Raymundo Frasquillo Photo/Gila Herald: Top seed Fort Thomas earned the 1A East Region tourney title, defeating Arete Prep 88-40 in the semifinals Feb. 4 and Duncan 67-51 in the final Feb. 7. Members of the team are, not in order, Cameron Anderson, Jeremiah Bullis, Jeconiah Edwards, Brad Johnson, Skylar Kindelay, Charles Kniffin, Stanley Loas, Colby Pino, Jaden Preston, Malachi Rogers, Nikolas Thompson, Latrell Titla, Traymond Titla, Tayshaun Wilson, assistant coach Jake Pearson, and head coach Matthew Dona.
By Raymundo Frasquillo
FORT THOMAS – The Matthew
Dona-coached Fort Thomas Apaches earned the 1A East Region boys tourney title,
topping second seed Duncan 67-51 in Jerry W. Hancock Gymnasium Feb. 7. Fort
Thomas led 18-11 following the opening period, 34-23 at halftime, and 51-35
heading into the fourth period.
Senior Jaden Preston’s field goal gave the host Apaches a 12-11 edge with 2:11 left in the opening period and the lead for good. The Wildkats tied the score twice before on a pair of Jarret French 3-pointers, 3-3 with 2:34 and 9-9 with 5:01 elapsed but were unable to do it again. The closest Duncan got was four points thrice in the second period, 14-18 on a Chris Smith 3-pointer with 30 seconds elapsed, 16-20 on a Tommy Hille field goal 1:01 later, and 21-25 on a French 3-pointer with 2:56 left.
Fort Thomas reached a
double-digit advantage, 31-21, on a pair of Skylar Kindelay free throws 23
seconds before halftime. A Conlon Jensen field goal pared Duncan’s deficit to
single digits, but a Malachi Rogers 3-pointer with no time left raised the
margin to 11, 34-23 at halftime.
Duncan cut the deficit to
single digits once more, 35-43 on a Hille 3-pointer with 3:11 left in the third
period, but no closer thereafter. Fort Thomas reached a 23-point advantage on
Rogers’ second 3-pointer of the night, 67-44 with 3:02 left to play.
The Apaches totaled 24
field goals (six 3-pointers) plus 13-17 free throws compared to 18 field goals
(seven 3-pointers) plus 8-9 free throws by the Wildkats.
Rogers netted 22 points on
seven field goals (two 3-pointers) plus 6-6 free throws and Kindelay 19 seven
field goals (two 3-pointers) plus 3-5 free throws. Seniors Brad Johnson and
Latrell Titla added eight points apiece, Preston six, and sophomore Cameron
Anderson four.
For the Wildkats, French
had 14 points on four 3-pointers plus 2-2 free throws and Hille 10 on four
field goals (one 3-pointer) plus 1-2 free throws. Seniors Lucas Basteen, Cliff Hansen,
and Chris Smith added six points apiece, senior Steven Pierpont five, and
junior Nathan Kempton and sophomore Conlon Jensen two each.
Fort Thomas eliminated Gilbert
Arete Prep 88-40 and Duncan ousted Cibecue 70-46 during the tourney semifinals
Feb. 4.
The Apaches were the top
seed to the region tourney with an 8-0 region record, Duncan second (6-2),
Cibecue third (5-3), Arete Prep fourth (5-3), Phoenix NFL Yet fifth (4-4),
Superior sixth (3-5), North Phoenix Prep seventh (3-5), Ray eighth (1-7), and
Winkelman Hayden ninth (1-7).
The top 16 teams will make
up the state tourney field. A play-in round at the higher seed is on Saturday, Feb.
15. The eight winners meet for the quarterfinals on Feb. 21 in the Prescott
area, with semifinals on Feb. 22 and the championship on Feb. 22.
Fort Thomas (17-2 seeding) was
ranked No. 1 of 34 teams as of Feb. 7. Rankings of the other East Region
members were No. 8 for Duncan (13-5), No. 9 for NFL Yet (12-5), No. 12 for Arete
Prep (10-8), No. 16 for Cibecue (8-9), No. 21 for North Phoenix Prep (8-9), No.
22 for Superior (6-11), No. 25 for Winkelman Hayden (4-14), and No. 28 for Kearny
Ray (2-16).
Members of the state’s top-ranked team are seniors Jeremiah Bullis, Jeconiah Edwards, Brad Johnson, Skylar Kindelay, Charles Kniffin, Stanley Loas, Jaden Preston, Malachi Rogers, Nikolas Thompson, and Latrell Titla; juniors Colby Pino, Traymond Titla, and Trayshaun Wilson; and sophomore Cameron Anderson.
During their 4-year career,
the senior Apaches posted an 11-0 record versus the Wildkats, and went 5-3 in
the region tourney, 28-2 in the region, 37-10 in Jerry W. Hancock Gymnasium,
6-5 in the state meet, and currently 88-36 overall.
The win was the seventh
straight at home by Fort Thomas over Duncan and the 12th in a row. The Apaches
averaged a 60-42 (663-465) score per game or an 18-point margin in the previous
11 pairings.
Duncan prevailed over the
Apaches 72-66 (Dec. 28, 2016) at EAC. The Wildkats’ last win in Fort Thomas was
54-51 (Dec. 15, 2015).
1A East All-Region
All-region honorees were
announced following the championship game. The First Team included Fort Thomas seniors
Latrell Titla and Skylar Kindelay, Duncan junior Jarret French, Cibecue senior
Roger Lupe III, Arete Prep junior Toni Atolgabe, Hayden freshman Brandon
Gardner.
Second Team members had
Fort Thomas senior Jaden Preston, Duncan junior Tommy Hille, Cibecue senior Corleone
Dupris, Arete Prep junior Brandon Fish and sophomore Matt McClelland, and Hayden
freshman Isaac Castillo.
Honorable Mention was given
to Fort Thomas seniors Jeremiah Bullis and Jeconiah Edwards plus junior Cameron
Anderson; Duncan seniors Lucas Basteen, Cliff Hansen, and Chris Smith; Cibecue
freshman Leaundre Lupe and Micah Ivins; Arete Prep junior Owen Kremer; Phoenix
NFL Yet sophomore Kristopher Floyd; Superior senior Sammy Lopez and junior Adam
Navarrette; Ray juniors Cody Hickingbottom and Alex Carrillo; and Hayden senior
Javier Lopez and junior Arthur Castillo.
Fort Thomas senior Brad
Johnson was the East Region Offensive Player of the Year, Duncan senior
Pierpont the East Region Defensive Player of the Year, and Fort Thomas senior
Malachi Rogers the East Region Player of the Year / Most Valuable Player.
The East Region Coach of the Year was Matthew Dona of Fort Thomas.