3A girls hoops quarterfinals roundup

February 20, 2017 by Les Willsey, AZPreps365


 

Top-seed Valley Christian unwound in the second quarter Monday night and when it did No. 9 Window Rock's shot at an upset disappeared.

Buoyed by fancy shooting from three-point range and ultimately big games from seniors Megan Timmer and Bethany Wolph, Valley Christian hammered Window Rock, 78-56, in the last of the 3A girls basketball quarterfinals at Prescott Valley Event Center.

Valley Christian (24-3) advances to the semifinals Friday (Feb. 24) to face No. 4 Holbrook at 5:15 p.m. at Gila River Arena. Valley Christian defeated Holbrook five weeks ago, 69-37.  If Valley Christian wins the 2017 title it will have done so beating 3A North and 3A East schools. Window Rock saw its season end with an 18-13 record after two playoff wins over Northwest Christian and Safford. 

Valley Christian appeared to have a battle on its hands after escaping the first period with an 18-15 advantage. The Trojans committed seven turnovers and were able to lead thanks to four 3-point field goals in the quarter.

The Trojans got off just three 3s in the second quarter, but all of them found the bottom of the net courtesy of reserve guard Hailey Russell. Timmer added nine points in the quarter and she and Wolph finished the half with 11 points each. The Trojans lead ballooned to 43-25 at halftime.

"We came out a little nervous, too revved up," Valley Christian coach Scott Timmer said. "We called a timeout in the (first) quarter, and I think we settled down from there. We play best when we're having fun. That's the way we played after the first quarter."

Megan Timmer, who finished with 21 points, broke the school record for points in a career  at some point in the second quarter. The school record was formerly held by Jennifer Krupnik. Wolph poured in 26 points, making 5 of 12, three-point shots. Six different players sank threes for Valley Christian. As a team the Trojans made 12 of 22  three-point shots.

Window Rock was led by Asia James with 23 points and Domonique Chee with 14.

#3 CHINLE 46, #6 GANADO 42:  The Wildcats rallied from five points down in a frantic final five minutes to defeat the Hornets for the fifth time in five tries this season. Baa Nacona and Stacey Begay scored the tying and go-ahead baskets on consecutive three-point plays. Both players finished with 11 points. Quannah Ryan added 10 for Chinle (22-6). Ganado (21-10), which trailed 32-20 with six minutes left in the third quarter, used a run sparked by Jaelynn Curley to go up by five (37-32) with 529 left. Curley finished with a game-high 17 points. 

#4 HOLBROOK 46, #5 PUSCH RIDGE 34: The Roadrunners (26-5) continued a late third- quarter surge by outscoring the Lions 18-5 in the final period to reach the semifinals.

Junior Rayanna Wauneka scored all 12 of her game-high points in the second half to spark Holbrook's comeback from an 8-point third-quarter deficit. Madision Chappell added nine points and Elena Smith seven for Holbrook.

Ava Addleman led Pusch Ridge (26-3) with 9 points and sister Angel Addleman tallied 8 points. Pusch Ridge turned the ball over 24 times, including eight in the final period.

#2 PAGE 66, #10 TUBA CITY 34: Ariel Austin scored 11 of her 17 points in the third quarter as the Sand Devils broke away from a tight first half with Tuba City and pounded the Warriors. Page faces Chinle at 1:45 p.m. on Friday in the semifinals at Gila River Arena. Page   defeated Chinle in two previous meetings this season.

Jacey Salabiye and Natasha Henry also scored in double figures for Page with 13 and 11, respectively. Page outscored Tuba City 45-18 in the second half. Shenaira Sloan and Keisha Classay led Tuba City with nine points apiece.