Jon Johnson Photo/Gila Herald: Pima’s Tim Salyer takes the ball up the court in the waning moments of the game. Salyer hit his free throws late in the game to seal the victory for Pima, 50-41 over Bisbee.
By Jon Johnson
PIMA – The Pima Roughriders (8-0 region, 16-4 overall) utilized a lock-down defense to go on a 10-0 run in the fourth period to come back and beat the Bisbee Pumas (3-6 region, 5-12 overall) 50-41 on Friday.
Pima was down early after being beaten on the boards during the first half and only scoring four points in the second period to be down 18-15.
“I thought we were a little fatigued and Bisbee came out with a lot of energy, said Pima head coach Cliff Thompson. “They played well. It’s not like we just didn’t play because they came out and played very aggressive. I feel like they outplayed us in the first half.”
In the third period, Pima and Bisbee battled back-and-forth when Puma guard Will Wright hit a 3-pointer to stretch Bisbee’s lead to 30-24.
However, Kaleb Blair and Drew Thompson both hit from deep to knot the game up at 30. Pima had a chance to go up but turned the ball over and the Pumas hit a well-defended layup to take a 32-30 lead into the start of the fourth period.
Bisbee stretched its lead to five points in the fourth, but the Roughriders came back with a 10-0 run that centered around its defense and big buckets from its core of Alec Judd, Tim Salyer, and Levi Thygerson. Judd finished the night with 12 points with two 3-pointers, Salyer had 15 points (5-6 free-throws), Thygerson had four points and a couple of big blocks, Blair finished with 10 points with two 3-pointers, and Thompson added seven points on the night.
Ballesteros and Will Wright led the way for Bisbee with 11 points each.
“We kind of settled down in our offense,” said Pima head coach Cliff Thompson. “We made some adjustments at halftime and got some spacing and that helped a lot with our scoring . . . Tim was moving to the right spots in the high post and we got him the ball and he made plays – either scoring himself or assisting for other guys. The guards did a good job of moving to open spots and knocking down shots.”
Once Pima got its lead in the second half of the fourth period, it went into it prevent/stall offense and with Bisbee playing zone it had no chance at stopping the Roughriders from holding the ball outside until they got what they wanted in a good look down low.
“We lost our mojo,” said Bisbee head coach Michael Hernandez. “We lost our rhythm right there at the end. Their defense stepped up a little bit. But I’m proud of our energy tonight. Our defense was there the whole game and I’m just proud of our energy tonight. Pima is a tough team and much respect to them.”
Salyer then finished off the Pumas with five straight free-throws (one was waived off for a lane violation) to give Pima the victory, 50-41.
“Overall, I was really happy with us in the second half,” Cliff Thompson said. “We played good defense, we rebounded, and we played the way we want to play.”
Pima will next host the 3A Blue Ridge Yellowjackets (2-2 region, 6-9 overall) on Saturday night, starting at 7 p.m. Blue Ridge just got a new player eligible and beat Winslow in double overtime, 88-76, on Jan. 21.
In other local action:
Thatcher (7-1 region, 15-6 overall) blew out Willcox, 74-38. The Eagles will next travel to Lakeside to take on Blue Ridge on Wednesday, Jan. 29.
Safford (2-2 region, 8-13 overall) beat Sahuarita, 69-63 in overtime. The Bulldogs will next host the Pusch Ridge Lions on Tuesday, Jan. 28.
Morenci (3-5 region, 6-11 overall) went on the road and defeated Phoenix Country Day, 57-54. The Wildcats will next travel to face Thatcher on Friday, Jan. 31.
Fort Thomas (5-0 region, 18-5 overall) beat The Gregory School, 64-56 on Friday night and then went on the road and defeated North Phoenix Preparatory, 68-45 in an early Saturday afternoon game. The Apaches will next face Arete Prep at home on Tuesday, Jan. 28.
