The Winslow Lady Bulldogs finished second in the Gallup Invitational Tournament held last weekend in New Mexico. The Lady Bulldogs defeated the Kirtland Central Lady Broncos 49-32 on Thursday, edged the St. Pius Lady Spartans 64-60 on Friday and lost to the host Gallup Lady Bengals 87-66 in the championship game on Saturday.

On Thursday the Kirtland Broncos led 14-12 after the first quarter only to see the Bulldogs shut them down completely in the second period and take a 26-16 halftime lead. Winslow still led 30-26 after three quarters and pulled away in the final period. Jayce Sangster and Ashley Johnson each scored 13, and Shandiin Armao tallied 12 for the Bulldogs. Kirtland Central was led by Shamika Benally with nine points.

On Friday the Bulldogs won a shootout with the St. Pius Spartans 64-60 that was tied at both the intermission and the beginning of the final period. St. Pius had led 12-9 at the end of the first quarter but the teams were tied 25-25 at the half and 41-41 after three quarters of play. Winslow outscored St. Pius 23-19 in the final period. St. Pius was led by Natalie Zamora, who led all scorers with 36 points. Armao led Winslow with 23 points, followed by Adrianna Singer with 11 points, Sangster with 10 and Kaelyn Bitsoi scoring nine.

In the championship game on Saturday Gallup dominated early on the way to a convincing victory. The Bengals led 29-17 after the first quarter and 51-38 at the intermission. Winslow made a good third quarter run and only trailed 61-58 going into the final period of play. The Bengals pulled away, though, outscoring the Bulldogs 26-8 in the final period. Kristen Quigley led all scorers with 25 points for Gallup, followed by Tilea Rayna with 18 and Cheyenne Livingston with 12. Armao led Winslow with 22 points, followed by Johnson with 13 and Bitsoi with 12.

The Gallup Tournament is traditionally one of the most competitive events on Winslow’s schedule and probably does much to prepare the Bulldogs for a run at a state championship.

The Bulldogs were slated to host the Holbrook Lady Roadrunners on Tuesday and will host the Chinle Lady Wildcats on Tuesday, Dec. 16. They will host the Winslow Winter Classic Tournament on Friday and Saturday, Dec. 19 and 20.