Shiprock-Kirtland District Championship Extras

Shew. It's 10:26 p.m. and the paper has been gone for 26 minutes. Our deadline was 90 minutes early today, which precluded quotes in my game story for the District 1-4A boys basketball championship.

The game in Shiprock ended after 8:30 p.m.

I've seen a handful of packed, emotional games at Broncos Arena and The Chieftain Pit. I'm not a historian of the rivalry by any means, but with my limited experience, tonight was a cut above your run-of-the-mill high level game between those two.

The fans combined to do the wave in the second half, with Shiprock faithful making a low murmur/boo as the Kirtland fans raised their hands in the air.

KC's trio is the best in the district when they play well, which they did for the majority of tonight's game.

Damian Charley's springy tweener frame allows him to get mismatches at the rim. DJ Frank's sound fundamentals and hard work on the boards allow him to be KC's most consistent player. And Quentin Benioh's quickness, creativity and aggression give the Broncos some frenetic power of their own.

Charley scored 14 points in the final five minutes and change of the first half.

Frank grabbed 12 rebounds in the second half and came one short of topping the Chieftains in the final 16 minutes.

Benioh made plays down the stretch, including the charge he drew on Shiprock's Nick Begay at the game's emotional summit.

I don't know that the game changes PV's tournament status -- I expect the Panthers to grab one of the last tournament spots -- but the win should temper Shiprock's seed and bolster KC's slightly.

The Broncos beat ranked teams outside the district in Grants and St. Pius as well as a few regarded 3A teams, earned two wins at Shiprock and one at Piedra Vista.

I wouldn't be surprised to see them in the top half of the field at No. 8, perhaps with Shiprock sliding to No. 5 or 6.

They won't be able to eliminate their butter fingers in time for the state tournament, but they'll have to try. They turned the ball over 15 times in the second half tonight compared with Shiprock's two.

*****

Here are the team stats from tonight's game. Kirtland Central is listed on the left.

Turnovers: KC -- 26, SHS -- 8.
2-point FG: 22-37, 23-47
3-point FG: 2-6, 1-10
Rebounds: 42, 21
FT: 13-20, 7-15
A: 14, 11
F: 15, 24

Stay true and keep pounding,
Christopher