Raymundo Frasquillo Photo/Gila Herald: Morenci girls jump for joy as they defeated Willcox 58-56 in overtime during a play-in game on Feb. 8. The No. 11 Wildcats advanced to the state meet first round against No. 6 Saint Johns on Feb. 16.
Roughriders meet No. 14 Firebirds in the first round
By Raymundo Frasquillo
PRESCOTT – The Albert Ortega-coached No. 11 Morenci Wildcats face the No. 6 Ray Davis-coached Saint Johns Redskins in the state tourney first round on Friday, Feb. 16. The pairing is at 6 p.m. on the Prescott High campus, 1050 Ruth Street. Saint Johns defeated Morenci 55-29 during the Round Valley tourney on Dec. 7.
The Wildcats (15-11 overall, 12-6 seeding, 7.0053 rating) averaged a 46-42 (1,190-1,099) score per game or a 4-point margin through 26 games while the Redskins (26-5, 15-3, 13.1240) averaged a 53-33 (1,651-1,029) score per game or a 20-point margin through 31 games.
Morenci needed an extra period for the first-round advancement, slipping past the No. 22 Willcox Cowgirls (11-15*, 9-9, minus 0.1662) 58-56 during a play-in round game on Feb. 8.
Two other East Region teams are also competing in the first round, No. 13 Tombstone (11-7, 4.7151) vs. No. 4 San Carlos (16-2, 15.4806) in Prescott Valley’s Findlay Toyota Center at noon and No. 3 Pima (16-2, 16.3501) vs. No. 14 Phoenix Basis (12-3, 4.2690) on the Prescott Valley Bradshaw Mountain campus at 4:30 p.m.
The No. 6 Morenci boys (15-2 seeding, 10.7293 rating) precede the Morenci girls in the same site, hosting No. 11 Phoenix Country Day School (12-5, 7.5536) at 4:30 p.m.
2A State Tourney
The No. 9-24 teams, with the lower seed visiting the higher seed, compete on Thursday, Feb. 8 for eight slots, No. 9-16. These winners face the Top 8 for the 16-team state tourney field beginning Feb. 16.
It will be top-ranked Phoenix Country Day School (15-1 seeding, 18.8352 rating) versus No. 16 Phoenix Veritas Prep (11-7, 2.6281), and No. 9 Bullhead City Mohave Accelerated (13-3, 6.2200) vs. No. 8 Phoenix Arizona Lutheran (15-3, 11.1978) in the upper bracket.
The lower bracket also has No. 10 Eagar Round Valley (11-6, 5.9668) vs. No. 7 Phoenix Horizon Honors (16-2, 12.1574) and No. 15 Sanders Valley (9-8, 3.6835) vs. No. 2 Miami (16-1, 16.7612).
2A Play-in Round
The No. 9-24 teams met for the play-in round, with the lower seed visiting the higher seed, on Feb. 8 for eight slots, No. 9-16. These winners face the Top 8 for the 16-team state tourney field beginning Feb. 16.
Ousted were No. 24 Many Farms (11-8, minus 0.3561), 49-48 (Feb. 9) by No. 9 Bullhead City Mohave Accelerated; No. 17 Tucson Saint Augustine Catholic (15-4, 4.0604), 71-36 by No. 16 Phoenix Basis; No. 18 Scottsdale Rancho Solano Prep (9-6, 3.9185), 49-38 by No. 15 Tombstone; and No. 12 Gilbert Leading Edge (11-6, 5.5222), 47-45 by No. 21 Phoenix Veritas Prep (11-7, 2.6281) in one bracket.
The other bracket eliminations included No. 22 Willcox (9-9, minus 0.1662), 58-56 in overtime by No. 11 Morenci; No. 20 Gilbert Classical (11-7, 3.2406), 47-25 by No. 13 Scottsdale Prep; No. 14 Flagstaff Northland Prep (10-5, 5.2023), 62-43 (Feb. 10) by No. 19 Sanders Valley; and No. 23 Kingman Academy (9-5, 0.5060), by virtue of a forfeit to No. 10 Eagar Round Valley.
Final 2A State Rankings
The 2A state final rankings following play-in round games were Phoenix Country Day School (15-1 seeding, 18.8352 rating) No. 1, Miami (16-1, 16.7612) No. 2, Pima (16-2, 16.3501) No. 3, San Carlos (16-2, 15.4806) No. 4, Glendale Prep (13-1, 15.0061) No. 5, Saint Johns (15-3, 13.1240) No. 6, Phoenix Horizon Honors (16-2, 12.1574) No. 7, and Phoenix Arizona Lutheran (15-3, 11.1978) No. 8.
Bullhead City Mohave Accelerated was No. 9 (13-3, 6.2200), Eagar Round Valley No. 10 (11-6, 5.9668), Morenci No. 11 (12-6, 5.8884), Gilbert Leading Edge No. 12 (11-6, 5.5222), Scottsdale Prep No. 13 (13-5, 5.3342), Flagstaff Northland Prep No. 14 (10-5, 5.2023), Tombstone No. 15 (11-7, 4.7151), and Phoenix Basis No. 16 (12-3, 4.2690).
Tucson Saint Augustine Catholic was No. 17 (15-4, 4.0604), Scottsdale Rancho Solano Prep was No. 18 (9-6, 3.9185), Sanders Valley No. 19 (9-8, 3.6835), Gilbert Classical No. 20 (11-7, 3.2406), Phoenix Veritas Prep No. 21 (11-7, 2.6281), Willcox No. 22 (9-9, minus 0.1662), Kingman Academy No. 23 (9-5, 0.5060), Many Farms No. 24 (11-8, minus 0.3561).
Initial rankings on Jan. 9 had San Carlos No. 1 (10-1 seeding, 16.3606 rating), Miami No. 2 (9-1, 15.8087), Horizon Honors No. 3 (6-1, 14.3096), Phoenix Country Day No. 4 (4-1, 13.5137), Saint Johns No. 5 (8-2, 12.8585), Pima No. 6 (5-1, 12.6765), Mohave Accelerated No. 7 (8-0, 12.6258), and Glendale Prep No. 8 (6-1, 11.0778).
Morenci was No. 9 (6-3, 7.9531), Scottsdale Prep No. 10 (8-1, 7.9307), Saint Augustine No. 11 (7-1, 6.7870), Round Valley No. 12 (6-4, 6.3857), Leading Edge No. 13 (8-4, 5.4945), Rancho Solano Prep No. 14 (6-2, 5.1160), Valley No. 15 (6-4, 4.6699), Gilbert Classical No. 16 (8-4, 4.6347).
Tombstone was No. 17 (4-4, 4.5384), Arizona Lutheran No. 18 (5-2, 4.4131), Kingman Academy No. 19 (6-1, 4.3404), Benson No. 20 (5-2, 3.4714), Willcox No. 21 (5-5, 2.2527), Veritas Prep No. 22 (5-3, 1.7475), Many Farms No. 23 (7-5, 0.1825), and Saint John Paul II No. 24 (5-4, minus 0.7785).
Final 2A East Region Standings
The 2A East Region standings following 42 games through Feb. 6, were Pima (22-4 overall, 12-0 region) first, Morenci (14-11, 9-3) second, Tombstone (17-11, 7-5) third, Willcox (11-15*, 5-7) fourth, Benson (14-13, 5-7) fifth, Bisbee (8-14, 4-8) sixth, and Tucson Santa Rita (1-21, 0-12) seventh.
Pima (12-0) had region wins over Willcox (69-14, Dec. 1), Tombstone (56-33, Dec. 12), Bisbee (67-24, Dec. 15), Santa Rita (57-4, Jan. 8), Benson (72-9, Jan. 19), Morenci (69-25, Jan. 11), Tombstone (62-19, Jan. 19), Bisbee (67-34, Jan. 23), Willcox (64-37, Jan. 29), Benson (47-21, Jan. 31), Santa Rita (79-6, Feb. 1), and Morenci (47-42, Feb. 6). The Top 8 Roughriders (16-2 seeding, unknown rating) averaged a 54-29 (1,414-756) score per game or a 25-point margin through 26 games.
Morenci (9-3) had region wins over Willcox (50-45, Dec. 6), Santa Rita (57-43, Dec. 12), Benson (53-41, Dec. 18), Tombstone (53-40, Jan. 5), Bisbee (51-33, Jan. 8), Tombstone (54-44, Jan. 12), Willcox (60-47, Jan. 16), Santa Rita (62-25, Jan. 19), and Bisbee (56-44, Feb. 1). The No. 11 Wildcats (12-6 seeding, 5.8884 rating) averaged a 45-42 (1,132-1,043) score per game or a 3-point margin through 25 games.
Tombstone (7-5) had region wins over Bisbee (63-31, Dec. 7), Willcox (49-41, Dec. 19), Bisbee (59-41, Jan. 16), Willcox (53-33, Jan. 23), Santa Rita (58-11, Jan. 26), Santa Rita (66-17, Jan. 31), and Benson (33-30, Feb. 6). The No. 15 Yellow Jackets (11-7 seeding, 4.7151 rating) averaged a 43-37 (1,192-1,031) score per game or a 6-point margin through 28 games.
Willcox (5-7) had region wins over Tombstone (58-50, Dec. 19), Benson (59-46, Jan. 8), Santa Rita (57-19, Jan. 11), Benson (57-38, Feb. 1), and Santa Rita (66-17, Feb.6). The No. 22 Cowgirls (9-9 seeding, minus 0.1662 rating) averaged a 43-43 (1,106-1,112) score per game or a tie through 26 games.
Benson (5-7) had region wins over Santa Rita (56-8, Dec. 7), Bisbee (49-41, Dec. 12), Tombstone (82-35, Jan. 11), Santa Rita (62-24, Jan. 16), and Morenci (46-43, Jan. 19). The No. 25 Bobcats (8-9 seeding, minus 0.8523 rating) averaged a 47-40 (1,280-1,078) score per game or a 7-point margin through 27 games.
Bisbee (4-8) had region wins over Santa Rita (58-16, Jan. 5), Benson (36-30, Jan. 19), Willcox (47-35, Jan. 26), and Santa Rita (73-43, Jan. 29). The No. 28 Pumas (6-12 seeding, minus 4.0609 rating) averaged a 38-45 (834-994) score per game or a 7-point deficit through 22 games.
Santa Rita (0-12) did not win a regional game. The No. 40 Eagles (1-16 seeding, minus 16.1752 rating) averaged a 21-59 (470-1,308) score per game or a 38-point deficit through 22 games.
Morenci – 58, Willcox – 56 OT
Trailing 50-53 as the regulation clock wound down, senior Ciantae Dosela received a pass, turned, and released a low-percentage corner shot. It drew nothing but net as the buzzer sounded. The on-the-spot official ruled it good by raising his arms. The visible show of emotion by the home team and fans would lead one to believe it was a game-winner, yet all it did was extend the game another four minutes.
Willcox sophomore Addison Burright (11) made the second of two free throws for a 54-53 advantage with 2:37 left, Morenci junior Sway Cordova (2) tied it at 54-54 with the first of two free throws 29 seconds later and put the Wildcats ahead to stay with a field goal six seconds after that.
The teams traded a pair of missed free throws before sophomore Rozlyn Funari gave Morenci a 4-point edge, 58-54, with 36 seconds remaining. Willcox junior Maddie Bennett (14) added the final field goal with two seconds left.
Following an early 3-0 lead, the Wildcats trailed for the bulk of the game, by nine, 9-18 with 32 seconds elapsed in the second period; by 10, 19-29 at halftime; by 12, 28 seconds into the third period and 30-42 with 26 seconds left; and throughout the fourth period until tying at the buzzer. Morenci outscored the visitors 23-11 in the fourth period to force an overtime period.
For the game, Morenci connected on 23 field goals (two 3-pointers) plus 10-24 free throws compared to 22 field goals (five 3-pointers) plus 7-18 free throws by Willcox.
Sophomore Rozlyn Funari (10) netted 13 points on six field goals plus 1-4 free throws, freshman Tiara Jones (20) 12 on five field goals plus 2-3 free throws, and junior Jayla Wilson (3) 10 on five field goals plus 0-2 free throws. Senior Elena Leonard (5) added nine points, senior Ciantae Dosela (24) eight, Cordova (2) four, and senior Aniyah Fallow two.
Jones pulled down 14 of 41 rebounds, Funari eight, Wilson seven, and Dosela five; Leonard, Dosela, Wilson, and Funari each had two of nine assists; Wilson made 10 of 27 steals, Leonard six, and Jones four; and Jones made all four blocks.
For Willcox, Burright (11) finished with a game-high 17 points on seven field goals (two 3-pointers) plus 1-2 free throws, senior Mia Mungarro (4) 12 on five field goals (one 3-pointer) plus 1-3 free throws, and Bennett (14) 11 on three field goals plus 5-6 free throws. Freshman Paislee Adams (13) added nine points and sophomore Kennedy Ebert (12) seven.
Burright totaled 21 of 54 rebounds and both Bennett and Ebert had 12 apiece; Mungarro (4) made five of 12 assists; Mungarro, Bennett, and Ebert each made five of 20 steals; and Bennett had 10 of 15 blocks.
