Tohatchi smothers SFIS, takes home trophy
Badonie leads with 12 points, 7 assists
Behind a ferocious defense that absolutely stymied Santa Fe Indian School, Tohatchi on Friday claimed its second Class 3A girls state title with a 46-24 victory.
After the No. 3 Braves (23-8) scored the game’s first bucket, they didn’t score again for more than nine minutes as the fourthseeded Cougars (24-9) went on a 14-0 run.
The margin crept back into single digits midway through the third quarter at 22-13 after an 8-2 Indian School run. But Tohatchi promptly followed with a 20-2 run to put the game away.
“Here’s what happened,” Braves coach Teri Morrison said. “We didn’t score the ball and they did. And they are on a roll. That’s momentum. That’s what March Madness is about. That’s what the state tournament is about. And I give them great credit. Their coach does a great job. Their kids were fired up. Their community was.”
Indian School went 10-of-45 (22.2%) from the field and had just five first-half points until hitting a 3-pointer with 22 seconds left before the break.
“At this level, obviously, they’re a great team, they’re in the state championship game,” Tohatchi coach Tanisha Bitsoi said. “But to hold a team to five points says a lot about us defensively and how hard they worked because they wanted it so bad.”
For Brooke Badonie, who was injured for the bulk of last season and suffered her own shooting woes against the Braves in a 2022 semifinal loss, this was sweet redemption.
“I’m just happy that we were able to come together the end and come through as a team. This feels so much better than last year.”
Still, the Cougars had their ups and downs in 2022-23.
“This is very emotional,” Bitsoi said. “We’ve gone through so much this season and this opportunity presents itself for them.”
Battling through adversity helped prepare the team for the state championship, she said.
“I’m just full of emotions,” Bitsoi said. “Teams go through different things. It’s just within our group. The young ladies know. It’s something that’s done with. They battled through and stuck together. All season we’ve just stressed that if we stuck together as a team, we can do incredible things together.”
And that indeed did come to fruition, Bitsoi said.
“We watched their game (Thursday) night against Navajo Prep and I felt like if we could put our pressure on them, that if the girls played with urgency and effort that we normally play with on our press, I felt like they would be vulnerable to turn the ball over. We came in with that mindset and that game plan and the girls executed it to its fullest potential.”