Grady girls take win after sluggish start

SAN JON - Grady showed what one highly skilled player could do for a girls basketball team when the other squad lacks the same.

Grady senior center Teryn Foote scored 19 points, including three 3-point shots, during a 39-27 district victory Thursday over a San Jon team still searching for its first victory of the abbreviated season.

San Jon started strong, leading 8- 5 after one quarter and 11-5 early in the second period.

Grady coach Alicia Rush admitted her team, which improved to 3-5 overall, started sluggishly.

"I think it was just nerves than anything. We knew we could beat them. But we're still trying to learn a little bit, too," she said.

Foote and several other Grady 3-point shooters proved to be the key in a game. They used an 11-0 run in the second quarter to turn a six-point deficit into a lead they wouldn't relinquish.

The Lady Coyotes (0-9) rallied to reduce their deficit to 21-19 in the third quarter. But Grady made four 3-pointers in a brief span to beef up its lead to 33-19 early in the fourth period.

San Jon coach Jaree Elliott said her team was hampered by senior Bailey Montoya aggravating a shoulder injury and another senior, Nataya Archuleta, getting into foul trouble. But those weren't her team's biggest problems.

"We shot ourselves in the foot on offense," she said. "We played well on defense, pressed well and we looked up the floor well. But when we had possession of the ball, we made too many turnovers. We blew our own set offense, basically."

Karlee Elliott scored eight points to lead the Lady Coyotes.

Foote probably would have scored more than 20 points, but Rush sat her in the third period.

"We were wanting to conserve her in the third quarter so she doesn't get in too much foul trouble," Rush said. "She does a great job for us."

Rush admitted to some "tensions" between San Jon and her team. San Jon's school board voted in December 2019 to end their sports cooperative with Grady, citing inequities. Thursday was the first basketball game between the two programs since the split.

But Elliott said the so-called "divorce" wasn't high on her squad's worries.

"I guess my team gets nervous when you have a bunch of freshmen and eighth-graders and just one senior that's been playing a majority of the games," she said. "They've got other things to be nervous about."

Clovis Christian 52, San Jon 46

San Jon nearly pulled off its first victory of the season with a 52-46 district loss Saturday to Clovis Christian.

Chantzee Elliott scored 17 points to lead the Lady Coyotes, who fell to 0-10 overall.

"The girls played excellent except for the third quarter; we got cold and they got hot," coach Elliott said. The Lady Coyotes were outscored 21-7 during that period.

San Jon's coach said her team met two of its goals of keeping Clovis Christian stars Sofia DeGroot and Lola DeGroot under 15 and 10 points respectively.

"We surpassed our free throws percentage goal," she said. "The girls hustled and scored right up until the last buzzer. It was a good feeling on homecoming night to come off the floor having played so well."

Clovis Christian improved to 5-4, 3-4.

Melrose 55, San Jon 30

The unbeaten Lady Buffaloes surged to a 34-13 lead at intermission en route to a 55-30 district victory on April 20.

Archuleta led the Lady Coyotes with 10 points.

"My girls battled well," Elliott said. "We were ecstatic to have senior Bailey Montoya back (from an injury). Our girls pressured the ball well and played excellent defense. We met all of our locker room goals, and we didn't get in foul trouble for the first time this year."

Hailey Martin led Melrose (6-0) with 18 points.