Kirtland Central Leftovers

Kirtland Central's girls basketball team didn't sleepwalk through their season opener against 3A Thoreau, but their production wasn't special, either.

They attempted too many cross-court or high-risk passes into traffic, allowed a smaller Thoreau team to outrebound them in the second half and played matador defense late, letting the Lady Hawks dribble past them into the lane.

They also fouled too much out of their half-court trap, though they did a good job of maintaining aggression.

This team doesn't have the star power that headlined last year's group. They looked rusty, too.

But if they can progress throughout the season, KC has a chance to play better team ball than they did last year.

We'll see. The season just started.

Stats: The rebounding numbers are a bit misleading. KC outrebounded the Lady Hawks 21-9 in the first half before allowing Thoreau to return the deed 18-11 in the second.

The Lady Broncos curbed their careless tendencies in the second half, cutting their turnovers in half, 13-7.

Thoreau   Kirtland Central
Turnovers   31   20
Rebounds   27   32
2-pt FG   16-34   18-34
3-pt FG   2-7   8-21
FT   11-24   5-10
Fouls   13   20
Assists   8   19

Postgame thoughts: "I felt like at times we rebounded pretty well but I felt like at times we didn't block out like we should. Right down toward the end of the game, there's no reason for the other team to get a rebound like that on a free throw because you've got the inside position." -- coach Charles Kromer

"When they're up on full-court man, I think that's what we need to work on the most." -- Monica Yazzie

"I don't really think we played as planned, but, I mean, we won." -- Taradena Mitchell

Former player thrives: Last year's top player LaTeesha Nez is doing well at Gillette College. According to a report in the Gillette News-Record, Nez scored 19 and 25 points in her last two games for the 2-2 Pronghorns.

*****

Feel free to listen to 1620 AM tomorrow night (Tuesday) between 6 and 7 p.m.

I'll be joining Jason Quigley to talk a little BCS, Aztec football and more during the R Sports power hour.

Stay true and keep pounding,
Christopher