Sister act

 

N avajo Prep coach Rainy Crisp and her sister, Lady Eagle senior Nicole Crisp, have something extra to smile about.

Taking third place over the weekend in the Webb Toyota Girls Basketball Tournament, the Navajo Prep Lady Eagles pulled off a few surprises during the basketball tournament as well, utilizing strong pressure defense to make their point.

"Our defense was a big key (all weekend)," Rainy Crisp said. "We had good ball pressure from our guards, and our posts contained down low."

Earlier in the week, Nicole Crisp was named the player of the year in Class 2A volleyball and sister Rainy Crisp, who Nicole kind of drafted to step in as the volleyball coach as well as basketball coach for the Lady Eagles, was named the Class 2A coach of the year.

"It is an honor for both of us, for the coaches to decide on us," coach Crisp said.

"It's a good feeling that other people ... gave us this honor," Nicole Crisp said, adding that it was pretty cool for both of them to get it together especially since it was her senior year.

Losing two days earlier to Kirtland Central, the Lady Eagles knew they had their work cut out for them when they drew the Lady Broncos in the first round of the Webb Toyota Girls Tournament.

The Lady Eagles topped Kirtland Central in the first round, avenging the loss two days earlier, 39-26.

Navajo Prep took care of things early and was up 7-6 after one, and 18-8 at halftime behind seven points from both Nicole Crisp and Alexis Archambault.

Nicole Crisp scored six more in the third to counter Kirtland's Raquel Woody and the Lady Eagles held off Kirtland in the fourth for the win.

After losing to the eventual tournament champions Sheridan, Ark., in the second round, 56-43, Navajo Prep rebounded to snatch third place from Kearns, Utah.

After earning a narrow 14-12 lead in the first period, the Lady Eagles limited Kearns to just two points in the second for a 26-14 lead at the break.

"It was pretty fun actually," said Lady Eagle point guard Bridgett Becenti. "We came together and played as a team. We all clicked as a team. Our defense really helped up."

The Lady Eagles continued to dominate in the third quarter, outscoring Kearns 15-5. Kearns had a late run in the fourth quarter, but it wasn't enough as the Lady Eagles took home the third-place trophy, 49-34.

Marqia Begaye, with six points in the first and nine points in the third period, led the Lady Eagles with a game high 21 points.

"I liked the competitiveness of the other team," Begaye said. "Our defense and rebounding was the most important part of our game. They were a big team and good ball handlers."

Morgan Younger led Kearns with 16 points.

Championship: Sheridan 70, Durango 68

The title match in the Webb Toyota Girls Invitational Tournament was a rematch three years in the making.

Three years ago, Durango edged Sheridan for the tournament title. Three years later, the Lady Yellowjackets made a return trip to the Four Corners, only this time it was Sheridan edging out Durango, 70-68, for top honors.

The Lady Yellowjackets looked to have things well in hand after the first eight minutes, topping Durango 20-12 in the first quarter.

Sheridan coach Rick Treadway knew that Durango scoring star Katerina Garcia was going to heat up Saturday night at Scorpion Gymnasium.

"We knew we couldn't stop Garcia, but we had to slow her down," he said. "We hit some shots down the stretch. I kept telling the girls Durango has another run. That they needed to take care of the ball and come meet your passes. That if they missed their shot to go and get (the ball)."

The Lady Yellowjackets, who had a player (No. 4 Mycah Love) stuck like glue to Garcia for the entire game did that just long enough -three quarters - to win by two.

Treadway said he told his girls to deny Garcia the ball as much as possible and when she passed it not to let her give it up, showing just how much respect Treadway had for the Lady Demon shooter.

However, Garcia scored 14 points in the fourth including three treys and a three-point play. Garcia hit two fade-aways during the final minutes that put Durango within a basket of taking the title for a second time.

Fortunately for the Lady Yellowjackets, they had built a big enough lead that when Garcia scored 14 of her 21 points in the game it wasn't enough, even though Durango outscored Sheridan 25-16 in the period with Abby McKeever adding two more treys of her own.

"We played a hard second half," McKeever, a sophomore, said. "We needed to come out and play like that in the first half. We stepped up the intensity. We came out and hit a three and got some stops."

Lady Yellowjacket Lauren Sweeten, a sophomore, proved to be the go-to player for Sheridan. A perfect 5-for-5 from three-point range and pouring in a game-high 27 points, Sweeten came up big for a Sheridan team that downed eight treys on the night.

"It makes me feel good to know I was there for my team when they needed me," Sweeten said. "I haven't been doing that good lately, and to know that I have a team that has my back really helps me out a lot."

Sheridan came out firing right from the beginning, forcing five early turnovers by Durango and earning an 8-2 lead and was up 20-12 after one.

Durango tried to close the gap in the second behind two treys from McKeever, who finished with five on the night, and one from Morgan Gurule, but it wasn't enough as Callie Griffith and Lauren Sweeten both knocked down two treys apiece.

After Cecily Houston led the Sheridan charge in the first quarter with six points, it was Sweeten's turn in the second. The 5-foot-5 guard buried two treys, and scored 10 of the Yellowjackets' 22 points in the quarter to lead the Lady Yellowjackets to a 42-32 lead at halftime.

"You can't put yourself in a 10-point deficit at halftime," Durango coach Mary Psenda said. "We started attacking the basket in the second half, but we should have been attacking the basket from the beginning."

The third period was a more even match up with Durango pulling off three put backs.  Sheridan led 54-43 after three, before Garcia and the Lady Demons went off for 25 points in the fourth, making it a two-point game down the stretch.

However, in the fourth the Lady Demons gave Sheridan a few to many chances to score with the clock stopped as the Lady Yellowjackets scored their final six points from the charity stripe.

5th place: Kirtland Central 55, Farmington 27

For the Lady Broncos, Jessica Benally knocked down 20 points, while Nikki Ford and Darla Woody each added 10. Kirtland, up 26-20 at halftime, started the second half with an 18-4 run to put the game away, 55-27.

Patience Benally led Farmington with 12 points as Farmington managed only three field goals in the second half, and struggled from the outside hitting just one three-pointer in the contest.

7th place: Fruita (Colo.) 53, Tohatchi 49

 In the seventh-place game, Taylor Johnson scored 14 points as Fruita knocked off Tohatchi, 53-49.

Shelby Capitan scored a game high 24 points for the Lady Cougars.

All-tournament team

Katerina Garcia of Durango was named most valuable player.

Named to the all-tournament team were: Calliee Griffith, Sheridan; Nicole Crisp, Navajo Prep; Jessica Benally, Kirtland Central; Cecily Houston, Sheridan; Lacey Clary, Sheridan; Taylor Johnson, Fruita; Christen Lopez, Kearns; Neely Surmeier, Durango; Morgan Gurule, Durango; and Monique IronShell, Navajo Prep.

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