Photo By Steve Carter: Thatcher’s Christian Carter drives to the bucket. The Eagles erased an 8-point fourth-quarter deficit to come back and defeat Tucson Empire, 51-50 on Wednesday night.
Thatcher heads to Show Low for Cougar Classic tournament
By Jon Johnson
THATCHER – Fresh off their 57-51 Eastern Arizona Boys Holiday Tournament Championship victory over Safford, the Thatcher Eagles continued their winning ways Wednesday with a wild 51-50 comeback regional victory over (Tucson) Empire.
Thatcher’s Dylan Riney scored 7 of his 9 points of the night in the pivotal fourth quarter to help erase an 8-point deficit and give Thatcher its fifth straight win.
Empire (0-1 region, 1-2 conference, 10-6 overall) jumped out to an early lead as Deshawn Washington went for 11 of his game-high 15 in the first quarter alone.
Thatcher (1-0 region, 2-1 conference, 6-2 overall) battled back with Isaac Palmer going 5-5 from the charity stripe in the first quarter. Palmer finished 9-11 from the free-throw line with a team-high 13 points.
The teams appeared evenly matched as Thatcher tied it up at 23-23 late in the second but Empire just squeezed out a halftime lead of 26-25 heading into the break.
Then a disastrous third quarter saw the Eagles go cold from the field and score only 8 points in the quarter. Meanwhile, Empire nearly doubled up Thatcher in the quarter as Khari Gurley (14 points) hit one of his four 3-pointers in the quarter and Josh Bronstein went off for 6 of his 8 points to give Empire a 41-33 lead after three-quarters of play.
But the Eagles weren’t done and Thatcher came back to score 18 points in the fourth quarter to defeat Empire 51-50.
Thatcher had a pretty balanced night putting the ball through the hoop with Isaac Palmer going for a team-high 13, Christian Carter and Dylan Riney each put in 9 points, Chad Johnson and Bronson Stringfellow each had 6 points, Braden Bryce finished with 4 and Wyatt Nicholas and Brett Jones each had 2 points.
Deshawn Washington led the way for Empire with 15 points, followed by Khari Gurley with 14 points, Josh Bronstein had 8, Jack Wernimont had 6, Donovan Davidson had 5, and Tre Perkins finished with 2 points.
The Eagles had no time to rest their wings as they headed out today for the two-day Cougar Classic in Show Low.
Thatcher is scheduled to face the 4A Seton Catholic Prep Sentinels on Thursday, starting at 2 p.m. The Sentinels are 8-4 overall and defeated Thatcher’s regional opponent Push Ridge 67-49 on Nov. 25, 2023.
The Eagles are scheduled for a triple header on Friday, Jan. 5, starting with the 1A Mogollon Mustangs at 11 a.m., followed immediately with a match against the 3A East Blue Ridge Yellowjackets at 12:30 p.m., and capped with a match against the 2A East Willcox Cowboys at 5 p.m.
Thatcher’s last scheduled game of the tournament is set for Saturday, Jan. 6, against 1A Independent Music Mountain High School at 10 a.m.
The Eagles next play in the Gila Valley on Jan. 9 when they visit rival Safford. Their next home contest is a regional game versus the Sabino Sabercats on Jan. 12, both games start at 7 p.m.
