The Winslow girls participated in the Gallup Invitational Tournament over the weekend. The Lady Bulldogs were without their frequent leading scorer, Jayce Sangster, which hurt them in all of their contests. The Bulldogs lost all three games in the tournament, all by close margins, dropping their record to 3-5 for the season.
This tournament has long been an important event in building a successful team for the Bulldogs, thanks to the top quality teams they play there. Cleveland, which defeated Winslow in the first game, defeated Kirkland Central 45-31 and lost to Gallup 62-61. Gallup beat Miramura 75-32 and was undefeated at 6-0.
On Thursday the Lady Bulldogs lost a heartbreaker to the Cleveland Storm of Albuquerque 52-50. Winslow led 9-8 after the first quarter, but the Storm came on strong in the second period and held a 25-15 lead at the half. The margin was a still formidable 43-34 after three quarters. Winslow rallied, but fell short by a mere two points in the final period.
Cleveland shot the foul shots well and had a 16 point lead in the second half before Winslow battled back to have a chance to win. Winslow reserves had to play well to make it a close contest. Danielle James had a good game for Winslow with 24 points.
On Friday the Bulldogs lost 62-58 to the Grants Lady Pirates, who came into the game 0-2 after losing to Kirkland in their first tournament game. Winslow started strong and had a 17-11 lead after the first quarter. Grants rallied to take a 29-27 lead at the half. Winslow came back and took a narrow 45-42 lead into the final period, but Grants came back in the final period to claim the victory. Free throw shooting was vital for the Pirates. Haley Hall led all scorers with 17 points for Grants. Destiny Chavez was also in double figures for the Lady Pirates. James led Winslow with 15 points and Justine Butterfield scored 13.
On Saturday the Lady Bulldogs met the Tohatchi Lady Cougars, who were also 0-2 in the tournament, and lost 65-56. Tohatchi got off to a good start and led 18-8 after the first quarter. Winslow came back in the second period and took a 29-23 lead into the locker room at halftime. Winslow led 40-32 going into the final period. Tohatchi came back in the fourth quarter to capture the victory. Butterfield led all scorers with 21 points for Winslow. Jenna Yazzie added 12 and Adrianna Singer had 11. Tohatchi had three players in double figures, Cheyanne Begay with 18 points, Tyna Johns with 16 and Dalene Mitchell with 13.
The Winslow girls were slated to be at Estrella Foothills Tuesday evening while the boys entertained the Estrella Foothills Wolves.
