Road warrior Pirate boys’ basketball team opens season with two wins

After dual four-hour bus rides to the four corners area to start off their first full season in over a year, the GHS boys basketball team pulled off a 44-37 victory over the Bloomfield Bobcats on Tuesday, November 23 and then went to put a dagger in the Aztec Tigers with a 75-47 on Monday November 29.

The Pirates who at one time led 16-2 fought a Bobcat comeback to get the win on the road. “There is tons for us to improve upon and work on, but a great start to the season,” said GHS head coach Landon Chavez.

Leading the Pirate assault in the Bloomfield game was senior Isaiah Hernandez who had an impressive 18 points, 12 rebounds and six put backs. Hernandez had just under half of the total Pirates points in his senior debut.

“We struggled against their zone defense as our shots weren’t falling. We also got into some foul trouble which has us going pretty deep in our bench,” said Chavez as he summed up the game.

Other Pirate high scorers were Colton Moore who chipped in six points followed by junior point guard Dominic Valdez with five points.

Monday, November 29, same road, different game, same outcome. The Pirates entered the Aztec Tiger den with visible energy that set the tone for the night at the beginning of the game. The first quarter ended with a 18-11 lead for the Pirates with three players having two points apiece. In the second quarter senior Colton Moore led the Pirate assault with eight points in the paint to make the halftime score 37-20.

“The game started real close as we traded baskets early on, and it was difficult to widen the gap. As we began to establish the post-game and move the ball we found some early success,” said Chavez of that first half. At the halftime Chavez emphasized with his players to not be satisfied and continue to be hungry.

The Pirates pulled away and established control in the third quarter as they out hustled and out rebounded the Tigers, outscoring them by 12 points in the third quarter and fourth quarter for the final 75-47 win.

Moore finished the game with 18 points and 11 rebounds. Isaiah Hernandez had 15 points; Joshua Canaba hit a trio of treys for his nine points of the night. Body Melonas and Nico Meira had six points apiece. Sophomore Isaiah Griego who hit two treys late in that second half in his varsity debut.

“We are still far from where we need to be both offensively and defensively; however, the effort has been there for both contests,” said Chavez. “This year’s team has some size, experience, and grit on both sides of the ball and that will hopefully lead to some success this season.”

Next game for the 2-0 Pirates will be their home opener against the Miyamura Patriots (0-1) who have just come off of a 1-point loss to Window Rock, 51-52.

Lady Pirates 0-1 after loss to Tohatchi

The lady Pirates put one in the loss column in their season opener against Tohatchi this past Tuesday on the road, 53-42. “The team had first game jitters. I think our defense was the better part of the game. Our offense struggled under the basket. We missed a lot of shots right under the basket,” said first year head coach Douglas “Dougie” Hickman of his season opener. “You can’t win if you can’t put the ball in the basket----that was our major contributing factor to our loss against Tohatchi.”

The lady Pirates trailed Tohatchi by 11 points as they went into the locker room, 29-18.

“We talked about finishing under the basket and continuing pressure of the guards,” said Hickman of his halftime talk with his team.

Senior Ebony Chavez was high scorer for the Pirates with 13 followed closely by Aubry Trujillo with 10 points and Skylar Charlie with five points.

“It was good to play Tohatchi. They were very competing, and they showed where we needed to work on,” said senior Ebony Chavez.

The lady Pirates will take on a familiar rival, the Bernalillo Spartans, on Tuesday November 30. “We are definitely working our shooting under the basket. We correct that, we will be a lot more competitive,” said Hickman of the game preparation.

The lady Spartans come in 1-0 after a 25-point win over the Moriarty Pintos last week.