3 Lady Bengals suspended indefinitely

By Santiago Ramos
Staff Sports writer

Telisha Joe yells for a play while matched up against Window Rock High School during the 33rd Annual Gallup Girls Invitational Nov. 29. [Photo by Daniel Zollinger/Independent]

KIRTLAND — A weary Gallup Lady Bengal head coach John Lomasney revealed that three starters — all-state senior guard Telisha Joe, senior forward Courtney Cowboy and senior guard Stevie Hudson — are ‘suspended indefinitely.’

“They broke team rules,” Lomasney said about the missing starters after Gallup lost its opening round game at the Kirtland Central Invitational Thursday evening. “It was a violation of team rules and they are suspended indefinitely. It might be for the season. I don’t know.”

Lomasney would not comment on what team rules that Joe, Cowboy and Hudson broke, but he did say that it did not happen during Gallup’s stay in Albuquerque last weekend for the Second Annual T-Mobile Invitational at the Pit.

Gallup lost both of its tourney games to No. 16 ranked Hampton 55-33 and to Chaminade-Julienne 60-48. Still, Lomasney was pleased with his team’s overall play against some of the country’s top girls high school teams that competed.

Considered one of the top senior point guards in the state, Joe, who played AAU ball this past summer in North Carolina, Oregon and Indiana, is a highly-sought-after player by several colleges and universities, according to Lomasney.

The 5-foot-6 Joe was an all-state selection last year and has been the team’s leading scorer the past two seasons. She is a gifted ball handler, shooter and defensive player, he said.

After being held to seven points in the Hampton game after getting in early foul trouble, Joe broke out in the Chaminade-Julienne game and tallied 20 points along with four rebounds, three assists and one steal.

Joe was the Gallup Invitational MVP last month, leading the Lady Bengals with a triple-double with 16 points, 11 rebounds and 11 assists during a 57-36 win over Kirtland Central in the tourney finals.

The 5-foot-5 Cowboy led Gallup in the Hampton game with a team-leading eight points and five boards. Though not one of the team’s top scorers, the 5-foot-5 Hudson plays a solid overall game for the Lady Bengals at one of the starting guard spots, currently hitting five three-pointers in Gallup’s victory over Sandia.

“Right now they’re suspended,” Lomasney said. “Right now they’re not coming back.”

Lomasney and the Lady Bengals were just recovering from the tragic killing of senior forward Brooke Spencer in June 2006. Spencer scored the go-ahead basket with 20 seconds left in the game in the 2006 state championship finals against Mayfield. Spencer died after being stabbed by her former boyfriend Phillip Notah during an argument three months after the state tournament. Gallup edged out Mayfield 39-37 in front of 16,000 fans at the Pit for its fourth state championship title. Spencer’s jersey No. 41 was retired during a special ceremony during the 2006 Gallup Invitational.