SPORTS

N.M. girls Class 2A state tournament

Navajo Pine 'believes' to win 1st state title

By Quentin Jodie
Navajo Times

ALBUQUERQUE, March 18, 2011

It has been a season of firsts for the Navajo Pine girls' basketball team.

It all started with first-year coach Aretha Mariano using the same philosophy her predecessor Derrith Watchman-Moore used during her one-year stay two seasons ago.

In truth, both coaches saw potential in their teams, but what the team lacked was a good work ethic.

"When we first got here there was no structure and the girls felt that they didn't need to practice," Mariano once said.

But that all changed with a little discipline as Navajo Pine made a run in last year's Class 2A state playoffs and reached the tournament finals with three seniors.

So with a majority of the players back, the Warriors did the unthinkable and unseated the top-ranked Texico Lady Wolverines 45-41 in the March 11 championship game at The Pit before a sold-out crowd that was blanketed with fans waiting for the Gallup and Kirtland Central match-up.

"It means a lot to our small community," Mariano said of Navajo Pine's first girls state basketball title. "We were here last year. This was our goal, but we just kept quiet about it. We had it in the back of our minds. This was our dream. We've done something that nobody's done before."

The game was a rematch of last year's finals where the Wolverines ran away with a decisive 55-40 win. And just like last year, the Warriors were giving up a lot of size, but in the postgame interview Mariano was quick to point out the difference.

"I believe this year the girls were more conditioned than last year," Mariano said. "I think if we were a little more conditioned last year we could have won, so coming in as a new coach the girls did a lot of running."

But for the first five minutes, it appeared Texico was about to do the same as they raced out to an 11-2 lead behind six points from 6-2 sophomore post Shaylee Anderson, who led all scorers with 17 points.

But after getting over the initial "wow" moment, the Warriors responded in a big way with a 20-4 run. Sophomore guard Demetria Clichee got a rare stick back and Cinandre Dolfin followed with a trey to cut the deficit down to 11-7 heading into the second.

"We couldn't give up that early in the game so we had to believe in ourselves," Dolfin said. "Believe was our main factor in our victory today."

In the second quarter, Kyleigh Thompson then took over the offense as the junior sharpshooter nailed back-to-back treys to tie the contest at 13 - all with six minutes to go until the half.

Thompson later added another deuce as Navajo Pine took the lead for good at 15-13 before they settled for a 22-17 halftime cushion.

"We were down nine points and Kyleigh hit two three-pointers and that brought us back," Mariano said. "After that we had the confidence and that's when we said we could do it."

While Navajo Pine seemed to thrive on the offensive end, it was their defense that picked up in the last 10 minutes of the half. Texico, who came in as the heavily favorites with seven state crowns, coughed up 14 of their 20 turnovers in the first half.

"You have to give Navajo Pine a lot of credit," said Texico coach Keith Durham. "They did an excellent job of running their offense and they took advantage of every little mistake we made. It seems they turned into two or three points.

"They bothered us defensively just like last year," he added. "They're pesty, they're a bunch of pests out there. When you don't have the basketball up they don't make it easy to make the next pass or dribble or do whatever."

It was more of the same in the third quarter as the Warriors continued to bother Texico's tempo as they held them to seven points while Dolfin and Clichee combined for 10 points for a 34-24 advantage heading into the fourth quarter.

But at the start of the fourth the Wolverines closed the gap to three points, 34-31, on a 7-0 run with 6:32 left to play - Anderson scored five of those points.

Soon after that, Navajo Pine gained a 38-33 cushion as Clichee put in four of her team-high 15 points.

After a time out, Texico coach Durham decided to put Navajo Pine at the line and that almost worked as the Warriors only made 3-of-7 free throws in the next four minutes and the lead cut down to 43-41 after Jordyn Cooper, who scored 15 total points, hit back-to-back treys with 49 seconds left in regulation.

In the waning moments, however, Navajo Pine iced the game with Dolfin and Chelsea Yazzie hitting 1-of-2 free throws down the stretch for the 4-point win.

"We had the mentality of being strong," Yazzie said while noting that they had to grab every rebound to even have a chance.

Back to top ^