CHINLE, Ariz. — The
Winslow (Ariz.) girls basketball team settled a score with red hot
Tuba City (Ariz.) on Saturday night.
Now the Bulldogs have another score to settle with the rest of the state.
Sophomore Shandiin Armao (40) scored
26 points and had 50 over her last
two games while leading Winslow to
a Section 1 title.
File photo by James Conrad
Before approximately 5,500 highly enthusiastic fans at Chinle High School's lavish and loud Wildcat Den arena, super sophomore
Shandiin Armao scored 26 points and Winslow outscored Tuba City 17-5 in the fourth quarter to escape with a 48-38 Division III Section 1 final.
Tuba City defeated Winslow 50-49 on Jan. 31 and actually after trailing the entire first half seemed to take control in the third quarter with a 12-2 run led by a pair of buckets by
Samytha Parrish and finished of with a steal, coast-to-coast drive and layup from
Ashley Lomavaya.
That gave Tuba City (25-7) a 30-26 with 3:45 left in the third.
But that's when the Bulldogs (23-5) clamped down on defense and then got its offense back in gear by Armao, a physical and skilled 5-foot-10 forward.
Winslow will no likely be the first- or second seed in Division III state pairings, which will be announced Sunday. The Bulldogs have won eight state championships and were runner-up nine times, including last season when Armao was a freshman.
Page defeated Winslow 46-38 in last year's state 3A title game before more than 8,000 fans at then Jobing.com Arena in Glendale.
"We definitely don't want to feel like we did last year (after the state finals)," Armao said. "It's all about finishing and that's what we did tonight."
The large crowd, almost evenly divided, watched Armao absolutely dominate in the first half as she scored 18 of her team's 24 points while taking a six-point advantage into halftime. Armao, considered one of the top sophomores in the state, was coming off a 24-point effort in a 59-44 win over Valley on Friday.
Tuba City, which was led by nine points from
Shiniya Henry, was energized in the third quarter but then hit a brick wall starting late in the third.
It went 6:37 without scoring a point and in the meantime, Winslow rattled off 10 straight, four by
Joe Marcella (10 points) and buckets each from Armao,
Mattea Begaii and
Laylane Benslow.
That essentially ended it. Winslow had a 41-33 lead with 2:50 left in the game then connected on 7-of-8 free throws down the stretch.
"Our defense was pretty relentless," Armao said. "Our coach (Jerron Jordan) really emphasizes defense and he instills it in us."
The Bulldogs did a superb job of mixing up zone and man-to-man defenses.
"We just settled down in the fourth quarter," Jordan said. "We stayed strong and we got stops. When Halle (Hayes), our best defender, fouled out, we needed other girls to step up and they did."
Winslow has had to regroup emotionally since a popular coach and figure on campus Becky Barris was killed in a one-person car accident last month. Barris was the school's softball coach and served as assistant basketball coach for many years.
Many of the Winslow players were very close to her.
"We're still healing," Jordan said. "The entire community still is healing. Becky was way more than a great coach, but a great friend and leader to so many people. Her loss has definitely taken a toll, but with each day we gain a little strength."
Armao said the team has drawn strength from the late coach.
"I feel she's looking down on us and encouraging us somehow," Armao said. "She was a great person. I wasn't as close to her as some of our girls, but she was always so encouraging to me. Always gave me a smile and a wave and let me know when I played a good game. She was just a great supporter and we'll miss her so."
