Duncan boys bound for Williams in 1A state tourney first round Friday

Raymundo Frasquillo Photo/Gila Herald: Duncan recognized senior basketball players during the final regular-season game on March 2. The girls prevailed 36-25 and the boys 73-41 over Immaculate Heart on March 2. Six boys and one girl played in their final home game for the Wildkats. Mothers of the senior team members posed with their student-athlete images following the boys’ game. They are, from left, Lora Pierpont (Steven), Shannon Kempton (Nathan), Shandra Donaldson (Shallon), Mindy Claridge (Melissa), Sandy French (Jarret), Brianne McGrath (Jason), and Stacy Reidhead (Tommy Hille). The No. 9 Duncan boys take on the No. 8 Vikings in Williams during the state tourney first round on March 5.

By Raymundo Frasquillo

DUNCAN – The 2021 Duncan basketball boys are bound for No. 8 Williams for the first round of the 1A state tourney Friday, March 5. The Wildkats are the No. 9 seed in the Round of 16 with a 15-5 overall record and a 0.7303 rating. The Vikings are 13-4 with a 1.1182 rating.

Raymundo Frasquillo Photo/Gila Herald: Steven Pierpont defends against an inside look by Immaculate Heart center David Ferral. The Duncan senior had 12 points and scored in double figures during 13 other regular-season games.

Williams averaged a score of 64-44 (1,092-755) or a 20-point margin through 17 games. The Vikings have wins of 86-16 over Seligman (Jan. 22), 86-83 over Heber Mogollon (Jan. 23), 58-51 over Saint Michael (Jan. 28), 70-32 over Mayer (Jan. 30), 67-28 over Ash Fork (Feb. 4), 72-24 over Fredonia (Feb. 5), 75-42 over Flagstaff Basis (Feb. 9), 63-35 over Salome (Feb. 11), 97-17 over Seligman (Feb. 13), 84-66 over Flagstaff Northland Prep (Feb. 19), 71-20 over Bagdad (Feb. 23), 65-39 over Ash Fork (Feb. 26), and 67-20 over Fredonia (Feb. 27).

Raymundo Frasquillo Photo/Gila Herald: Tommy Hille goes up for two of his 10 points against Immaculate Heart defender Andrew Stanbrook. The Duncan senior contributed double digits in six other regular-season games.

The losses were 31-66 to Scottsdale Rancho Solano Prep (Feb. 2), 49-67 to Colorado City El Capitan (Feb. 6), 64-85 to Bullhead City Mohave Accelerated (Feb. 18), and 73-80 to Joseph City (Feb. 20).

Duncan averaged a score of 52-41 (1,042-810) or an 11-point margin through 20 games. The Wildkats prevailed 60-26 over San Simon (Jan. 19), 59-26 over Anthem Prep (Jan. 20), 61-42 over Fort Thomas (Jan. 27), 59-25 over Patagonia (Jan. 29), 56-47 over Tombstone (Jan. 30), 55-22 over Tucson Immaculate Heart (Feb. 1), 61-32 over San Simon (Feb. 2), 50-20 over San Manuel (Feb. 6), 62-35 over Elfrida Valley Union (Feb. 8), 59-38 over Fort Thomas (Feb. 10), 52-43 over Tucson Desert Christian (Feb. 16), 72-35 over San Manuel (Feb. 18), 56-49 over Patagonia (Feb. 23), 49-27 over Valley Union (Feb. 27), and 73-41 over Immaculate Heart (March 2).

The losses were 77-85 to Mogollon (Jan. 22), 52-58 to Saint David (Feb. 5), 54-63 to Kearny Ray (Feb. 13), 45-61 to Saint Johns (Feb. 20), and 30-35 to Tucson’s The Gregory School (Feb. 25).

Raymundo Frasquillo Photo/Gila Herald: Jarret French starts his delivery of a free throw against Immaculate Heart. The Duncan senior leads the team in free throw percentage with 88 (21-24) through 20 games.

Duncan shot 57 percent (123-217) from the free-throw line compared to 40 (138-279) for its combined opponents.

Senior Jarret French has a free throw percentage of 88 (21-24), senior Steven Pierpont 60 (28-47), junior Conlon Jensen 57 (34-60), senior Shallon Donaldson 57 (4-7), senior Tommy Hille 53 (20-38), sophomore Brady Waters 50 (4-8), sophomore Bryant Rapier 50 (1-2), junior Austin Bigler 50 (1-2), senior Jason McGrath 45 (5-14), sophomore Benjamin Harris 33 (2-6), sophomore Logan Basteen 30 (3-10), and sophomore Carson Potter 0-2.

“Our mission was to get a ‘W’ whenever we hit the floor,” Pierpont said.

The rest of the upper bracket includes No. 16 Fort Thomas (4-12 overall, minus 9.1334 rating) at No. 1 Phoenix North Valley Christian (15-1, 14.1126), No. 12 Flagstaff Basis (9-3, minus 1.2204) at No. 5 Ray (18-1, 5.6962), and No. 13 Joseph City (9-5, minus 1.6767) at No. 4 Saint David (15-3, 7.7515).

The bottom bracket has No. 19 Patagonia (11-7, minus 1.9975) at No. 3 Gilbert Leading Edge (12-2, 8.2778), No. 11 The Gregory School (8-5, minus 0.8990) at No. 6 El Capitan (13-2, 4.5198), No. 10 Mogollon (9-5, minus 0.2954) at No. 7 Scottsdale Cicero Prep (11-6, 2.9036), and No. 15 Anthem Prep (7-8, minus 3.5092) at No. 2 Mohave Accelerated (19-1, 9.1421).

Higher seeds host the second round on March 9. Scottsdale Coronado High the semifinals March 13, and the final site March 16 has yet to be decided.

Raymundo Frasquillo Photo/Gila Herald: Duncan upperclassmen Nathan Kempton, Steven Pierpont, Tommy Hille, Shallon Donaldson, and Conlon Jensen watch from the bench as underclassmen attack the basket.