The Lady Lobos steamrolled their way through the Eastern Arizona College Holiday Basketball Invitational tournament going untested over five lesser opponents with their closest margin of victory being a 19-point win over Sahuarita.
The Lobos opened the tournament on the 18th with blowout wins over Morenci 73-15, and Dysart 67-11. Friday’s victories came over Sahuarita 43-24, and St. David 64-21. Their final game was a 56-32 win over Fort Thomas.
Prior to their tournament wins, they were definitely tested by Tuba City and their talented freshman player Layla Curtis. Snowflake led by 3 at the end of the first quarter and by 6 at the half. They extended their lead to 10 going into the final period where Tuba City quickly closed the gap to a single point before Snowflake prevailed 61-60 in what possibly could be an Open Division preview, although Tuba City fell to Window Rock later in the week.
Ryah Denhalter led Snowflake with 23 points. AJ Yarn added 15; Bryn Kupfer, 9; Harrli Nichols, 5; Ranell West, 4; Tayli Hancock, 3; and Josie Clare added 2.
Tuba’s freshman led all scores with 26 points, despite playing with foul trouble for much of the game. Jaylinn Acothley added 11, and Aubrey Begay netted 10.
Snowflake shot unusually well from the 3-point line making 6 of 9 attempts with Denhalter, and Yarn combining to go 5 for 5.
With their two tournaments now behind them the Lady Lobos enter the holiday break with an overall record of 15-1. That lone loss was against a good 5A Pueblo team by just three points in an early season tournament. They are 6-0 in regular season games and currently on a 12-game winning streak. They are the clear favorite in the east region as well as the 3A conference at this point in the season.
