Grants girls stun Aztec
Rehoboth Lynx boys and girls capture victories

By Santiago Ramos
Staff Sports Writer

GRANTS — The Grants Lady Pirates pulled off a stunning 54-41 upset over No. 8 ranked Aztec Tuesday night at home.

In other area girls’ basketball action, Rehoboth outlasted Zuni 61-59 in overtime. In boys’ action, the Rehoboth Lynx defeated the Crownpoint Eagles 65-51.

Grants (6-7) will travel to Window Rock, Ariz., tonight for a makeup game with the Lady Scouts. The Lady Pirates will then host Shiprock Thursday and Wingate Saturday to cap off playing four games in five days.

“This was pretty special,” Grants head coach Tim Van Hecke said of his team’s biggest win of the season so far.

“I brought up a bunch (of players) from the JV and freshmen teams to fill in for those two injured players that we lost for the season. We got a little more patient tonight. We played real good defense, we pressed. We ran good offense and good defense. I thought we played great. It was our best game overall.”

Grants grabbed a 11-4 first quarter lead and enjoyed a 24-16 halftime lead. The Lady Pirates still led 35-27 after three quarters before putting the game away in the final period as junior forward Alyssha Garcia sank 5-of-6 free throws in the fourth for a surprising 13-point win over the No. 4 ranked Lady Tigers.

Junior forward Alyssha Garcia came off the bench and sparked Grants with 20 points and three treys. Junior guard Ashley Brito and junior forward Kelli Ann Moleres each chipped in 10 points. Moleres also had seven rebounds.

Sorrel Huntington led Aztec with 11 points with Shasta Rudder with nine.

Grants sank 9-of-13 free throws while Aztec made 3-of-10.

Rehoboth 61, Zuni 59 OT
Rehoboth Christian topped Zuni for the second time this season by a margin of two points.

In an earlier game, the Lady Lynx (10-5) nipped the Lady T-Birds 56-54.

This time the two teams were pushed to overtime.

Rehoboth took a 17-11 first quarter lead only to cling to a 22-21 halftime lead. The game was still close at 35-34 after three quarters with Rehoboth on top but it was tied at 59-all at the end of regulation.

In the overtime period, Amanda Upshaw and Lesley Eldridge each scored four points while Ariel Begay hit a trey for the Lady Lynx. Zuni’s DruAune Yuselew tallied six of her team-high 24 points in overtime while Sondra Tsethlikai scored three of her 11 points on her second of two treys.

“The team came through,” Rehoboth head coach Myron Postma said. “We’ve had a share of close games this season. We’re (playing) at the right level of competition.

We played hard, We executed. They did not give up.”
Rehoboth was missing three players who are out with injuries.

Eldridge led all scorers with 26 points which included nine in the fourth period for Rehoboth. Upshaw finished with 17 points and a pair of treys.

Yuselew led the Lady T-Birds with 24 points and one trey, Ally Romancito tallied 12 points along with a pair of treys and Tsethlikai had 11 points along with a pair of treys for Zuni.

“We had opportunities but costly turnovers and missed free throws killed us,” Zuni head coach Herrin Othole said.

Boys Lynx 51, Eagles 35
The Rehoboth Lynx pulled away from the Crownpoint Eagles for a 51-35 victory at the Rehoboth High School Gymnasium Tuesday night.

Josh Holwerda led the Lynx with 17 points, followed by Russ Kamps with 13, Casey Smith with 12 and Daniel Jaquez with six.

For Crownpoint, Jeremiah Jodie led the way with 18 points, while Calvin Morgan scored seven and Jerry Antonio added six.

Rehoboth travels to Tohatchi on Thursday night.