By Jon Johnson
THATCHER – The Thatcher Eagles backcourt made their best impression of Turkish Olympic sharpshooter Yusuf Dikec Wednesday night as they dialed in 13 3-pointers on their way to an impressive 85-56 win over the visiting 4A Douglas Bulldogs.
“I’m just happy it’s over,” said Thatcher head coach Kyle Hull. “We watched film on them and they’re tough. They’re really tough offensively. (Lopez) and (Felix) can shoot it and get to the rim. We just really focused on defense and making it difficult for them. They made their shots, but in return, we kind of gave them some of our shots back.”
The game turned in the second quarter when Thatcher’s defense held Douglas to just 11 points while maintaining its scoring spree.
Issac Palmer and Wade Hull went for nearly half the Eagles’ points, bookending most of their scoring in the first and fourth quarters.
Isaac Palmer led the team with 23 points and started the 3-point barrage with three of his four in the opening quarter. He also was a perfect 3-3 from the free-throw line.
Super sophomore Wade Hull finished with 20 points – causing most of the damage from Downtown with four 3-pointers, but also went a perfect 4-4 from the free-throw line.
Ryan Felix tried to keep it close for Douglas and was its outstanding player, going for a game-high 28 points off three 3’s and a perfect 5-5 from the free-throw line. The problem is that except for Diego Lopez’s 10 points, there wasn’t much offense from the rest of the team.
That was surprising because Douglas likes to get out and run in transition. The Bulldogs quickly move a turnover or a made bucket back down the court.
Thatcher had five players score in double figures, including Braden Bryce with 11 and Bronson Stringfellow and Chad Johnson with 10 points each. Sophomore Jay Carter started in the backcourt and contributed 5 points, while Daniel Palmer had 4 and Rhett Lunt had 2.
Thatcher will next travel to start region play at Tucson Catalina (0-3 conference, 0-8 overall) on Jan. 14, beginning at 7 p.m.
“From here on out, it’s all tough,” Kyle Hull said. “Moving forward, we kind of still have to find ourselves and who we are and continue to play tough defense. If we can do that, we can knock down shots, so . . . focus on the ‘D’.”
In other local prep boys basketball action:
On Tuesday, Safford (0-2 conference, 5-11 overall) defeated St. David 70-54. The Bulldogs will take on Snowflake on Thursday night and then travel to Tucson on Friday to face Catalina. Both games start at 7 p.m.
Pima (2-1 conference, 12-2 overall) lost to Scottsdale Christian 45-49. Pima will next host Morenci on Thursday at 7 p.m.
Morenci (4-0 conference, 11-2 overall) defeated San Miguel 76-34. The Wildcats will travel to face Pima on Thursday night.
