Apaches host No. 23 Antelope on Friday

Kats gain experience before inventorying equipment

By Raymundo Frasquillo

DUNCAN – The Brad Roof-coached Duncan Wildkats missed out on the 2025 post-season, ending as No. 25 during the final rankings. The Wildkats opened the season listing two reserves, added one, then another and another until reaching 10 on the seventh game. It was the 12th game or Dec. 17 before the 11-member roster was filled, and by then, a 2-9 record was in hand. Duncan went 7-6 thereafter.

Fort Thomas (15-3 seeding, 6.1183 rating) hosts No. 23 Wellton Antelope (10-8, minus 10.7790) as No. 2 in the play-in round on Friday, Feb. 14 at 5 p.m. The first round is at the higher seed on Feb. 18.

*Raymundo Frasquillo Photo/Gila Herald: Area officials Bob Gomez and Luis Bayardo discus observations game during a timeout.*

The East Region tourney had Phoenix Valley Lutheran downing Hayden 49-46 in the semifinal on Feb. 7 and Scottsdale Cicero Prep 59-39 in the final on Feb. 8. Cicero Prep slipped past Fort Thomas 46-40 in the other semifinal.

1A State Play-in Round

The rest of the 1A Play-in round has the Top 24 teams participating, with No. 1 Seligman (13-1 seeding, 7.5801 rating) hosting No. 24 Teec Nos Poc Red Mesa (9-8, minus 11.8320) at 7 p.m., No. 3 Valley Lutheran (14-3, 4.9875) hosting No. 23 Peach Springs Music Mountain (6-9, minus 10.3033) at 7 p.m., and No. 4 Anthem Prep (16-2, 4.9368) hosting No. 21 No. 21 Rock Point (9-8, minus 10.0877) at 7 p.m.

Joseph City (14-5, 4.1537) hosts No. 20 Phoenix Maryvale Prep (8-10, minus 9.9863) as No. 5 at 5 p.m., No. 6 Tucson’s The Gregory School (12-6, 1.5515) hosts No. 19 Salome (7-8, minus 8.6557) at 6 p.m., No. 7 Cicero Prep (10-8, 0.3463) hosts No. 18 Kearny Ray (10-8, minus 6.7643) at 7 p.m., and No. 8 Williams (12-6, 0.0926) hosts No. 17 Saint David (9-8, minus 6.0238) at 7 p.m.

No. 9 Glendale Desert Heights Prep (12-3, minus 0.3620) hosts No. 16 Colorado City El Capitan (9-6, minus 5.4702) at 7 p.m., No. 10 Winkelman Hayden (11-6, minus 1.1816) hosts No. 15 Flagstaff Basis (13-7, minus 5.2431) at 7 p.m., No. 11 Sells Baboquivari (12-5, minus 1.1916) hosts No. 14 Dishchii’bikoh (13-4, minus 2.9412) at 7 p.m., and No. 12 Bagdad (15-4, minus 1.2281) hosts No. 13 Heber Mogollon (11-7, minus 2.4553) at 7 p.m.

1A State Final Rankings

Raymundo Frasquillo Photo/Gila Herald: Isaac Harris (12) goes up for an uncontested lay-up following a steal against Valley Union. The lone Duncan senior made the most of his final game, posting doubles in four categories including points scored (24), steals (11), assists (10) and rebounds (10).

The final 1A rankings for the Top 24 of 43 teams were Seligman (13-1 seeding, 7.5801 rating) No. 1, Fort Thomas (15-3, 6.1183) No. 2, Valley Lutheran (14-3, 4.9875) No. 3, Anthem Prep (16-2, 4.9368) No. 4, Joseph City (14-5, 4.1537) No. 5, The Gregory School (12-6, 1.5515) No. 6, Cicero Prep (10-8, 0.3463) No. 7, and Williams (12-6, 0.0926) No. 8.

Desert Heights Prep (12-3, minus 0.3620) was No. 9, Hayden (11-6, minus 1.1816) No. 10, Baboquivari (12-5, minus 1.1916) No. 11, Bagdad (15-4, minus 1.2281) No. 12, Mogollon (11-7, minus 2.4553) No. 13, Dishchii’bikoh (13-4, minus 2.9412) No. 14, Flagstaff Basis (13-7, minus 5.2431) No. 15, and El Capitan (9-6, minus 5.4702) No. 16.

Saint David (9-8, minus 6.0238) was No, 17, Ray (10-8, minus 6.7643) No. 18, Salome (7-8, minus 8.6557) No. 19, Maryvale Prep (8-10, minus 9.9863) No. 20, Rock Point (9-8, minus 10.0877) No. 21, Music Mountain (6-9, minus 10.3033) No. 22, Antelope (10-8, minus 10.7790) No. 23, and Red Mesa (9-8, minus 11.8320) No. 24.

The initial rankings were Anthem Prep (9-0 seeding, 10.5750 rating) No. 1, Seligman (7-0, 9.6845) No. 2, Fort Thomas (7-1, 7.9880) No. 3, Joseph City (7-3, 4.8131) No. 4, Valley Lutheran (7-2, 3.7467) No. 5, Desert Heights Prep (7-2, 3.2389) was No. 6, Bagdad (10-2, 3.2300) No. 7, and Salome (7-1, 2.8773) No. 8.

Raymundo Frasquillo Photo/Gila Herald: A loose ball is pursued by Isaiah Sumner (24) and Valley Union junior Myles Richardson (3). The Duncan junior had nine points while Richardson accounted for 35 of 41 Blue Devil points.

Cicero Prep (6-5, 1.4268) was No. 9, The Gregory School (7-3, 1.4095) No. 10, Flagstaff Basis (9-3, 0.5157) No. 11, Mogollon (9-3, 0.3121) No. 12, Dishchii’bikoh (8-2, minus 0.1674) No. 13, Hayden (6-3, minus 0.9664) No. 14, Baboquivari (5-2, minus 1.5138) No. 15, and Williams (7-4, minus 1.9096) No. 16.

El Capitan (5-3, minus 2.3649) was No. 17, Saint David (4-4, minus 4.7704) No, 18, Patagonia (6-2, minus 5.4247) No. 19, Music Mountain (5-6, minus 5.6486) No. 20, Ray (5-6, minus 7.6580) No. 21, Antelope (5-6, minus 9.2931) No. 22, Maryvale Prep (3-8, minus 10.4652) No. 23, and Duncan (5-6, minus 10.4902) No. 24.

1A East Region Final Standings

The final standings for the 8-team East Region were Valley Lutheran (17-9 overall, 14-3 seeding, 6-1 region) first, Fort Thomas (21-10, 15-3, 6-1) second, Cicero Prep (15-12, 10-8, 5-2) third, Hayden (14-14, 11-6, 5-2) fourth, Ray (14-13, 10-8, 3-4) fifth, Duncan (9-15, 9-11, 2-5) sixth, San Manuel (6-18, 4-14, 1-6) seventh, andSuperior (2-21, 2-15, 0-7) eighth.

*Raymundo Frasquillo Photo/Gila Herald: Tanner Giocoletti (32) rushes to front Valley Union sophomore Justo Ibarra (23) for a rebound during a free throw.*

Valley Lutheran had region wins over Ray (30-21, Dec. 13), Cicero Prep (51-37, Jan. 7), Duncan (59-38, Jan. 10), San Manuel (54-26, Jan. 17), Superior (68-33, Jan. 21), and Fort Thomas (52-49, Jan. 24); it was Fort Thomas over Superior (69-10, Dec. 17), Hayden (51-41, Jan. 7), Duncan (61-48, Jan. 14), Cicero Prep (55-41, Jan. 22), Ray (71-60, Jan. 28), and San Manuel (81-35, Feb. 4); it was Cicero Prep over Duncan (56-17, Nov. 23), Ray (57-50, Jan. 10), San Manuel (55-26, Jan. 24), Superior (45-34, Jan. 28), and Hayden (61-53, Jan. 31); it was Hayden over San Manuel (50-28, Dec. 17), Valley Lutheran (52-34, Jan. 14), Superior (64-26, Jan. 17), Ray (64-57, Jan. 21), and Duncan 6-(64-50, Jan. 28); it was Ray over san Manuel (69-28, Jan. 15), Superior (56-50, Jan. 24), and Duncan (62-44, Jan. 31); it was Duncan over Superior (64-32, Jan. 10) and San Manuel (41-20, Jan. 21); and it was San Manuel over Superior (32-29, Jan. 16).

No. 2 Fort Thomas Apaches (21-10)

Fort Thomas (21-10 overall, 15-3 seeding, 6-1 1A East Region) averaged a score of 64-49 (1,155-884) per seeding game or a 15-point margin. The Matthew Dona-coached Apaches have seeding wins over Many Farms (69-47, Nov. 26), Duncan (80-39, Dec. 10), Superior (57-41, Dec. 17), Hayden (51-41, Jan. 7), SellsBaboquivari (51-47, Jan. 8), Heber Mogollon (71-58, Jan. 10), Rock Point (76-40, Jan. 11), Duncan (61-48, Jan. 14), Dishchi’bikoh (74-49), Salome (66-37, Jan. 17), Saint David (60-48, Jan. 21), Cicero Prep (55-41, Jan. 22), Ray (71-60, Jan. 28), Joseph City (86-81, Jan. 31), and San Manuel (81-35, Feb. 4) along with a loss to San Carlos (39-59, Dec. 4), Valley Lutheran (49-52, Jan. 24), and Saint Michael (58-61, Feb. 1).

Raymundo Frasquillo Photo/Gila Herald: Isaiah Sumner (24) splits Willcox senior interior defenders Gabe Salas (22) and Jonathan Miranda (23) for a field goal attempt. The Duncan junior contributed 12 points while both Salas and Miranda did not score but Willcox prevailed 51-43 on Feb. 3.

Additionally, the Apaches went 3-4 in the 3-day Round Valley tourney, 2-3 in the 3-day 61st Eastern Arizona Holiday tourney, and 0-1 in the East Region tourney. The wins were over Round Valley (61-33, Dec. 12), Lakeside Blue Ridge (60-49, Dec. 14), Whiteriver Alchesay (56-50, Dec. 14), Saint Johns (87-56, Dec. 19), and Apache Junction (56-30, Dec. 21) while the losses were to Holbrook (43-45, Dec. 12), Morenci (54-69, Dec. 12), Morenci (49-60, Dec. 14), Pima (45-56, Dec. 14), Tucson Tanque Verde (54-70, Dec. 19), Morenci (59-60, Dec. 20), Tucson Empire (71-72, Dec. 20), and Cicero Prep (40-46, Feb. 7). Fort Thomas is averaging an overall score of 61-51 (1,890-1,580) per seeding game or a 10-point margin.

Fort Thomas has a 13-member team of three seniors, six juniors, one sophomore, and three freshmen. The roster includes seniors Allen Gilbert (10), Runyon Kinney (44), Justin Kitcheyan (45), and Orion Titla (14); juniors Damarae Dosela (31), Koby Hunter (23), Justin Olivar (25), Michael Olivar (34), Aiden Victor (20), andChanning Wilson (11); sophomore Brian Sign (50); and freshmen Amare Ethalbah (15) and Malachi Johnson (35).

The Apaches competed in the 8-member 1A East Region with the Cicero Prep Centurians, the Duncan Wildkats, the Hayden Lobos, the Ray Bearcats, the San Manuel Miners, the Superior Panthers, and the Valley Lutheran Flames.

No. 25 Duncan Wildkats (9-15)

Duncan (9-15 overall, 9-11 seeding, 2-5 1A East Region) averaged a score of 44-48 (873-963) per seeding game or a 4-point deficit. The Brad Roof-coached Wildkats have seeding wins over San Manuel (41-29, Nov. 26), Tucson ASDB (44-24, Dec. 3), San Simon (41-33, Dec. 17), Valley Union (45-31, Jan. 6), Superior (64-32, Jan. 7), San Manuel (41-20, Jan. 21), San Simon (51-35, Jan. 23), Santa Rita (46-45, Jan. 29), and Valley Union (66-41, Feb. 5) along with losses to Superior (36-50, Nov. 22), Cicero Prep (17-56, Nov. 23), Saint David (24-54, Dec. 4), Dishchii’bikoh (47-67, Dec. 6), Fort Thomas (39-80, Dec. 10), Valley Lutheran (38-59, Jan. 10), Fort Thomas (48-61, Jan. 14), Hayden (48-69, Jan. 16), Hayden (50-64, Jan. 28), Ray (44-62, Jan. 31), and Willcox (43-51, Feb. 3).

In addition, the Wildkats went 0-4 during the 3-day Round Valley tourney, with losses to host Round Valley(22-66, Dec. 12), Holbrook (40-69, Dec. 12), Morenci (54-64, Dec. 13), and Sanders Valley (35-59, Dec. 13). The Wildkats are averaging an overall score of 43-51 (1,024-1,221) per game or an 8-point deficit.

Raymundo Frasquillo Photo/Gila Herald: The Duncan boys basketball team awaits tip-off to its 2025 season finale on Feb. 5. The 11-member team coached by Brad Roof, included, not in order, Canyon Carter, Josh Free, Tanner Giacoletti, Isaac Harris, Taygen Jensen, Jared Kempton, Wyatt Lunt, Joseph Nandino, Pablo Ruiz, Isaiah Sumner, and Aaron Zamora.

Duncan had an 11-member team of one senior, five juniors, two sophomores, and three freshmen. The roster included senior Isaac Harris (12); juniors Josh Free (50), Tanner Giacoletti (32), Taygan Jensen (22), PabloRuiz (10), and Isaiah Sumner (24); sophomores Joseph Nandino (34) and Aaron Zamora (30); and freshmenCanyon Carver (42), Jared Kempton (44), and Wyatt Lunt (4).

The Wildkats competed in the 8-member 1A East Region with the Cicero Prep Centurians, the Fort Thomas Apaches, the Hayden Lobos, the Ray Bearcats, the San Manuel Miners, the Superior Panthers, and the Valley Lutheran Flames.