Region leader visits Morenci on Thursday

Raymundo Frasquillo Photo/Gila Herald: Morenci senior guard Jayla Wilson (33) alters the path to the basket for Addison Burright (11). The Willcox junior guard tries to recover the ball as Morenci sophomore Tiara Jones (20) and freshman Jaylianna Guzzo (1) have the same idea. Jones and Wilson contributed double digit scoring as the visitors left with a 45-38 region win on Jan. 23. This week, Willcox is at San Miguel and Morenci at Benson on Tuesday, Jan. 28. Willcox hosts Desert Christian and Morenci hosts Tombstone on Thursday, Jan. 30.

Wildcats ascend back into Top 24 rankings

By Raymundo Frasquillo

MORENCI – The No. 8 Tombstone Yellow Jackets visit Wildcat Memorial Gymnasium on Thursday, Jan. 30. But first, the No. 24 Morenci Wildcats travel to No. 19 Benson on Tuesday, Jan. 28. The games are for regional play.

Other region pairings for South Region members this week (Jan. 27-Feb. 1) include No. 30 Willcox at No. 51 San Miguel and No. 38 Santa Rita at Tombstone on Jan. 28; and No. 17 Desert Christian at Willcox, Benson at San Miguel, and No. 47 Saint Augustine at No. 27 Bisbee on Jan. 30.

The non-region pairings include Miami at Saint Augustine on Jan. 28; Duncan at Santa Rita on Wednesday, Jan. 29; Bisbee at Tucson’s The Gregory School and Gilbert Classical at Saint Augustine on Friday, Jan. 31; and Sells Baboquivari at Desert Christian San Miguel at San Simon on Feb. 1.

Tombstone defeated Patagonia 49-5 on Jan. 27.

2A State Rankings

The Top 24 teams following the regular season’s conclusion will be participating in the post-season. An open tourney for Classes 1A-3A begins on Feb. 11, and the losers are eligible to be part of the 16-team, four-round tourney. The Play-in Round follows on Feb. 13, and the first round on Feb. 17 at the higher seed.

State-wide 2A rankings on Jan. 24 had Miami (12-0 seeding, 21.4517 rating) was No. 1, Phoenix Country Day School (12-2, 20.1024) No. 2, San Carlos (13-0, 18.3920) No. 3, Pima (11-1, 16.8697) No. 4, Phoenix Arizona Lutheran (10-2, 14.6146) No. 5, Saint Johns (11-3, 12.9924) No. 6, Fountain Hills (9-2, 12.1387) No. 7, and Tombstone (10-1, 11.5313) No. 8.

Raymundo Frasquillo Photo/Gila Herald: Senior guard Talia McCabe (12) taps the ball out of Gabriela Galaz’ hands in the fourth quarter. The Willcox senior forward had eight points and McCabe four.

Glendale Prep (9-4, 10.8136) was No. 9, Bullhead City Mohave Accelerated (10-3, 9.4579) No. 10, Scottsdale Prep (12-2, 9.0124) No. 11, Kingman Academy (10-3, 7.6141) No. 12, Phoenix Horizon Honors (6-7, 6.3558) No. 13, Rancho Solano Prep (8-4, 6.3142) No. 14, Willcox (8-4, 5.9012) No. 15, and Many Farms (9-4, 5.6783) No. 16.

Eagar Round Valley (9-5, 5.3974) was No. 17, Phoenix North Valley Christian (7-4, 4.5692) No. 18, Benson (6-5, 4.0954) No. 19, Gilbert Leading Edge (5-6, 3.7080) No. 20, Sanders Valley (8-6, 3.4252) No. 21, Tucson Saint Augustine Catholic (9-3, 3.1426) No. 22, Lincoln Prep (6-5, 3.0446) No. 23, and Morenci (7-6, 2.0545) No. 24.

The initial rankings on Jan. 14 had Phoenix Country Day (9-1 seeding, 21.8916 rating) was No. 1, Miami (9-0, 19.5826) No. 2, Pima (8-0, 18.0622) No. 3, San Carlos (10-0, 17.7705) No. 4, Tombstone (9-1, 16.0795) No. 5, Saint Johns (8-1, 14.2279) No. 6, Fountain Hills (6-2, 13.0688) No. 7, Arizona Lutheran (6-2, 13.0024) No. 8, Scottsdale Prep (7-2, 9.3257) No. 9, Horizon Honors (5-5, 8.0484) No. 10, Mohave Accelerated (8-3, 8.0249) No. 11, Willcox (7-2, 7.6845) No. 12, Many Farms (8-2, 7.4086) No. 13, Kingman Academy (7-2, 7.3267) No. 14, Glendale Prep (5-4, 7.1340) No. 15, Round Valley (7-3, 7.0496) No. 16, Rancho Solano Prep (7-3, 6.4483) No. 17, Leading Edge (5-3, 6.3091) No. 18, North Valley Christian (6-3, 5.2425) No. 19, Saint Augustine (6-2, 4.8895) No. 20, Gilbert Classical (6-2, 3.1964) No. 21, Saint John Paul II (6-3, 2.4776) No. 22, Morenci (5-4, 2.2950) No. 23, and Phoenix Christian (6-4, 2.0609) No. 24.

The state rankings for the other four South Region teams were Bisbee (6-5, 0.1756) No. 27, Tucson Desert Christian (8-5, minus 6.3921) No. 36, Tucson Santa Rita (3-10, minus 13.7928) No. 40, and Tucson San Miguel Catholic (0-14, minus 25.1787) No. 49.

During the initial rankings, Benson (4-5, 0.8754) was No. 28, Bisbee (4-5, minus 0.7812) No. 32, Desert Christian (3-5, 3.9544) No. 36, Santa Rita (3-6, minus 9.9235) No. 39, and San Miguel (0-11, minus 25.9859) No. 49.

2A South Region Standings

Region standing through Jan. 24 were Tombstone (16-4* overall, 10-2 seeding, 5-1 region) first, Benson (15-9, 8-5, 3-2) second, Willcox (15-8, 9-4, 3-2) third, Morenci (10-14, 7-6, 3-2) fourth, Bisbee (10-9*, 6-6, 3-2) fifth, Saint Augustine (13-8, 9-3, 3-2) sixth, Desert Christian (9-12, 6-8, 2-3) seventh, Santa Rita (3-10, 3-10, 1-4) eight, and San Miguel (0-14, 0-14, 0-5) ninth.

To date, region wins have been Tombstone over Morenci (40-33, Dec. 16), Desert Christian (53-15, Jan. 7), Bisbee (58-47, Jan. 9), Benson (53-48, Jan. 10), and San Miguel (78-9, Jan. 21); Benson over Santa Rita (60-11, Jan. 16), Saint Augustine (62-30, Jan. 21), and Bisbee (49-15, Jan. 23); Willcox over Benson (50-47, Jan. 7), Saint Augustine (54-40, Jan. 9), and Tombstone (54-47, Jan. 24); Morenci over San Miguel (80-18, Jan. 7), Desert Christian (41-21, Jan. 21), and Willcox (45-38, Jan. 23); Bisbee over Desert Christian (42-40, Dec. 19), Willcox (41-40, Jan. 16), and Santa Rita (54-22, Jan. 21); Saint Augustine over Santa Rita (52-26, Jan. 7), Morenci (55-41, Jan. 16), and San Miguel (77-18, Jan. 23); Desert Christian over San Miguel (48-16, Jan. 15) and Santa Rita (49-11, Jan. 23); and Santa Rita over San Miguel (55-10, Jan. 9).

Raymundo Frasquillo Photo/Gila Herald: Addison Burright (11) dribbles the lane toward the basket between a pair of Wildcat defenders. The Willcox junior guard totaled eight points on the evening.

No. 19 Benson Bobcats (15-9)

Benson (15-9 overall, 8-5 seeding, 3-2 2A South Region) is averaging a score of 48-31 (623-408) per seeding game or a 17-point margin. The Brian Taylor-coached Bobcats have seeding wins over Lincoln Prep (34-30, Dec. 5), Tucson’s The Gregory School (66-12, Dec. 11), Tucson Tanque Verde (52-26, Dec. 17), Sells Baboquivari (57-45, Jan. 14), Santa Rita (60-11), Saint Augustine (62-30, Jan. 21), Bisbee (49-15, Jan. 23), and Chandler Prep (54-30, Jan. 24) as well as losses to Pima (25-59, Dec. 3), Phoenix Christian (35-42, Dec. 19), Willcox (47-50, Jan. 7), Saint David (34-45, Jan. 9), and Tombstone (48-53, Jan. 10).

In addition, the Bobcats won 2-3 during the Sunnyside tourney and 5-1 during their own tourney. The wins were over Tucson Cienega (44-41, Nov. 27), Non varsity opponent (60-31, Nov. 27), Elfrida Valley Union (57-24, Dec. 12), Florence (55-28, Dec. 12), Globe (63-40, Dec. 13), Bisbee (53-50, Dec. 13), and Florence (49-35, Dec. 14). The losses were to Nogales (24-48, Nov. 25), Tucson Mica Mountain (25-65, Nov. 25), Sells Baboquivari (44-46, Nov. 26), and Douglas (34-66, Dec. Dec. 14). The Bobcats are averaging an overall score of 47-37 (1,131-882) per seeding game or a 10-point margin.

Benson has a 12-member team with three seniors, four juniors, two sophomores, and three freshmen. The roster includes seniors De La Cruz (5), Adalie Lewis (14), Aubrey Moon (24), and Kaylei Taylor (23); juniors Isabella Contreras (11), Coco Farland (13), Paisley Harmon (12), and Jordan Rone (21); sophomores Adalie Lewis (14) and Eliot Montiji (22); and freshmen Angel Pfeifer (2), Nevaeh Pfeifer (1), and Karris Taylor (10).

The Bobcats are competing in the 9-member 2A South Region with Bisbee, Morenci, Tombstone, Willcox, and Tucson schools Desert Christian, Saint Augustine Catholic, San Miguel Catholic, and Santa Rita.

No. 8 Tombstone Yellow Jackets (16-4)

Tombstone (16-4 overall, 10-2 seeding, 5-1 2A South Region) is averaging a score of 52-32 (625-382) per seeding game or a 20-point margin. The Thomas Valenzuela -coached Yellow Jackets have seeding wins over Tucson Palo Verde Magnet (60-34, Dec. 2), Desert Christian (51-17, Dec. 3), Saint David (42-34, Dec. 6), Bisbee (40-31, Dec. 9), Morenci (40-31, Dec. 16), Elfrida Valley Union (58-20, Dec. 17), Desert Christian (53-15, Jan. 7), Bisbee (58-47, Jan. 9), Benson (58-48, Jan. 10), and San Miguel (78-9, Jan. 21) along with losses to Willcox (40-42, Jan. 14) and Willcox (47-54, Jan. 24).

Raymundo Frasquillo Photo/Gila Herald: Kennedy Ebert (5) picks up Morenci senior point guard Jayla Wilson (3) after an inbound pass in hopes of stealing the ball. The Willcox post player had three points and Wilson 10.

Additionally, the Yellow Jackets went 4-1 during The Gregory School 3-day tourney and 2-1 during the three-day Benson tourney. The wins were over San Simon (35-29, Nov. 25), Saint Augustine (66-21, Nov. 25), Patagonia (68-14, Nov. 26), Willcox (55-45, Nov. 27), Florence (38-30, Dec. 12), Valley Union (38-29, Dec. 13) while the losses were to Joseph City (35-57, Nov. 27) and Benson (50-53, Dec. 13). Tombstone is averaging an overall score of 51-33 (1,010-660) per game or an 18-point margin.

Tombstone has an 11-member team with six seniors, three juniors, and two freshmen. The roster includes

seniors Jessa Maldonado (1), Brooklyn Penrose (13), Emma Rivera (23), Briella Schuller (21), Ed’Jerrica Spencer (2), and Rachel Thursby (22); juniors Arabella Alvarez (24), Lily Garcia (14), and Espi Lepley (15); and freshmen Damaris Alvarez (11) and Breia Keift (5).

The Yellow Jackets are competing in the 9-member 2A South Region with Benson, Bisbee, Morenci, Willcox, and Tucson schools Saint Augustine Catholic, Desert Christian, San Miguel Catholic, and Santa Rita.

No. 24 Morenci Wildcats (10-13)

Morenci (10-13 overall, 7-6 seeding, 3-2 2A South Region) is averaging a score of 41-39 (533-504) or a 2-point margin per seeding game. The Albert Ortega-coached Wildcats have seeding wins over Santa Rita (65-14, Dec. 2), Empire (68-17, Dec. 5), Thatcher (48-42, Dec. 9), San Miguel (80-18, Jan. 7), Willcox (46-43, Jan. 10), Desert Christian (41-21, Jan. 21), and Willcox (45-38, Jan. 23) while the losses are to Tombstone (31-40, Dec. 16), San Carlos (15-57, Dec. 17), Pima (17-51, Jan. 9), Round Valley (25-49, Jan. 13), Saint Augustine (41-55, Jan. 16), and Saint Johns (11-63, Jan. 18).

Raymundo Frasquillo Photo/Gila Herald: Rozlyn Funari (10) zeros in on the basket during a free throw attempt. The Morenci junior strong forward made 3-6 line shots and totaled 11 points for the game.

In addition, the Wildcats went 1-4 during the 3-day Eagar Round Valley tourney and 2-3 during the 3-day 48th Eastern Arizona Holiday tourney. The wins were recorded over Dishchii’bikoh (58-45, Dec. 13), Empire (59-25, Dec. 19), and Peoria Centennial (43-33, Dec. 21). The losses were to Whiteriver Alchesay (25-60, Dec. 12), Saint Johns (24-58, Dec. 12), Sanders Valley (57-60, Dec. 12), Manny Farms (27-52, Dec. 14), Fort Thomas (16-66, Dec. 19), Saint David (40-55, Dec. 20), and Thatcher (25-55, Dec. 20). Morenci is averaging an overall score of 39-44 (907-1,017) per game or a 5-point deficit.

Morenci has a 13-member team of four seniors, two juniors, two sophomores, and five freshmen. The roster includes seniors Arianna Burnette (11), Talia McCabe (12), Tayah Wilkes (4), and Jayla Wilson (33); juniors Adriana Carbajal (5) and Rozlyn Funari (10); sophomores Tiara Jones (20) and Mayeli Salazar (13); and freshmen Arwa Abdulqadar (2), Jaylianna Guzzo (1), Khloee Kouts (14), Aiyanna Merino (24), and Arisela Salazar (30).

The Wildcats are competing in the 9-member 2A South Region with Benson, Bisbee, Tombstone, Willcox, and Tucson schools Desert Christian, Saint Augustine Catholic, San Miguel Catholic, and Santa Rita.

Morenci – 45, Willcox – 38

Willcox outscored the visiting Wildcats 19-15 during the final eight minutes, but it was not enough to offset Morenci’s three-quarters double-digit advantage.

Morenci returned from the midgame break for a 15-7 third-quarter outing to lead by 11, 30-19, heading into the fourth quarter. Four different Wildcats helped provide the double-digit lead. Tiara Jones added six points, Rozlyn Funari four, Jayla Wilson three, and Talia McCabe two.

Willcox led 9-7 after the opening quarter, and Morenci used an 8-3 second-quarter effort to take a 15-12 halftime advantage.

For the game, Morenci made 19 field goals (two 3-pointers) plus 6-14 free throws compared to 17 field goals (two 3-pointers) plus 7-18 free throws by Willcox. Jones netted 20 points on eight field goals plus 4-6 free throws, and Funari 10 on four field goals plus 2-5 free throws. Wilson added nine points, McCabe three, and both Mayeli Salazar and Arwa Abdulqadar two apiece.

For Willcox, senior Maddie Bennett had 13 points on four field goals plus 6-14 free throws. Senior Gabriela Galaz and junior Addison Burright both added eight points, sophomore Paislee Adams six, and junior Kennedy Ebert three.

Morenci – 41, Desert Christian Eagles – 21

Morenci limited the visiting Eagles to single digits in each of the four quarters, leading 13-9 following the first quarter, 29-12 at halftime, and 38-20 heading into the fourth quarter.

Three Wildcats combined to score eight field goals in the second quarter compared to one Eagle making a field goal plus 1-10 free throws.

For the game, Morenci netted 18 field goals (one 3-pointer) plus 4-6 free throws versus eight field goals plus 7-18 free throws by Desert Christian.

Funari totaled a game-high 15 points on field goals plus 1-2 free throws. Jones added seven points, Wilson six, Salazar four, McCabe three, and both Abdulqadar and Khloee Kouts two apiece.

For Desert Christian, junior Faith Charles added seven points, junior Emma Welch six, junior Pricsilla Genteman four, junior Abby Numer three, and junior Arian Mears one.