Lady Bruins 11th in Payson<br>

Payson — Hopi High School girls basketball team won two of four games to place 11th out of 20 teams at the Payson Tournament Dec. 27-29.

Gilbert edged Hopi, 80-69, in the opening round. N. Rodriguez topped Gilbert with 29 points and S. Kimby tossed in 22.

Cynthia Lee paced Hopi with 13 points and Hannah Honani chipped in with 10. Eudora Nodestine and Chassity Gould scored nine each.

Hopi’s Jvette Yoyokie scored five of her eight points in the opening quarter as the game was tied at 18-18. Rodriguez poured in 10 points in the second quarter as Gilbert pulled ahead 46-36 at intermission.

Kimby and Rodriguez tossed in a half dozen points each as Gilbert zoomed ahead 62-48 at the end of the third period. Nodestine netted five points in the final period as Hopi kept the score close.

In the second round, Hopi demolished Fountain Hills, 74-34. Honani led the Lady Bruins with 15 points, Yoyokie and Lee netted 14 each and Nodestine added eight points.

Honani poured in seven points in the opening quarter as Hopi grabbed a 19-13 edge. Lee fired in a dozen points in the second stanza as the Lady Bruins led 42-20 at intermission.

Yoyokie tossed in a half dozen points in the third quarter as Hopi zoomed ahead 58-25. Deidra Jones scored six points in the final quarter as the Lady Bruins coasted to the victory.

In the third round, Marcos De Niza beat Hopi 54-52 in overtime. Andrea Amos led Marcos De Niza with 18 points.

Yoyokie topped Hopi with a dozen points, Gould fired in 11, Honani netted 10 and Lee chipped in with eight.

Amos scored a half dozen points in the opening quarter as Marcos De Niza grabbed a 15-2 bulge. Honani and Gould scored three each in the second quarter as Hopi pulled within 25-14 at halftime.

Yoyokie poured in seven points in the third quarter as the Lady Bruins were behind just 33-31. Gould fired in seven points in the fourth frame as the Hopi tied the game 45-45 to send it into overtime.

Delaine Numkena scored four points and Lee three for Hopi in the overtime, but Amos led Marcos De Niza with four points to pull out the victory. Marcos De Niza hit five of six foul shots during the overtime period.

In the fourth round, Hopi edged Camelback, 53-52.

Yoyokie led the Lady Bruins with 15, Lee tossed in 11 and Honani scored 10. Rhapsody Forte topped Camelback with 20 and Sundae Moncrief added nine.

Lee scored the winning basket on an inbound pass from Honani with seven seconds left in the game. Camelback had a last second rushed shot that missed due to pressure from the Hopi defense.

Yoyokie scored six points in the first quarter as Hopi took an 18-15 edge. Lee tossed in five points in the second quarter as the Lady Bruins led 35-30 at halftime. Yoyokie and Honani scored four each in the third period as Hopi led 46-38.

Moncrief netted six points in the final quarter to lead Camelback’s comeback, but Lee’s late game heroics gave Hopi the victory.

Hopi High Coach Rick Baker said the Bruins didn’t play particularly well in the tournament, probably because leading scorer Mallory Shattuck didn’t play much because of an ankle injury. Shattuck averages 18 points per game.

“That threw our rhythm off. We missed our leading scorer,” he said. “Our defense also wasn’t as effective as usual due to the lack of practices during the holidays.”

Coach Baker said the tournament was good for his players as several players who don’t get much playing time were able to get more. He added that the two close games helped the players prepare for 3A North competition.

Baker noted that Hopi was out rebounded by taller teams during the tournament.

“We could have done better, but we held our own,” he said. “We’re the shortest team in the 3A North, so we need to learn to box out. But this tournament helped us prepare for the 3A North. We should be ready for conference.”

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