Joseph City wins 1A State Championship 64-55
By Jon Johnson
PHOENIX — The No. 2 Fort Thomas Apaches battled valiantly to the end. Still, the hole they dug for themselves in the first half through turnovers and weak transition defense against No. 1 Joseph City proved too much to overcome. On Friday, the Wildcats took home the gold ball as the 1A State Girls Basketball Champions with a 64-55 win over The Fort at Arizona Veterans Memorial Coliseum.
“It always feels like a letdown, I think, when you lose in the state championship game because you don’t go into it thinking you’re going to lose,” said Fort Thomas head coach Lee Haws. “You expect to win, and that’s one thing that our girls did – they played better in the second half. Great season overall, and you can’t let one game define the season. I’m just super proud of the girls and the way they responded. It was a great season.”
The Apaches finished the season 7-0 in the 1A Region, 15-1 in the 1A Conference, and 27-4 overall, with two of those losses coming against state champion Joseph City.
The teams traded buckets early on, and Fort Thomas’ lone senior, Adaia Lorenzo, hit two 3’s for The Fort’s first two field goals to keep pace with the Wildcats early, 6-6. Lorenzo went 5-7 from distance and 2-2 from the charity stripe for a team-high 17 points. She also recorded 2 rebounds, 2 assists, and 2 steals.
But Joseph City had the two Neills – Amber and Audrey – who contributed 27 and 24 points, respectively.
Amber was also a beast on the boards, just missing out on a double-double with 9 rebounds. She got a rebound putback to go and then drove for a bucket and scored a separate time in the paint to end the first quarter with Joseph City up 15-8.
The Wildcats went on a 13-3 run to open the second. They took advantage of Apaches’ turnovers and scored in transition — or at least stole possessions.
Fort Thomas fought back with a long ball from Kaylee Benally for 3 of her 11 points, but the Wildcats countered with a 3 of its own by Gabrielle Jesmer.
Even though down, the crowd seemed to favor the Apaches, and when Jaime Johnson scored through contact for an and-1 play, they erupted.
But again, Joseph City answered right back – this time with a 3 in the corner by Jaydiana Kinlicheenie – and after Amber scored another rebound putback, the Wildcats went into halftime up comfortably 35-18.
Fort Thomas came back in the second half, and outscored Joseph City 37-29, but its first-half deficit was too great to overcome.
The Fort came back through the deep ball from 3’s from Lorenzo, Benally, and Raeleigh Hawkins – who was plagued with foul trouble.
“The second half was great because our girls played balls to the wall,” Haws said. “We had a couple of adjustments. We had to speed it up a little bit to cut the 17-point deficit down, and we did – we just kind of ran out of time . . . (I’m) extremely proud of them for the season and for the way they responded in the second half.”
But every time Fort Thomas came close, Joseph City returned with another score from another Neill.
Gabrielle Jesmer also got in on the action for the Wildcats and scored on a runner and a jumper to finish with 8 points on 3-10 shooting. April Neill was also a significant factor in the game – on defense and offense. April went 3-6 from the field for 7 points and had 3 rebounds and 2 steals.
After Lozano’s 17 points for Fort Thomas, Kaylee Benally went 4-15 for 11 points and had 8 rebounds and 6 assists for a well-rounded game. Corey Cody went 3-5 from the field and 3-4 from the free-throw line for 9 points. She also had 7 rebounds and 5 steals. Jamie Johnson went 3-13 from the field and 1-3 from the free-throw line for 7 points. She also had 4 assists, 2 steals, and 1 block. Other scorers for Fort Thomas included Raeleigh Hawkins and Makayla Chapman with 4 points each and Leilynn Wesley with 3 points.
In the final quarter, the Neills refused to give up anyway and sealed the victory for the Wildcats.
Amber Neill of Joseph City finished with 24 points on 10-19 shooting from the field and 4-5 from the free-throw line, 9 rebounds, and 7 steals, and Audrey Neill had 20 points on 7-10 shooting from the field and 6-11 from the free-throw line to lead the Wildcats to victory, 64-55, and the 1A State Girls Basketball Championship.
While hard to swallow, Haws was magnanimous in defeat and praised his players for their effort.
“I’m just super proud of my girls,” Haws said.
2A Girls Championship
In the 2A Girls Basketball Championship, Miami defeated Arizona Lutheran Academy 52-22 at Arizona Veterans Memorial Coliseum on Saturday. San Carlos’ own Crystal Hooke-Pietila coaches the team with assistant coaches Vanna Moses and B.J. Burries. The last time the Lady Vandals celebrated a championship title was in 1987.
3A Conference
