respect but now we earned it, or I hope we did."

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