3A NORTH REGIONAL TOURNAMENT

BOYS

CHAMPIONSHIP

PAGE 53, CHINLE 45

Height advantage was the key for Page, as the Sand Devils were successful scoring put-backs en route to a 53-45 victory over the Chinle Wildcats  for the 3A North Regional Tournament boys' championship before a large crowd in the Wildcat Den in Chinle on Saturday.

Page 6-foot-9 junior post Stuart Sandall dominated inside the paint, pulling down rebounds.

Chinle head coach Raul Mendoza said it was a great team effort by the Wildcats. "But, we (Chinle) didn't do the job on the boards," Mendoza said. "Page had about 16 points on put-backs."

Page led, 13-11 at the end of the first quarter. The Sand Devils outscored the Wildcates, 13-11, for a 26-22 halftime lead.

Chinle netted 11 points and Page canned 10 points in the third quarter. The Sand Devils continued to lead, 36-33, at the end of the third quarter. Page tallied 17 points and Chinle scored 12 points in the fourth period.

Sandall poured 21 points and Gabe Gomez tallied 10 points for Page.

Chinle's Cooper Burbank lead all scorers with 22 points. Colin Yazzie added eight points for the Wildcats.

BOYS SEMIFINALS

CHINLE 87, KAYENTA MONUMENT VALLEY 83

Chinle's Cooper Burbank played with ice in his veins as the senior go-to guard was invincible throughout the 32 minutes of action.

Burbank canned four key free throws during the final 26-seconds of the game to help Chinle post an 87-83 victory over stubborn Kayenta Monument Valley Mustangs in a semifinal victory of the 3A North Regional Tournament in the Wildcat Den in Chinle on Friday night.

With 26-seconds remaining, the game was knotted at 83-83. Burbank was fouled and promptly connected with a pair of charity tosses for an 85-83 lead. With seven seconds left, Burbank was fouled. Burbank knocked down a pair of free throws for the four-point victory.

For the night, Burbank poured in 39 points.

"It was an outstanding individual performance by Cooper Burbank," said Chinle head coach Raul Mendoza. "With 39 points, it enabled the Wildcats to pull this game. I was pleased with Cooper's effort and the overall team effort in getting the win. Monument Valley is a very young talented team and we were very fortunate to pull it out."

Chinle's Kylen Yazzie tallied 18 points, followed by Colin Yazzie with 15 points and Curtis Begay with 10 points.

Topping Kayenta Monument Valley offensively was Albrandon Byjoe with 28 points. Andrew Sheppard added 24 points for the Mustangs.Simian Thinn and Latrell Maloney each tallied eight points.