Shiprock rallies past Hope for title
Lady Chieftains win after trailing by 15
The Pit rarely is more alive than when one of New Mexico’s Navajo Nation schools takes the stage, and the venerable building was at full throat Friday afternoon as one of the state’s most revered programs returned to the top of the summit.
No. 2 seed Shiprock trailed Hope Christian by 15 points midway through the third quarter, but, propelled by pressure defense, timely 3-pointers and near-perfect free-throw shooting down the stretch, the Lady Chieftains rallied to upset the top-seeded Huskies 47-42 in the Class 4A girls state championship game.
A crowd of about 12,000 saw Shiprock (26-5) win its first blue trophy in 15 years and sixth overall.
“I’m really overwhelmed with emotion,” Lady Chieftains coach Larenson Henderson said.
Shiprock four times this decade had reached the finals, only to fall short, including last year to Hope. The Lady Chieftains all but willed themselves to this title, with 95 percent of a jam-packed Pit urging them on.
“We all stuck together like a family, and that’s exactly what we are,” senior guard Melanie Secody said.
As the Huskies (28-3) set out to win a third consecutive title, everything was on track for them, with Hope Christian leading 33-18 with 3½ minutes left in the third quarter following Alivia Lewis’ three-point play.
Shiprock went on a 9-0 run to end the quarter, starting with Tayya Dale’s 3, and ending with a tough shot off the glass by Paige Dale, and shaved the deficit to 33-27 starting the fourth quarter.
“We didn’t give up,” said senior guard Tanisha Begay, who led Shiprock with 22 points, including 10-for-11 from the line.
The Lady Chieftains eventually caught and passed Hope with 3:46 remaining, but the Huskies regrouped momentarily and led 40-38 with 2:10 to go.
Paige Dale’s 3 with 1:09 left put Shiprock in front again, and this time it stayed there, largely because Secody was 6-for-6 from the line in the final 30 seconds, and because Shiprock also turned Hope over twice in the final seconds.
“The pressure we put on Hope in the fourth quarter really rattled them,” Henderson said. This was Shiprock’s largest deficit overcome this season.
“I didn’t think we were capable of pulling it out,” Henderson admitted. “For these girls to pull it off like that, overwhelms me.”
Hope Christian had won 18 games in a row before Friday, including a mid-January win at home over Shiprock.
“I think it was pretty simple,” Hope coach Terry Heisey said after his final game with the Huskies after 25 years. “They made some big shots, we made some critical errors, and we did get a little bit fatigued.”
Lewis finished with 16 points and 15 rebounds for Hope. Hanna Valencia added 10 points and seven rebounds.
Shiprock was 9-of-10 from the line in the fourth quarter and made 10 more free throws than Hope did in the game.