Bruin boys beat Camp Verde at home 78-60<br>

The Cowboys came charging back in the third period. About halfway through the quarter, Lomayestewa connected on a trey as Hopi led 46-27. Freeman responded with a four-point-play, Thompson sank a foul shot and Lewis put in a layup as Camp Verde pulled within 46-34.

Schjang interrupted with a layup, but Lewis canned a trey and Thompson hit another trey with four seconds left in the third quarter as the Cowboys came within 48-40. Freeman and Thompson netted 10 points each for Camp Verde while Schjang scored a half dozen for Hopi in the third.

Hopi put the game away by starting the fourth quarter with a 14-2 spurt. Adams hit a trey and Schjang sank two layups as the Bruins pulled ahead 55-40.

Hicks interrupted with a layup but Hopi ran off another eight points: Adams and Wise both drained treys and Suetopka sank a rebound shot as Hopi zoomed ahead 63-42 with 5:45 left in the game.

Hopi put any thoughts of a comeback away with another 8-2 spurt. Adams hit a jumper, Schjang sank a free throw, Wise nailed a trey and Suetopka sank a layup as Hopi led 71-46. Camp Verde never came closer than 18 points after that.

Momentum’s role

Hopi High Coach Mark Hall said the Bruins played a complete game except for a four-minute spurt in the fourth quarter. He said his players don’t understand momentum yet. He said a four point play by a Camp Verde player, coming on the heels of a three point shot, almost let Camp Verde back in the game.

“We can’t power other teams,” he said.

Coach Hall acknowledged that his team can score points quickly, but can also give up a lot of points quickly. He said learning how to deal with momentum will come with experience.

Hall said his team needs to learn two lessons. First, when an opponent throws a diamond and one defense at them to stop Schjang that other players needs to step up.

Second, he said the Hopi players need to learn how to play with a lead. He said they gave up points quickly in the third quarter because they became lackadaisical and weren’t getting out to cover the outside shooters.

Coach Hall said the Hopi defense wasn’t bad as they did a good job of covering the lane and shutting down the Camp Verde offense in the first half. Hall praised Adams for hitting key shots in the fourth quarter to put the game out of reach. He said Suetopka had his best game and Timms is a natural rebounder.

“Our top seven players played pretty well,’ he said.

Coach Hall said Lomayestewa played well in place of Harry Kisto III. He said Adams and Honanie took turns playing well.

Hall said Schjang continues to amaze him.

“He knew when to shoot the ball and he knew when to kick it out. A lot of high school players don’t know that, and they’ll just force it,” he said. “Schjang always amazes me and tonight was no different.”

Now, Coach Hall said the Bruins just have to play themselves into shape.

Lady Bruin action

Amy Showers showed why she was the 3A West Player of the Year last year. Showers scored 12 points in the second half including 10 in the final quarter as Camp Verde edged Hopi, 49-43, in the girls game.

The Cowgirls won their first game of the season while Hopi dropped to 1-1.

For Camp Verde, Rochelle West fired in 10, Dana Reilly netted nine, Morgan Boler tossed in eight, Laura Lo Oros added a half dozen and Amelia Alston scored four.

Hopi’s Deidra Jones topped all scorers with 17 points, Nadia Nelson netted eight, Savanna Anderson tossed in seven, Tracy Honani added five, Whitney Begay scored four and Terra Morgan had a deuce.

Jones scored five in the first and Reilly countered with three for Camp Verde as the score was tied at 7-7. Jones poured in seven points in the second quarter, but Alston and Boler had four each for the Cowgirls. Hopi led at intermission 22-21.

Williams opened the third quarter with a three point play to give Camp Verde a 24-22 edge. Nelson responded with a jumper and a layup as Hopi led 26-24. Lo Oros tied it with a layup but Jones put Hopi ahead with a foul shot. Lo Oros sank another layup, but Jones and Begay sank layups as the Bruins jumped back ahead 31-28.

After the teams exchanged baskets, Williams and Showers sank layups as Camp Verde moved ahead 34-33 going into the final quarter.

Neither team scored for the opening two minutes of the final period. Showers then hit a short jumper, but Begay hit a layup to keep Hopi within one point.

Camp Verde then put the game away with eight straight points: Showers hit a foul shot, Boler sank two layups, Showers hit three foul shots and another layup as the Cowgirls zoomed ahead 44-35.

Riley hit a trey to put Camp Verde up 47-37. Anderson hit a trey and Nelson had a three point play as Hopi pulled within 47-43 with 1:29 left in the game, but the Lady Bruins weren’t able to score after that.

Hopi High Coach Gwen Grant said the game started out well.

“Our girls did pretty well considering the few amount of practices we’ve had,” she said. “Defensively, they did a pretty good job against a team that’s quick and quite a bit taller. We stayed with them.”

Coach Grant said Hopi can do a better job rebounding and needs to work on boxing the opposition out.

She said offensively that the players need to learn more patience.

Grant said Jones played well both offensively and defensively.

“She sparked us inside and that helped us from the outside,” she said.

(Stan Bindell, former Observer editor, is journalism and radio teacher at Hopi High School.)

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