Raymundo Frasquillo Photo/Gila Herald: Class of 2022 members Sadie Hawkins (4), Kiley McGrath (20), and Kierra Lacey (14) lead the Wildkats in the post-game ritual, congratulating their opponent with high-fives. The visiting Desert Christian Eagles left Duncan with a 26-17 win on Feb. 1. The No. 15 Wildkats (11-11 overall) head to No. 2 Rock Point (19-1) while the No. 7 Eagles (16-10) host No. 10 Williams (20-7) for play-in games on Wednesday, Feb. 9.
Wildkats at .500 (11-11) overall, ranked No.15
By Raymundo Frasquillo
ROCK POINT – Duncan did not finish high enough in the region standings to participate in the three-day South Region versus Tucson Region Tourney on Feb. 3-5. The Wildkats came in fourth and under .500 (3-5) at home, but were 8-7 in seeding games to end the regular season ranked in the Top 16.
The Eric Bejarano-coached No. 15 Wildkats head to the No. 2 Rock Point Cougars for the play-in round on Wednesday, Feb. 9 at 7 p.m.
It is something the senior team members have not experienced before. Nine appearances past the regular season have been logged by the Wildkats since rankings began in the class during the 2012 campaign, going into the semifinals in 2013 as No. 3, and 5-4 overall, but none after the 2017 season. Bejarano took the reigns during the 2019 season, finishing ranked No. 27 (3-22 overall, 3-19 seeding, minus 10.3952 rating, 2-5 region for 6th); No. 19 (11-15, 9-10, minus 4.6070, 3-4 region for 5th) in 2020; and No. 16 (8-11, 8-11, minus 5.4387, 3-4 region for 5th) in 2021. Last season’s team was bumped out by automatic qualifier Chandler Lincoln Prep.
This year’s 8-member roster includes seniors Sadie Hawkins, Kierra Lacey, and Kiley McGrath; junior Kaylee Kempton; sophomores Karly Coats, Aubrey Evans, and Rachel Summer; and freshman Emily Kempton.
Duncan (11-11 overall, 8-7 seeding, minus 1.3815 rating, 2-3 South Region for 4th) is averaging a 26-34 (572-738) score per game or an 8-point deficit while Rock Point (19-1, 13-0, 15.2134, 8-0 North Region for 1st) is averaging a 60-29 (1,191-570) score per game or a 31-point margin.
Rock Point has won its most recent 14 games while Duncan dropped its final two. The Cougars’ schedule is rated as minus 4.1330 while the Wildkats have a minus 1.9061 opponent rating and a pre-dawn start for a long ride there.
Duncan has wins of 27-22 over Willcox (Nov. 22), 37-30 over Tucson Saint Augustine Catholic (Nov. 23), 26-16 over Winkelman Hayden (Dec. 7), 38-19 over Anthem Prep (Dec. 8), 31-10 over San Simon (Dec. 14), 35-22 over Willcox (Dec. 21), 31-29 over Elfrida Valley Union (Jan. 6), 34-12 over Superior (Jan. 7), 26-22 over San Simon (Jan. 18), 30-22 over Valley Union (Jan. 25), and 27-14 over Tombstone (Jan. 26).
The Wildkats lost 20-52 to Tucson Amphitheater (Nov. 23), 17-39 to Joseph City (Nov. 24), 17-57 to Saint David (Nov. 30), 17-56 to Fort Thomas (Dec. 3), 11-47 to Thatcher (Dec. 18), 23-45 to Safford (Dec. 20), to 24-49 to Dishchii’bokah (Jan. 15), 28-48 to Saint David (Jan. 21), 25-57 to Fort Thomas (Jan. 24), 31-44 to Dishchii’bokah (Jan. 29), and 17-26 to Tucson Desert Christian (Feb. 1).
Rock Point has wins of 59-37 over Williams (Nov. 23), 69-8 over Seligman (Dec. 1), 61-8 over Ash Fork (Dec. 6), 64-16 over Colorado City El Capitan (Dec. 9), 58-35 over Teec Nos Pos Red Mesa (Dec. 10), 73-14 over Kearny Ray (Dec. 17), 66-5 over Seligman (Dec. 17), 82-29 over Payson (Dec. 18), 47-27 over Heber Mogollon (Dec. 18), 51-25 over Pinon (Jan. 3), 74-35 over El Capitan (Jan. 12), 67-27 over El Capitan (Jan. 18), 66-38 over Utah Monument Creek Whitehorse (Jan. 19), 48-13 over Fredonia (Jan. 21), 37-34 over Fredonia (Jan. 27), 42-40 over Red Mesa (Jan. 29), 53-36 over Red Mesa (Jan. 29), 62-50 over Saint Michael (Feb. 1), and 71-47 over Saint Michael (Feb. 1).
The Cougars’ lone loss was 41-46 to Chinle (Dec. 11).
South Region members were ranked No. 1 through No. 34 of 39 in the 1A Class following the final week of rankings. Fort Thomas (27-3 overall, 17-1 seeding, 18.1520 rating, 6-0 region) is No. 1, Saint David (17-11, 11-7, 4.6828, 5-1) No. 10, Dishchii’bikoh (14-11, 9-5, 2.6963, 4-2) No. 11, Duncan (11-11, 8-7, minus 1.3815, 2-3) No. 15, Patagonia (5-9, 4-7, minus 5.8815, 1-3) No. 23, Valley Union (2-17, 2-14, minus 11.4031, 1-5) No. 29, and San Simon (2-14, 2-10, minus 14.7448, 0-5) No. 34.
Rankings were No. 1 through No. 35 of 41 for South Region members following the initial week. Fort Thomas (15-3, 7-1, 10.8320, 0-0) was No. 3, Saint David (17-11, 11-7, 4.6828, 5-1) No. 10, Duncan (8-6, 6-2, 1.1431, 0-0) No. 14, Dishchii’bokah (6-8, 3-3, minus 0.4961, 1-0) No. 17, San Simon (2-8, 2-4, minus 5.5306, 0-0) No. 27, Patagonia (3-5, 2-3, minus 3.6589, 0-0) No. 23, and Valley Union (0-11, 0-8, minus 10.4126, 0-1) No. 35.
Four South Region members are still in contention, three each from the East and Central Regions, and two from the North, West, and Tucson Regions.
The rest of the play-in pairings in the lower bracket are No. 14 San Manuel (12-8, 10-5, 0.4017, 6-1 East Region for 2nd) at No. 3 Salome (19-3, 15-0, 12.7457, 7-0 West Region for 1st) for a 5:30 tip-off, and No. 12 Dishchii’bikoh (14-11, 9-5, 2.6963, 4-2 South Region for 3rd) at No. 5 Joseph City (24-4, 16-2, 9.7661, 13-1 Central Region for 1st) and No. 11 Saint David (17-11, 11-7, 4.6828, 5-1 South Region for 2nd) at No. 6 Saint Michael (16-9, 13-4, 7.2833, 6-2 North Region for 2nd), both for 7 p.m. starts.
In the upper bracket, No. 16 Lincoln Prep (10-6, 10-6, minus 2.3440, 4-3 East Region for 3rd) is at top ranked Fort Thomas (27-3, 17-1, 18.1520, 6-0 South Region for 1st) for 4:30 p.m. start, No. 9 Heber Mogollon (18-8, 14-3, 6.8845, 11-2 Central Region for 2nd) at No. 8 Bagdad (21-8, 13-4, minus 0.5706, 6-2 West Region for 2nd) for 6 p.m. start, No. 10 Williams (20-7, 14-4, 5.7131, 11-3 Central Region for 3rd) at No. 7 Desert Christian (16-10, 14-4, 5.1429, 3-0 Tucson Region for 1st) for 5:30 p.m. start, and No. 13 Sells Baboquivari (9-11, 6-6, 1.2532, 1-1 Tucson Region for 2nd) at No. 4 Gilbert Leading Edge (21-8, 16-2, 10.3601, 7-0 East Region for 1st) for 7 p.m. start.
The South Region – Tucson Region Tourney resulted in South 3rd seed Dishchii’bokah 43-35 over Tucson 2nd seed Baboquivari on Feb. 3, South top seed Fort Thomas 57-28 over Dishchii’bokah and South 2nd seed Saint David 43-27 over Tucson top seed Desert Christian on Feb. 4; and Dishchii’bokah 46-29 over Desert Christian and Fort Thomas 57-34 over Saint David on Feb. 5.
