Basketball Recap: Ganado Takes a Tough Playoff Loss

It's hard to turn regular season success into postseason wins, a fact Ganado can now relate to. They took a blow against the Tuba City Warriors on Tuesday, falling 71-38. The Hornets were not able to repeat the success they had when they faced the Warriors earlier this season, when they won 59-56.

Several Hornets players turned in solid performances despite ultimately coming up short. Perhaps the best among those players was Faith James, who went 5-for-10 on her way to 12 points. Another player making a difference was Jasah McIntosh, who posted 13 points.

Even though they lost, Ganado was working as a unit and finished the game with ten assists. They easily outclassed their opponents in that department as Tuba City only posted four assists.

Multiple players turned in solid performances to lead Tuba City to victory, but perhaps none more so than Aubrey Begaye, who went 7-for-10 en route to 15 points and six boards. What's more, Begaye also posted a 70% field goal percentage, which is the highest she's achieved since back in January of 2024. Natasha Acothley was another key player, going 6-for-9 to rack up 14 points along with eight rebounds and three steals.

This is the second loss in a row for Ganado and nudges their season record down to 17-10. Admittedly, the team was facing some tough opposition over that stretch, including 26-1 Chinle (their opponents had an average overall winning percentage of 78.5% over those games). As for Tuba City, they are on a roll lately: they've won three of their last four games, which provided a nice bump to their 17-11 record this season.

Ganado has already played their next matchup, a 68-61 win against Winslow on the 17th. As for Tuba City, they also wasted no time getting back out on the court and have already played their next contest, a 48-39 victory against Chinle on the 13th.