Navajo Prep picked up a key non-district win Saturday, beating the defending 4A state champion Kirtland Central Lady Broncos at the Eagle’s Nest.
"This is a huge game to build our confidence," said Navajo Prep head coach Rainy Crisp. "We were a whole different team tonight. Our main focus was our defense, and it paid off this evening."
Jasmine Coleman led the Lady Eagles with 12 points.
Prep opened the game with an 8-0 run, but Kirtland Central (6-15) recovered to take the lead and kept it until the final seconds. The Lady Eagles (10-9) banked in a 3-pointer to go ahead by a point with 12 seconds left in the game. Prep hit a pair of free throws after the Lady Broncos missed a shot with four seconds left to regain the lead.
"It was a good game and both teams played hard," said Lady Broncos' head coach Kevin Holman. "We just came up short. Give Prep credit, though, they came in fired up after they lost last night."
The Lady Broncos will continue their season at home against Piedra Vista on Tuesday in a big District 1-4A game.
Navajo Prep resumes its district schedule Tuesday at Rehoboth.
Tuba City, Ariz., 73, Shiprock 70 OT
After playing four games in five days, including two in Arizona, Shiprock simply ran out of gas when pushed to an overtime Saturday.
The Lady Chieftains lost for only the third time all season, falling to Tuba City, Ariz., 73-70 in overtime despite Taylor Henderson's 33 points.
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Shiprock led by four in the final minute of both regulation and overtime, but costly turnovers prevented the Lady Chiefs (16-3, 1-0 District 1-3A) from securing a win.
"After playing three games back to back to back, I couldn't have asked anything more from the girls. Winning three of these four games this week was huge," Larenson Henderson said.
Boys Basketball
Shiprock 76, Thoreau 44
The Chieftains opened District 1-3A play with a commanding 32-point victory.
Darryle Nelson and Kevin Aspaas led Shiprock (16-5, 1-0 District 1-3A) with 12 points each as the Chieftains defeated Thoreau 76-44.
"Thoreau played right with us in the first and third quarters, but we put it away in the fourth by only allowing them six points," said Shiprock head coach Chester H. Atcitty Jr.
Hiram Gleason added another 11 points and Justin Begay chipped in 10 in the win.
Atcitty was able to play his reserves in the fourth quarter, and he was pleased with their overall defensive effort in place of the starters.
"All of the guys are working hard for me, and I appreciate the work they are doing on defense," Atcitty said.
Shiprock will face a big home game against Bloomfield on Thursday.
"Bloomfield manages to control the tempo of the game really well. We can't let the tempo favor them," Atcitty said. "We have to get after them and make them earn it."
Bloomfield 57, Wingate 41
The Bobcats' district schedule got off to a great start will a dominate performance against against Wingate at home on Saturday night.
"Overall, we played pretty well, but got a little sloppy in the fourth quarter," said Bloomfield head coach Devon Manning. "We took care of the ball and didn't turn it over that much. We were patient and played good defense."
Ryan Johnson led the Bobcats (7-14, 1-0 District 1-3A) with 17 points.
Dustin Dugger chipped in 12 points and Michael Crockett added 10 for Bloomfield in the win.
The Bobcats will now prepare for their next district game on the road against Shiprock.
"We've been there once this year and know what we're going into," Manning said.
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