Window Rock Lady Scouts blow out Camp Verde, fall to Bourgade in state second round

Sophomore Melicia Nelson of the Window Rock Fighting Lady Scouts emerged as a versatile player coming off the bench. Nelson is a consistent scorer from the guard position. (Photo/OPVP)

Sophomore Melicia Nelson of the Window Rock Fighting Lady Scouts emerged as a versatile player coming off the bench. Nelson is a consistent scorer from the guard position. (Photo/OPVP)

WINDOW ROCK, Ariz. — After starting the basketball season having to forfeit three of its games due to an ineligible player, the Window Rock Fighting Lady Scouts could have thrown in the towel and sulked.

But they didn’t. And, superstar senior guard Robey Talkalai certainly didn’t. Talkalai has emerged as a player of the year candidate in Arizona 3A.

Although the team ultimately fell to Bourgade Catholic, 51-47, Feb. 18 in the 3A State secound round, the Lady Scouts proved Feb. 11 that they were a team to be reckoned with after a convincing 66-11 first round victory over Camp Verde (13-15, 4-6).

The Lady Scouts (12-13, 5-6) were coming off a 58-45 3A regional loss to Chinle (17-12, 7-6) just 24 hours prior.

“This was Rez ball,” Camp Verde head coach Mark Showers said. “I told my team before the game that this will be a team like you’ve never seen before. They will be tough. They will be scrappy and they will hustle and fight for everything. I anticipated this.”

Talkalai got Window Rock on the board early and often. And senior shooting guard Mikaela Roanhorse was deadly and constantly in motion to set up Talkalai and teammates for points. When Roanhorse wasn’t setting screens and picks, she was hitting jumpers with ease.

Window Rock started the game with a very fluid offense, with the versatile Talkalai scoring the first seven points of the game.The Cowboys seemed baffled at how to defend Talkaili. And by the time they did figure things out, Roanhorse and senior guard Melisha Nez were getting warmed up.

Then there was senior guard Caitlin Belone who scored on a short jumper in the first quarter to put the Lady Scouts up 10-2. Unfortunately for Camp Verde, Showers words of caution proved true.

The rout was on. The first quarter ended with Window Rock leading 29-2 and on a right side drive by Nez, who has become the secret weapon of the Lady Scouts. That means if opposing teams concentrate on stopping Talkalai and Roanhorse, Nez ends up with points from everywhere.

“The forfeited games really didn’t hurt us mentally,” Window Rock head coach Gabrielle Whitney said. The Lady Scouts forfeited games against Miyamura, Saint Michael and Tohatchi. “I talked to the girls. We accepted it and moved on.” Continuing, Whitney said, “In this game, we played good defense and were very smart in our shot selection.”

Sophomore Melicia Nelson saw considerable game minutes and made the most of it. Nelson let people know that she’s for real, hitting a 3-pointer at the close for the first half and causing damage on the offensive and defensive ends for Camp Verde.

The Cowboys tried to run a regular offense, but junior guards D’ana Aranzamendi and senior guard McKenna Martin were just finding it hard to get open shots. Aranzamendi ran the point, but could not find open teammates often enough.

Whitney emptied the bench toward the end of the second quarter, clearly to give the starters some rest for might be an interesting playoff run. “If they keep playing like this, they can go a long way,” Navajo Nation President Jonathan Nez commented. Nez was court side the entire game.

The third quarter began with Window Rock leading 43-7. At one point midway through the third quarter, the Lady Scouts were up 56-9 with Nelson still diving and hustling Window Rock to even bigger leads.

Talkalai finished with 19 points and Roanhorse recorded 11. Nelson scored 9 points and was a terror in hustling for loose balls and setting picks and screens. Martin scored six points for Camp Verde.

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