By Jon Johnson
THATCHER – The Thatcher Eagles (4-3 conference, 13-9 overall) utilized the long ball to propel runs throughout the game and lead them over visiting region foe Pusch Ridge Christian Academy (1-6 conference, 9-11 overall) on Wednesday, 51-44.
“We knew this one was, obviously, huge for us – region game (and) Pusch Ridge is always tough,” said Thatcher head coach Kyle Hull. “We had a game plan (and) they stuck to it. They were much more disciplined tonight. Hats off to them.”
Thatcher went on a 12-0 run in the last two minutes of the first quarter, started by a 3-pointer from Chad Johnson, who finished with a game-high 15 points. Isaac Palmer (7 points) snagged a long rebound and hit Wyatt Nicholas (12 points) ahead for a fast-break layup. And then Johnson found Ryan Jones (2 points) down low for two before putting an exclamation mark on the quarter with his own deep bomb for 3, and Thatcher entered the quarter break up 17-7.
Pusch Ridge came back behind defense from Ben Lambe (8 points), who had multiple blocks in the game. Lambe also hit from deep, as he and guard Simon Almazan (14 points) helped keep the Lions close in the first half. Almazan hit a spin move to cut it to a 2-point game late in the second quarter. But Thatcher came back with a long ball from Johnson and Bronson Stringfellow (9 points) in the last minute of the quarter, and after Stringfellow picked up the loose ball and found Wade Hull (4 points) for the bucket, the Eagles were riding high with a 25-18 lead at the half.
“We had some guys step in (who) don’t get a lot of minutes but they got some tonight that were able to play some good defense,” coach Hull said. “The key to the game tonight was defensive rebounds and how good the defense was.”
Defense ruled in the third quarter as Lambe registered another block and took it the distance for the score.
The Eagles also played stout defense, with Stringfellow and Nicholas getting blocks to turn the ball over.
The Lions were led by Noah McKinney (15 points), who did most of his damage in the fourth quarter with two long balls.
But Thatcher fought back with Wyatt Nicholas, who owned the fourth, hitting 6 of his 12 points in the quarter – including a shot just over the reach of Lambe. And when the game was in the air with Thatcher up by 4 with about two minutes to play, Nicholas drove on Hardeman and willed the ball in the bucket.
From there, Johnson iced it with a layup off an inbounds play, and the Eagles defeated the Lions 51-44.

“Super happy to get that one,” coach Hull said. “That was kind of a big one for us moving forward into the region. We’ve only got a handful of games left, so we’ve gotta get ’em all.”
Thatcher will have a slight break in their schedule and will next host Palo Verde Magnet on Monday, Jan. 27, for their last regular-season home game. The Eagles end the regular season with four region games on the road, beginning with rival Safford on Wednesday, Jan. 29. Both games have 7 p.m. start times.
