Jon Johnson Photo/Gila Herald: Coy Miller runs the show for Pima.
By Jon Johnson
THATCHER – There were no upsets in the first round of the 58th annual Eastern Arizona College Boys Basketball Tournament on Tuesday.
No. 3 Morenci 54, No. 6 Safford 43
The early morning game ended favorably for the visitors from Greenlee in the battle of two seemingly evenly-matched teams. But the Wildcats hit 8-12 free throws in the final quarter to preserve the victory.
Tristen Sanchez led Morenci with 25 points; followed by Marco Muñiz with 13; Austin Hudman and Elijah Leyba with 4 points each; Derek Saenz with 3; Joey Seballos, Jaylen Kitcheyan with 2 points each, and Donnie Vozza with 1.
Brayden Bowman led a three-pronged Safford attack with 15 points; followed by Christian Smith with 14; Jojo Ruelas with 12, and Estevan Herrera with 2.
Morenci will next play Pima on Dec. 21 at 3 p.m. Safford will move to the consolation bracket and next play Willcox on Dec. 21 at 9 a.m. again.
No. 4 St. David 48, No. 5 Duncan 43 – OT
It was a tale of two halves and the long ball shot in OT for the closest competition of the day.
St. David stormed out to a 23-14 halftime lead after holding Duncan to just 3 points in the opening quarter. The Wildkats came back in the third, hitting for 16 while holding the Tigers to only 6. Conlan Jensen then scored every point for Duncan the rest of the way to force overtime. However, during the overtime, St. David’s Jacob Goodman nailed a 3-pointer to help the Tigers hold off the upset.
Goodman and Koy Richardson both finished with 14 points each for St. David; followed by Kydin Richardson and Paul Parker with 7 each, and 6 points from Ryan Gooding.
For Duncan, Jensen finished with a game-high 25 points; he was followed by Brody Waters with 10, and Isaac Harris with 8.
St. David will next play Thatcher on Dec. 21 at 6 p.m. Duncan will go to the consolation bracket and next play Fort Thomas on Dec. 21 at 12 p.m.
No. 2 Pima 72, No. 7 Willcox 26
The Cowboys couldn’t find the bottom of the net against the size of the Roughriders.
Seth Russell had a big dunk to excite the crowd and led Pima with 16 points; he was followed by Garrett Curtis with 13; Grant Ashby and Nathan Skiba with 7 points each; Coy Miller, Pierce Ashby, and Wyatt Wiltbank with 6 points each; Austen Ashby and Leland Thompson with 4 points each; Dallin Kartchner with 2, and Sam Ray with 1.
Rico Lunt led Willcox with 11; followed by Lane Whetten with 6; A.J. Nuzzo with 4; Jacob Abarca with 3, and Josiah Sheats with 2.
Pima will next play Morenci on Dec. 21 at 3 p.m., and Willcox will move to the consolation bracket and next play Safford on Dec. 21 at 9 a.m.
No. 1 Thatcher 95, No. 8 Fort Thomas 33
Thatcher’s big man Bradley Curtis was unstoppable as he put up 32 points in three-quarters of work in the blowout opening-round win.
Nearly everyone for Thatcher scored, including Hudson Griffin with 16; followed by Wyatt Larson with 11; Tanner Palmer, T.J. Reed, and Cody Jones with 8 points each; Brandon Napier and Bryce Larson with 3 points each, and Carson Beals and Christian Carter with 2 points each.

Carmelo Robertson led Fort Thomas with 7; followed by Jayshawn Rambler and Elijah Nozie with 6 points each; Tyler Black with 4; Darius Miles and Levi Dillon with 3 points each, and Marius Wright and Allen Gilbert with 2 points each.
Thatcher will next play St. David on Dec. 21 at 6 p.m. Fort Thomas will go to the consolation bracket and next play Duncan on Dec. 21 at 12 p.m.