Jon Johnson Photo/Gila Herald: The Pima Roughriders went into Safford and came out with a 61-46 victory on Monday.
By Jon Johnson
SAFFORD – They came, they saw, they conquered. The No. 3 ranked 2A Pima Roughriders pulled away in the second half on Monday during an MLK Jr. Day game to defeat the No. 16 ranked 3A Safford Bulldogs 61-46.
“We feel really good about this win,” said Pima head boys basketball coach Cliff Thompson. “Safford is an excellent team (with) a lot of talent. They play hard.”
Pima tied or led for all but 27 seconds of the game. It was a bit of payback for the Roughriders, who fell to the Bulldogs in the 60th annual EAC Boys Holiday Basketball Tournament 54-57 on Dec. 28, 2023.
“I was not happy with my performance against them in the tournament, so I was coming back with a little bit of revenge,” Pima center Preston Russell said.
Russell brushed off early foul trouble having to leave the game with more than three minutes left in the second quarter when he picked up his third foul defending a jump shot. Russell returned in the second half to hit 12 of his 15 points and get numerous offensive and defensive rebounds. He also played an integral part in Pima’s interior defense.
Keegan Corona led Pima with 23 points and handled the rock through tough pressure from the Safford guards all game long. It was the third straight game covered by the Gila Herald in which Corona scored at least 23 points.
The rest of Pima’s scoring attack included Clark Ashby with 8 points, and Riley Alder and Sam Ray with 7 points each.
“We knew we were going to have to play four full solid quarters and I feel like we did,” Thompson said. “We didn’t let up and we found a way to score when we weren’t executing real well. And then we just ground it out on defense. I’m really proud of the guys.”
For Safford, Jojo Ruelas ripped off a team-high 20 points, while Nephi Fox had 9, Nate Quintero had 8 points, Braden Bowman had 6 (all in the first quarter), and Izaiah Alvarado had 3.
Safford (3-0 region, 4-0 conference, 13-5 overall) remains in the top spot in the 3A South and remains unbeaten in conference games.
Pima (6-0 region, 6-1 conference, 12-6 overall) has won its last four games and remains atop the 2A East with Morenci (7-1 region, 9-1 conference, 19-3 overall) nipping at their heels. Pima has the tiebreaker over Morenci by beating them in the regular season so far.
Pima 61 Safford 46
After Pima broke the ice with a jumper from Riley Alder at the elbow, Jojo Ruelas found himself wide open on a loose ball scramble and put it in off glass. Ruelas later gave an assist to Izaiah Alvarado, who hit the deep ball for his only points on the night.
Brayden Bowman had early success and scored six points all in the paint in the first quarter for Safford.
“Our rotation wasn’t getting there,” Thompson said. “Their guards are quick; they beat us off the dribble and then helping the helper wasn’t there. So, we fixed that in the second half.”
Between Keegan Corona hitting from deep and Preston Russell and Sam Ray cleaning the glass and getting putbacks, Pima led 14-11 after one-quarter of play.
The Roughriders opened the second on the run as Sam Ray passed the rebound to Corona who tossed a half-court pass to a sprinting Ashby for the easy layup.
The teams battled back and forth with Nate Quintero getting a couple of steals and a score. Then with 3:36 left in the second quarter with Pima up by two, Preston Russell was called for his third foul and had to sit, much to the chagrin of his head coach Cliff Thompson, who did not agree with a couple of calls against Russell.
With Russell out Safford plugged up the paint and became more dominant defensively down low, with Nephi Fox getting a big block.
The teams went back and forth and Safford had a chance to take the lead with time running out in the second but Joel Mattice stepped up to take the charge and turn the ball over to Pima, and the Roughriders took a 25-24 lead into halftime.
The start of the third quarter brought the return of Preston Russell to the lineup and he immediately paid dividends by cleaning the glass on a Corona jumper and putting it back in before even landing to put Pima up three.
Russell also deflected a pass to cause a turnover and scored two buckets to push the lead. Every time Safford began to claw back in the third Pima struck back. Nephi Fox hits a 3-pointer; Corona comes back with a 3-pointer for Pima; Jojo Ruelas makes a nifty move, Clark Ashby gets a rebound put back.
Still, it was a 4-point game when Keegan Corona crossed up Jace Jameson and finished through contact for an and-1 play. The ensuing free throw and a Sam Ray rebound putback gave Pima a 42-35 lead at the end of the third quarter.
Pima’s bigs kept it up in the fourth with Ashby hitting a couple of shots. Then, just as Ruelas has got Safford on the comeback trail, Russell scores on a dish from Ashby.
Then Russell came up with two defensive rebounds in a row and defended the hoop. And on the other side of the court, he gathered in a rebound and put it back before landing for the second time of the night. The play gave Pima a 13-point lead with less than 2 minutes left in the game.
Keegan Corona hit 5 out of 6 free throws in the final seconds and Pima came into Safford and took out the Bulldogs 61-46.
“I’m just really proud of my guys,” Thompson said. “We’re starting to come together as a team. We’re starting to play with some confidence and we just want to keep improving.”
Pima will next travel to face the Blue Ridge Yellowjackets on Thursday, starting at 7:30 p.m.
Safford will next host the (Tucson) Empire Ravens on Thursday, starting at 7 p.m.
