By Raymundo Frasquillo
THATCHER – The second day of the boy’s 61st Eastern Arizona Holiday Tournament will be held at three different sites on Friday, Dec. 20. It also has a bracket and round-robin pairings set.
The bracket pairings number eight games, while the round-robin pairings involve three games.
An 8-game bracket has Pool D top seed Tucson Tanque Verde (2-0) vs. Pool C second seed Safford (1-1) for Game 1 in Safford’s Norma Bellamy Gymnasium at 10:30 a.m., Pool A top seed Pima (2-0) versus Pool B second seed Apache Junction (1-1) for Game 2 in EAC’s Guitteau Gymnasium at noon, Pool B top seed Thatcher (2-0) vs. Pool A second seed Tucson Empire (1-1) for Game 3 on the Thatcher campus at noon, and Pool C top seed Morenci (2-0) vs. Pool D second seed Fort Thomas (1-1) for Game 4 in Norma Bellamy Gymnasium 1:30 p.m.
The Pima – Apache Junction and Tanque Verde – Safford losers meet in Guitteau Gymnasium for Game 5 at 4:30 p.m., the Thatcher – Empire and Morenci – Fort Thomas losers for Game 6 in Norma Bellamy Gymnasium at 6 p.m., the Pima – Apache Junction and Tanque Verde – Safford winners for Game 7 in Guitteau Gymnasium at 7:30 p.m., and the Thatcher – Empire and Morenci – Fort Thomas winners for Game 8 on the Thatcher campus at 7:30 p.m.
A 3-game Round Robin meet has Pool C third seed Tucson Pueblo (0-2) vs. Pool D third seed Saint Johns (0-2) on the Thatcher campus at 9 a.m., Pool A third seed Winkelman Hayden vs. Pool B third seed Saint David (0-2) in Guitteau Gymnasium at 10:30 a.m., Hayden vs. Pueblo in Norma Bellamy Gymnasium at 3 p.m., and Saint David vs. Saint Johns on the Thatcher campus at 4:30 p.m.
Admission is cashless, with tickets sold exclusively through GoFan. Friday and Saturday has a charge of $10 for a day pass with access to all games at any venue. Saturday admission is $5 per session, the first through 4 p.m. pairings and the second for the championship games beginning at 6:30 p.m. in Guitteau Gymnasium.
This tourney marks the first time 12 teams play two games on the first day at four different sites, 12 teams play two games on the second day at three different sites, the third time the boys and girls meets occur on the same days and dates, and the ninth time the boys meet has been held before Christmas.
Day One – Pool Play Results
Pima (2-0) was first, Empire (1-1) second, and Hayden (0-2) third for Pool A on the Pima campus. The Roughriders defeated Empire 64-42 and Hayden 65-26. Empire defeated Hayden 66-40.
Thatcher (2-0) was first, Apache Junction (1-1) second, and Saint David (0-2) third for Pool B on the Thatcher campus. The Eagles defeated Saint David 70-40 and Apache Junction 47-30. Apache Junction defeated Saint David 49-47.
Morenci (2-0) was first, Safford (1-1) second, and Pueblo (0-2) third for Pool C in Norma Bellamy Gymnasium. Morenci defeated Pueblo 82-58 and Safford 73-55. Safford defeated Pueblo 51-50.
Tanque Verde (2-0) was first, Fort Thomas (1-1) second, and Saint Johns (0-2) third for Pool D in Guitteau Gymnasium. Tanque Verde defeated Saint Johns 72-41 and Fort Thomas 70-54. Fort Thomas defeated Saint Johns 87-56.
