Payson Longhorns Win Winslow Shootout Title

By Sam Conner
   The Payson Longhorns won the Cake Chevrolet Winslow Shootout basketball tournament last Saturday with a razor thin 46-44 nipping of the Blue Ridge Yellowjackets.
   The Longhorns led most of the game and held off a Blue Ridge comeback to preserve the win.
   Payson had three players in double figures, led by Cody Waterman with 19 points. Ever Figueroa followed with 12 points and Dakota Marshall scored 11.
   Kenny Kellywood led Blue Ridge with 12 points, followed closely by Robert Kinney with 11.
   Winslow easily defeated the Chino Valley Cougars 63-41 for third place in the championship bracket.
   Dale Dixon led Winslow with 20 points, including six three-point shots. Micheaux Begaii was also in double figures for the Bulldogs with 13 points.
   Ty Meir was in double figures for Chino Valley with 10 points.
   Payson defeated Winslow 48-44 in a first round championship bracket game. Dakota Marshall led Payson with 19 points. Winslow had Kraig Shirley with 12 points and Jevon Estelle with 11 in double figures.
   Blue Ridge earned its spot in the finals with a whopping 67-34 win over Chino Valley in the other semifinal game. Dallas Threlkeld and Robert Kinney led Blue Ridge with 14 points each. Kai Bighorse had 11 points for Chino Valley.
   The Snowflake Lobos won the third place bracket with a tight 58-54 win over the Greyhills Knights. Snowflake was led by Tarrin Tanner and Trent Hall with 12 points each, and Blake Peterson with 10. Greyhills had three players with 10 points each, including Colin Tom, Brandon Whiterock and Mettale Alcott.
   The Tuba City Warriors defeated the Ganado Hornets 66-57 to take third in that bracket. The Warriors had five players in double figures led by Julio Trejo with 13 points. Tyson Tsingine had 12 points, Alex Goldtooth and Nolan Smith had 11 each, and Kent Tallsalt had 10. Marcus Begay of Ganado was the game high scorer with 28 points and Ricky Benward was in double figures with 11 points for the Hornets.
   Earlier in the third place bracket, Snowflake defeated Ganado 70-62 in a semifinal game.    Snowflake had four players in double figures, including Tarrin Tanner with 14, Blake Peterson with 13, and Robbie Martindale and Trent Hall with 10 each. Ganado had the game high scorers in Levi Tsinijinnie and Marcus Begay with 22 each.
   Greyhills bested Tuba City 72-58 in the other semi-final. Joel Thomas had 12 points for Tuba City and Nolan Smith added 11. Greyhills had the leading scorers with Tremayne Yazzie scoring 19 and Brandon Whiterock, 16.
   The Sedona Red Rock Scorpions won the consolation bracket with a 68-49 victory over the Hopi Bruins behind Kevin Cox’s 22 points. Hopi had two double figure scorers, Lani Ackley with 20 points and Brandon Barton with 10.
   A Snowflake filler team won the game for third place in the bracket over San Tan Foothills, 38-31.
   Earlier in the consolation bracket, Sedona Red Rock trounced San Tan Foothills 67-32 in the first semi-final game. Kevin Cox scored 12 points for the winners, followed by M. Galvez with 11 and B. Cox with 10. C.J. Fields led San Tan with 14 points and James Slanth added 13.
   A Blue Ridge team that was a filler for what would have been the 16th team in the tournament beat Hopi 57-42. Dillon Washman of Blue Ridge was the only player in double figures with 10 points.
   The tourney opened on Thursday, when Payson defeated Ganado 62-52. The winners were led by Dakota Marshall and Cody Waterman with 19 and 18 points, respectively. Levi Tsinijinnie and Riley Benward were in double figures for Ganado with 14 and 11 points, respectively.
   Blue Ridge defeated the Winslow B team 74-37, led by Cody Carlson with 22 points and Robert Kinney with 18.
   Tuba City defeated San Tan 58-23. The Warriors had 11 players score, led by Ryan Yazzie with 16 points and Everett Chee with 10. C.J. Fields had 11 points to lead San Tan.
   Snowflake defeated Greyhills 78-64 with four players in double figures. Ray Petersen had 17 points, Tanner Yellowhair and Trevor Reddick had 13 each, and Trent Hall had 12. Greyhills had three players in double figures, including Brand Whiterock with 17 points, and Colin Tom and Tremayne Yazzie with 12 each.
   Winslow defeated Sedona Red Rock 70-56 led by Kraig Shirley and Lakota Shirley with 15 points each. Kevin Cox of Sedona was the game high scorer with 21 points.
   Chino Valley edged Hopi 49-43 in the closest game of the night led by Jeremy Robbins with 12 points. Trevor Crook of Hopi was the game high scorer with 19 points.
   On Friday, the Winslow B team defeated San Tan, 67-42. Dale Dixon led Winslow with 21 points. Micheaux Begaii with 12 points and Jevon Estelle with 10 were also in double figures for the winners. C.S. Fields with 15 points and Shariff Jones with 10 paced San Tan.
   Blue Ridge edged Tuba City in a high scoring contest, 84-79. Kenny Kellywood with 20 points led Blue Ridge, followed by Nick Johnson and Robert Kinney with 19 each. Tuba City had four players in double figures, including game high scorer Troy Begay with 26 points, Everett Chee with 19, Ryan Yazzie with 14 and Jo-el Thomas with 12.
   Payson defeated Hopi 63-38. W. Cody paced Payson with 29 points and M. Dakota added 16. Kevin Tsingine had 15 points for Hopi.
   Snowflake defeated Sedona, 73-56. Snowflake had four players in double figures, including Michael Bonham with 20, Robbie Martindale with 16, and Jake Shumway and Blake Peterson with 10 each. Thomas Websey scored 10 points for Sedona.
   Chino Valley edged Ganado, 50-46. Ty Mier led Chino Valley with 13 points and Kai Roanhorse added 11. Marcus Begay was high scorer for the game with 14 points for Ganado.
   Winslow got by Greyhills in a tough contest. Jevon Estelle with 12 points and Kraig Shirley with 11 led the Bulldogs. T. Yazzie with 19 points for Greyhills was the top scorer and N. Gishie was in double figures with 17.
   The All Tournament Team included Kenny Kellywood and Robert Kinney of Blue Ridge, Kai Bighorse of Chino Valley, Marcus Begay of Ganado, Tremayne Yazzie of Greyhills, Dakota Marshall and Cody Waterman of Payson, Kevin Cox of Sedona, Robbie Martindale of Snowflake, Troy Begay of Tuba City, and Dale Dixon and Kraig Shirley of Winslow.