By Raymundo Frasquillo
MORENCI – The Ruben Leonard-coached No. 27 Morenci Wildcats (3-5 seeding, minus 0.4944 rating) fell 51-64 to the No. 18 Eagar Round Valley Elks (6-4, 3.5165) on Jan. 13.
Morenci heads to No. 16 Benson (5-3, 4.7031) on Wednesday, Jan. 14, and hosts No. 23 Saint Augustine Catholic (6-1, 1.3856) on Thursday, Jan. 15. The two pairings are region contests and have 7 p.m. starts.
Round Valley is Sanders Valley bound for a North Region pairing with the No. 40 Pirates (2-9, minus 10.0340) on Jan. 15.
Round Valley – 64, Morenci – 51
The Elks controlled the opening tip-off, but Morenci junior Aymen Abdulqader scored the initial two points 48 seconds into the contest. Junior Adrian McCabe added a 3-pointer for a 5-3 advantage with 4:56 left in the opening quarter.
Round Valley senior Ryan Rodriguez twice dialed long distance and connected to give the Elks edges of 3-2 with 1:02 elapsed and 6-5 with 3:46 elapsed. The score was knotted at 6-6 and 8-8 in the first quarter.
Freshman Marcus Najar drilled an early second-quarter 3-pointer to tie the score at 16-16 with 1:50 elapsed, but Round Valley senior Brennan Brown broke it 29 seconds later, and the visitors never trailed thereafter.
Morenci led 11-10 following the first quarter, but Round Valley led 35-23 at halftime and 48-35 heading into the fourth quarter.
The Wildcats came within single digits in the closing 1:20, but were outscored 4-0 during the remaining time.
On the evening, Morenci totaled 21 field goals (three 3-pointers) plus 6-8 free throws versus 27 field goals (five 3-pointers) plus 5-11 free throws by Round Valley.
Abdulqader turned in a game-high 35 points on 16 field goals (one 3-pointer) plus 2-2 free throws. McCabe and Najar added seven points apiece, and sophomore Deegan Miller two.
Seven Elks contributed to their scoring total with Brown netting 18 points on nine field goals and sophomore Marcus Mortensen 15 on seven field goals plus 1-2 free throws. Sophomore Davis Hunt added nine points, Rodriguez and junior Brody Crick eight apiece, freshman Mason Turley four, and senior Geron Baylish two.
2A No. 27 Morenci Wildcats (3-5 seeding, minus 0.4944 rating)
Morenci (7-12, 3-5, 1-0) is averaging a 42-53 (794-1,005) score per game or an 11-point deficit through 19 games.
A 12-member roster has three seniors, four juniors, four sophomores, and a freshman. The seniors are Abraham Cortez (24), Derick Lytle (22), and Adrian McCallum (25); juniors Aymen Abdulqader (11), Damian Espino (21), Adrian McCabe (12), and Morgan Petross (35); sophomores Andress Aguilera (31), Brennen Burkhead (32), Alejandro LaPrada (10), Deegan Miller (23); and freshman Marcus Najar (33).
The Ruben Leonard-coached Wildcats are competing in the 9-member 2A South Region with the Benson Bobcats, the Bisbee Pumas, the Tombstone Yellow Jackets, the Willcox Cowboys, along with the Tucson schools Desert Christian Eagles, Saint Augustine Catholic Wolves, the San Miguel Catholic Vipers, and the Santa Rita Eagles.
2A State Rankings
The initial rankings for the Top 24 of 52 statewide 2A schools at noon on Jan. 13 were Gilbert San Tan Charter (11-0 seeding, 24.9778 rating) No. 1, Pima (8-0, 16.8335) No. 2, Phoenix Country Day School (9-1, 15.9078) No. 3, Phoenix North Valley Christian (8-0, 15.5181) No. 4, Fountain Hills (9-3, 11.3513) No. 5, Phoenix Veritas Prep (8-1, 11.3150) No. 6, Flagstaff Northland Prep (5-1. 11.1366) No. 7, and Phoenix Arizona Lutheran (5-2, 11.0475) No. 8.
Scottsdale Christian (7-3, 10.9662) was No. 9, San Carlos (7-3, 9.8005) No. 9, Gilbert Classical (10-1, 8.7220) No. 10, Glendale Prep (4-3, 8.0583) No. 11, Scottsdale Rancho Solano Prep (8-5, 7.5638) No. 13, Phoenix Madison Highland Prep (7-3, 6.3992) No. 14, Bullhead City Mohave Accelerated (6-4, 5.3961), No. 15, and Benson (4-3, 4.7031) No. 16.
Saint Johns (4-3, 4.6224) was No. 17, Eagar Round Valley (5-4, 3.5165) No. 18, Camp Verde (3-5, 2.5122) No. 19, Phoenix Horizon Honors (4-6, 2.3821) No. 20, Phoenix Christian (3-6, 1.6894) No. 21, Chandler Lincoln Prep (5-5, 1.517) No. 22, Tucson Saint Augustine (6-1, 1.3856) No. 23, and Glendale Trivium Prep (6-3, 0.8414) No. 24.
2A South Region Standings
Standings in the 2A South Region as of Jan. 13 were Benson (9-5 overall, 5-3 seeding, 1-0 region), Morenci (7-12, 3-5, 1-0), Bisbee (8-3, 5-1, 1-0), Tucson Desert Christian (6-7, 5-3, 1-0), Willcox (12-5, 5-4, 1-1), Tucson Saint Augustine Catholic (10-3, 7-1, 1-1), Tucson Santa Rita (6-9, 6-6, 1-1), Tucson San Miguel Catholic (3-9, 3-9, 0-2), and Tombstone (1-17, 1-7, 0-2).
Region results are Benson over Willcox (51-50, Jan. 6), Morenci over San Miguel (74-38, Jan. 6), Bisbee over Tombstone (58-44, Dec. 8), Desert Christian over Tombstone (57-25, Jan. 6), Willcox over Saint Augustine (60-36, Jan. 8), Saint Augustine over Santa Rita (58-47, Jan. 6), and Santa Rita over San Miguel (64-32, Jan. 8).
The state rankings for the other eight 2A South Region members were Morenci (3-4, minus 0.4944) No. 27, Bisbee (4-1, minus 0.9063) No. 28, Willcox (5-4, minus 0.9621) No. 29, Desert Christian (5-3, minus 1.3380) No. 30, Santa Rita (6-6, minus 5.3654) No. 35, San Miguel (3-9, minus 16.4852) No. 50, and Tombstone (1-7, minus 19.1389) No. 51.
