Raymundo Frasquillo Photo/Gila Herald: Chris Smith goes up for a shot attempt between Cibecue defenders Alec Tsosie, left, and Roger Lupe. The Duncan senior guard drew a foul and made 1-2 free throws.
By Raymundo Frasquillo
DUNCAN – The Eldon Merrell-coached Duncan Wildkats slipped past the visiting Cibecue Wildcats 43-41 on Friday, Dec. 21. The win in the closing seconds was the 1A East Region opener for both teams.
Cibecue (5-7 overall, 1-4 seeding, 0-1 region) heads to the Globe-held Copper Cities Tourney on Dec. 27, while Duncan (9-3, 4-1, 1-0) has completed its December schedule.
Duncan opened the season going 3-1 in the three-day, Tucson-held Boyd Baker Tourney. The Wildkats topped Bisbee 79-67 and Joseph City 57-47 on Nov. 25, and Tucson Santa Rita 43-38 on Nov. 26 before falling 37-52 to Tucson Saint Augustine Catholic on Nov. 27.
The Scarlet and Gray also went 3-1 against their next four non-tourney opponents. The wins were 79-35 at the Academy of Tucson on Dec. 3, 68-46 at Winkelman Hayden on Dec. 6, and 61-43 over Hayden in Duncan on Dec. 10. The loss was 37-65 at home to Fort Thomas on Dec. 12.
Seeded fifth for the 57th annual Eastern Arizona Holiday Tourney, Duncan fell 28-66 to fourth seed Thatcher in the first round Dec. 16, downed eighth seed Saint David 57-47 in the consolation round Dec. 17, and outlasted sixth seed Morenci 43-40 Dec. 18 for fifth place.
Through a dozen games, the Wildkats have averaged a 52-49 (627-587) score per game or a 3-point margin. Their free throw shooting percentage is 53 (75-142) compared to 59 (84-142) for their combined opponents.
Senior Jason McGrath leads the team in free-throw shooting with 75 percent (3-4), followed by junior Nathan Kempton at 67 (2-3), junior Jarret French at 64 (9-14), sophomore Conlon Jensen at 63 (10-16), senior Chris Smith at 56 (10-18), senior Lucas Basteen at 54 (13-24), junior Tommy Hille at 50 (8-16), freshman Logan Basteen at 50 (1-2), senior Steven Pierpont at 42 (11-26), and senior Cliff Hansen at 42 (8-19).
Duncan is on the road for its next game against the NFL Yet Eagles on Jan. 7, 2020.
Duncan – 43, Cibecue – 41
A Pierpont hook shot from the low block broke a 41-41 tie with 11 seconds remaining. The blue-clad visitors called a time out, passed to an open player, and missed on a shot attempt.
Duncan called a timeout after getting the rebound and an inbound play was successfully executed. The buzzer sounded to end the game.
Pierpont’s 3-pointer broke the game’s initial tie of 2-2, sparked an 11-4 run, and gave Duncan its biggest lead, 13-6 with 1:20 left in the opening quarter.
Duncan led 14-10 heading into the second quarter, sophomore Conlon Jensen’s 3-pointer with no time left gave the Wildcats a 22-18 halftime advantage, and an 11-point third-quarter outing by both teams left the margin at four.
The score was tied thrice in the third quarter, 22-22 with 6:51 left, 24-24 with 5:29 left, and 29-29 with 4:01 left.
Cibecue had its largest lead, 29-24 after the game’s second tie, on a 9-2 run with 4:58 left in the third quarter.
French’s 3-pointer tied the score at 29-29, a Lucas Basteen field goal broke the tie and a pair of Kempton free throws gave Duncan a 33-29 edge heading into the fourth quarter.
Cibecue sophomore Alec Tsosie’s 3-pointer had tied the game for a fifth time with 24 seconds left.
A pair of free throws was the difference in scoring as both teams made 18 field goals (three 3-pointers). The Wildkats made 4-7 free throws compared to 2-2 by the Wildcats.
Hille netted 10 points on five field goals. Pierpont added eight points, Basteen and Hansen six apiece, French five, Kempton four, Jensen three, and Smith one.
For Cibecue, senior Roger Lupe had a game-high 14 points on five field goals (two 3-pointers) plus 2-2 free throws and both Jaden Sinquash and freshman Leaundre Lupe 10 apiece on five field goals. Senior Corleone Dupris added four points and Tsosie three.
Cibecue entered the Duncan gymnasium averaging a 60-58 (656-641) score per game or a 2-point margin during its prior 11 games.
