Cougar girls collect wins as boys struggle

by Rhett Sifford
Sports Editor
The Monument Valley High School girls basketball team bounced back from a tough loss to Shiprock and swept their games this past week, beating Many Farms, AZ 46-41 on Thursday, January 23 and Pinnacle 39-36 on Friday, January 24.
Against Many Farms Dakotah Cly led Lady Cougar scoring with a solid 16 points. Malaya Blackmountain added 14 in the win. Kaylisa Tome scored nine, Shikeeya Hudson got three, and Shaundin Blackwater and Ayainna Cly got two apiece.
Monument Valley scored five three-point baskets in the win. Blackmountain netted two while Tome, Hudson, and Dakotah Cly all got one each.
Against Pinnacle Dakotah Cly again led scoring, this time with nine points. Nesbah Hunt and Blackmountain scored eight for the Lady Cougars.
Blackwater collected seven points in the win. Ayainna Cly got four, and Melody Benally rounded out the Monument Valley scoring with three points. Blackmountain hit two three-pointers while Hunt got one.
The Lady Cougars have won three of their last four games and are now 9-8 on the season. They’re ranked ninth in the 1A RPI standings.
It’s a light week this week for the girls. The only game on the schedule is at home against San Juan on Wednesday, January 29. Tipoff is set for 6 p.m.
The Cougar boys struggled this past week in losses to Many Farms, Pinnacle, and Green River. On Thursday, January 23 the Lobos led from start to finish on the way to a 71-40 final.
Brice Goodshield led scoring for Monument Valley with 17 points in the loss. Tobias Grey scored six points while Akecheta Shortman and Josiah Gipe both added five apiece.
Bailey Goodshield added three points for the Cougars, Jake Deswood scored two, and Alyase Johnson also scored two points. Brice Goodshield was strong from beyond the arc with three three-point baskets in the loss. Bailey Goodshield and Josiah Gipe hit one each.
Brice Goodshield led the rebounding effort with six, Grey and Johnson pulled down five apiece, Shortman and Alexander Hicks had three each, and Riley Stanley got a couple.
The next night, Friday, January 24, the Cougars traveled to Price to take on Pinnacle in a Region 19 battle. The Panthers jumped out to a 22-9 lead after one quarter and increased it to 44-16 at the half.
Monument Valley was unable to cut into the deficit and they ultimately fell by a final of 73-37.
On Saturday, January 25 the Cougars closed out a busy week with another road trip, this time to Green River to face one of the top teams in Utah 1A boys basketball.
The Pirates put up an astounding 114 points on Monument Valley, handing them their third loss of the week 114-29.
Despite the tough game Josiah Gipe and Jake Deswood still managed to score seven points each for the Cougars. Brice Goodshield collected five points, Shortman and Grey got three apiece, and Stanley and Hicks scored two each.
Monument Valley scored four three-point buckets in the loss – one each for Gipe, Brice Goodshield, Shortman, and Grey.
Heading into this week the Cougars are 2-13 on the season, ranked 20th in the 1A RPI standings. Like the girls they have just one game on the schedule – a cross-region showdown with #14 Escalante at home on Friday, January 31. Tipoff is scheduled for 6 p.m.