Fort Lewis College honored a fighter Saturday night at Whalen Gymnasium by battling to the final whistle in a fast-paced slug fest.
The Fort Lewis College women’s basketball team played for Lana Griego, daughter of assistant coach Orland Griego and his wife Katherine Sumrall-Griego, who was born nine weeks premature Dec. 16 while the Skyhawks were on the court against Black Hills State University. Lana fought for her life and didn’t take her first breath until four minutes after she had been delivered.
Inspired by Lana’s fight, a Skyhawks team at the end of a tough season never quit. Not when Dixie State had a six-point lead, and not when junior guard and captain Kayla Herrera went down with a scary-looking injury with six minutes to play in a close game. Behind the post play of Jordan Carter and Alyssa Yocky paired with stellar guard play from Sydney Candelaria, the Skyhawks (11-14, 7-12 RMAC) prevailed 82-75 against Dixie State (13-10, 9-10 RMAC) to complete a season sweep of the Trailblazers and a huge weekend sweep of the two Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference foes from Utah.
“Great effort. I’m so happy,” FLC head coach Jason Flores said. “But, more than anything, I’m so proud to be part of the night for Coach O, Katherine, Lana. I’m so proud of our team for just persevering through a lot and pulling that out in the second half. So many things to be thankful for beyond basketball. Super happy that we won and very happy the way we did it, but this is something we’ll all remember for the rest of our life.”
After the win, the Skyhawks gathered at center court to watch a tribute video to Lana before Orlando and Katherine, an FLC volleyball alumna, took the microphone to thank the team, Flores and the Durango community. Every dollar of ticket sales Saturday night went to the Griego family, and the contributions totaled $9,670. Lana was not at the game, as she stayed home with her grandmother.
“It’s very emotional,” coach Griego said. “(The team) has been troopers, so selfless. They’ve put others before them. It shows their true character, and I’m just so happy to be around these girls. I can’t wait to see them grow. We’ll all remember this forever and all bonded because of it. They’re just as invested as anyone else. I couldn’t be more grateful to be with these girls and coaching staff.”
Katherine Sumrall-Griego on the court thanking the fans, her husband and all those who fought to make sure their daughter Lana is here today. Lana was born nine weeks premature Dec. 16 while Fort Lewis was playing. Special stuff. #morethansports pic.twitter.com/6pydaK4ZdO
— John Livingston (@jlivi2) February 17, 2019
On the court, the Skyhawks capped off a stellar weekend with a second consecutive brilliant performance from a young team. Herrera got FLC going on 5-of-5 shooting for 10 points early in the game. She didn’t score or attempt a shot in the second half. Her injury turned out to be an ankle and is less severe than originally feared.
Yocky hadn’t attempted a shot in the first half, but she got going in the second with 14 points and a game-high 10 rebounds to help FLC win the rebounding battle.
It was the play of Carter inside that sealed the win, as she scored a game-high 21 points on 9-of-15 shooting. Carter used her superior athleticism in the post to beat taller defenders who couldn’t keep her in front of them.
“I don’t usually drive. I don’t think they were expecting it,” Carter said. “Once I hit the first one, I knew I could keep doing it. She wasn’t as fast as me. She’s a great player inside, but I knew if I pulled her out I’d have a better chance getting to the basket.”
Candelaria found the ball in her hands the final six minutes, as she was responsible for breaking the Dixie State press defense and distributing to scorers. She finished with 18 points and four assists as she came through with two big 3-pointers in the second half and made 6-of-7 free throws.
“Just be strong with the ball, take care of it,” Candelaria said. “We were ahead, so make sure we got good possessions and stay strong with it. They were all coming up really high to press. As soon as we broke it, it was wide open to dump to the post.”
Aubre Fortner gave FLC a fifth player in double-figure scoring with 12 points, as she made the Skyhawks’ only two 3s of the first half and then was key to finishing inside in the second half.
Dixie State scored in bunches, too. Keslee Stevenson had 17 points, while Ali Franks went for 18 points and seven rebounds. Mariah Martin added 15 points. Dixie State shot 9-of-24 from 3, while FLC was 4-of-15.
In the end, the will of the Skyhawks was too much for the Trailblazers.
“They didn’t put their heads down,” Flores said of his team after Herrera went out. “I looked in their eyes, and the five we had were focused. ‘Kayla’s down, let’s step up and finish what we started.’ It was good to see. We didn’t really flinch. They just kind of wanted to finish it out for someone who can’t be on the floor with us. It goes back to playing for each other and unity. It went hand-in-hand with everything.”
Now. FLC will take its final road trip of the season to face No. 19 Colorado Mesa University and Western Colorado University next Friday and Saturday, respectively.
“Just enjoy the process,” Flores said. “Enjoy each other, play for each other and go see what we can do. We want to go win games. We’ll do that together.”
jlivingston@durangoherald.com
