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Lady Vikes skip Rough Rock out of the tournament

The Williams High School girls basketball team responded to its latest challenge Saturday night with a 2A North Region tournament first-round victory over Rough Rock.

The Lady Vikings lost junior starter Dee Dee Fogg for the rest of the season when a blood clot was discovered earlier in the week. The team was able to shake off those adverse conditions and with Fogg out of the hospital and in the stands, Williams rolled past Rough Rock, 62-28.

"We're trying to keep everybody healthy, we were down to nine players," Rodriguez said.

Senior Amy Christman was lost earlier in the season because of injury and she was also in the hospital last week with post-operation complications.

Williams controlled the game against Rough Rock from the opening tip-off. Senior Crystal Edes opened the game with a jumpshot from her favorite corner and the Sun Devils never had a chance from there.

After Rough Rock tied the game at 2-2, Williams went on an 11-0 run. Helen Schimanowski scored five of those points and freshman Tami Edes scored twice, including on a fast break pass from Lyssa Mulvihill that covered three-fourths the length of the court.

Mulvihill also had a hoop in the early run and added a three-pointer later in the quarter. By the end of the first, the Lady Vikings held an 18-5 lead.

"I used girls at different positions tonight," Rodriguez said. "Tami (Edes) was playing guard, that's her first time on top. She did a good job."

Rodriguez wanted to try Edes at the guard position because of the situation with Fogg. She finished the evening with 10 points.

"We wanted to just get through this game," Rodriguez said. "I also used Teri (Stevens) quite a bit. Down the line, we might need her."

Stevens, also a freshman, saw a lot of playing time in the second half and scored two points.

In the second quarter, Williams continued to control the game. Crystal Edes hit a three-pointer for the team's first basket of the quarter and the tone was set from there. By halftime, Williams had a 23-point lead.

The team was hitting from the inside and outside and taking advantage of points on transition. Near the end of the first quarter and early in the second, Williams began to cause several turnovers with a full-court press.

In the third quarter, the Lady Vikings scored three quick points on a basket by Ashley Rocha and free throw by Schimanowski to go up by 26.

The second line than trotted onto the court and continued to dominate the opponent. Stevens, Tami Edes and Hillary Wamble scored on a mini 6-0 run for a 28-point lead.

The margin would grow even larger in the fourth quarter. The biggest lead was 36 points after back-to-back hoops by Sylvia Aguilar.

Schimanowski led Williams scorers with 12 points. Tami Edes and Rocha each scored 10.

The team did struggle at times from the free-throw line in the game. Williams ended up with a 40-percent success rate.

The victory sends Williams into a second-round game tonight against Many Farms. A victory by the Lady Vikings will guarantee the team a trip to the Class 2A state playoffs.

The home game is scheduled for a 6 p.m. start.

"If they play good basketball, they can just about do anything," Rodriguez said. "If they play to their capabilities, they should do all right."

The region tournament is played under a single-elimination format. A loss tonight would end the season. A victory will send the team into the next portion of the tournament this weekend at an out-of-town site.

The opening rounds of Class 2A state playoffs are scheduled for Feb. 15-16 in the Phoenix area. The state playoffs will conclude Feb. 22-23.

Earlier in the week, Williams had a shot at tying St. Johns for first place in the final regular season standings. With a win, the Lady Vikes could have ended up in a playoff to determine first place. But St. Johns got the victory and nailed down the top tourney seed out of the Canyon Region.

Williams finished with a 6-2 region record to take the No., 2 seed out of the Canyon Region. The team takes an overall record of 14-5 into tonight's game.

In other results from the tournament, Mogollon was eliminated by Red Mesa.


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