NEW FACES, BUT SIMILAR SUCCESS IN GALLUP
The Gallup Bengals recently made a trip to Albuquerque for the Metro Championships and fans got a taste of what to expect in March. “We have a little bit of an inexperienced group, but we are developing,” said head coach Todd McBroom. “We have a lot of speed out there with a little bit of size. It’s a fun group and we’re putting a lot of pressure on people and it’s fun to watch them play.”
McBroom, in his 6th season with Gallup, says this year’s team is much like a traditional Gallup lineup. They don’t usually have a player score over 20 points. It’s success by committee. “We have Rylie Whitehair (sophomore) in the middle, she’s grown from last year and matured,” said McBroom. “We have four really good guards that we rotate through. Yanibah Begay (senior), Kiera Livingtson (senior), Delia Tello (senior), and Raven Tso (senior), and then we have Daliyah (Morris) at the four who is basically another guard. So, we have a lot of speed and good talent out there.”
McBroom graduated a group of seven seniors, many of them who helped Gallup win it all in 2021. “That group that graduated, I had them a long time,” McBroom explained. “People were asking if they were ever going to graduate. Well, they finally graduated, and we have some new faces out there. We just don’t have as much experience on the court, but we still have a strong team and I’m excited about them.”
If history repeats itself, Gallup will battle with defending state champ Kirtland Central to determine district dominance in the Four Corners. “It’s fun,” McBroom said of the rivalry. “It’s a lot of people showing up to games. You get to play in front of 3,000 people. It’s a great atmosphere, we get to go after each other and we have a good time doing it.”
If they would happen to meet at the Pit in the state tournament, there would be a few more than 3,000 there to watch. Gallup (13-3) will open district play on Thursday at home against Bloomfield.
