Roughriders stave off Apaches for the win

Jon Johnson Photo/Gila Herald: The Pima Roughriders outlasted the Fort Thomas Apaches on Tuesday and came away with the 44-35 victory.

By Jon Johnson

jonjohnsonnews@gmail.com


Video By Jon Johnson/Gila Herald

FORT THOMAS – The Pima Roughriders (1-0 overall) opened their basketball season with a 14-0 run over the Fort Thomas Apaches (0-1 overall) and left victorious, 44-35.

The Apaches actually outscored the Roughriders cumulatively in the last three periods but were unable to overcome the huge first-period deficit.

“I think Fort Thomas is an excellent team,” said Pima head coach Cliff Thompson. “They (have) guards who are extremely good. I was very concerned about their guards.”

Jon Johnson Photo/Gila Herald: Pima’s Dawson Pruszynski blocks Fort Thomas’ Latrell Titla.

Pima had multiple phases of its game working early as big man Dawson Pruszynski (9 points) scored on a variety of dives and putbacks down low, while guard Alec Judd (11 points) hit from deep with two 3-pointers on the night.

However, this season’s early surprise has to be the improvement of play from Jake Whitaker (8 points) – who hit multiple shots, played good defense and had a couple of assists – and the emergence of streaky Levi Thygerson (10 points) – who scored layups on multiple fast breaks.

Tim Salyer (6 points) was also another notable contributor who scored, played defense and passed well. At one point, Salyer zipped a one-handed cross-court bounce pass to a streaking Thygerson just in front of a few Apaches, and Thygerson finished nicely with the layup.

Jon Johnson Photo/Gila Herald: Tim Salyer scores a layup.

For the Apaches, Malachi Rogers (15 points) led the way followed by Brad Johnson (8 points) and Skylar Kindelay (5 points). Those three guards not only shot the ball well from deep but also drove hard into the lane and executed the fast break well on multiple occasions.

Fort Thomas’ big man Latrell Titla was held in check on the offensive side but he had two big blocks along with solid defense against Pruszynski and multiple rebounds on the night.

Jon Johnson Photo/Gila Herald: Fort Thomas’ Malachi Rogers somehow gets a shot off and good amid a sea of Roughriders.

Pima opened up a 14-0 lead by playing solid defense and hitting open looks as they spread the ball around. Four different Roughriders scored before the Apaches zipped the ball down the court after a made free throw by Pruszynski, and Skylar Kindelay found his range from the right corner.

Both teams then ran the fast break effectively in the second period and Pima went into halftime with a 26-13 lead.

Jon Johnson Photo/Gila Herald: Dawson Pruszynski takes it to the rim against four Apache defenders.

Fort Thomas outscored Pima in the third period as the Roughriders seemed content to launch 3-pointers for a bit with little success. The long rebounds allowed the Apaches to get out on the break quickly, and a couple of huge 3-point buckets from Rogers whittled the deficit to just 6 points.

“If you take some long shots and they get some long rebounds, they fast break really good, and that’s kind of what happened,” Thompson said.

The Apaches bailed out a deep shot by Judd at the end of the third period with the foul. Judd calmly hit all three of the free shots to put Pima back up by 9 heading into the final period of play.

After Pruszynski fouled out on a charge call with 4:34 left to play, Judd came up big again as he split the defense, did a Euro-step around Jaden Preston, took a bump from Titla and got the shot to fall.

Both teams were held to just 8 points in the final period and Pima came away with the 44-35 victory.

“We’ve always prided ourselves on defense and we’re learning how to get good at defense again, so I think we took a good first step,” Thompson said.

Jon Johnson Photo/Gila Herald: Jake Whitaker scores two of his eight points on the night.

The Roughriders will enjoy Thanksgiving but will be back on the hardwood Tuesday, Nov. 27, as they travel to face the Bisbee Pumas.

Fort Thomas will stay at home and battle with the Patagonia Union Lobos on Tuesday, Nov. 27 as well. Both games are scheduled to begin at 7 p.m.

Pima versus Fort Thomas Girls Basketball

In the girls’ game, Fort Thomas held on 45-43 as Pima couldn’t convert on its last possession of the game.   

In other local prep action:

In the battle of the Bulldogs, the Safford Bulldogs (1-0 overall) opened their season with a huge 74-56 win over the Douglas Bulldogs (0-1 overall). Safford outscored Douglas in every period to notch the easy win.

Sophomore Jejdrique Chavez led the balanced attack with 19 points, followed by Dom Gutierrez and last year’s EAC Holiday Tournament MVP Drew Cochran each with 15, while guard Andrew Smith put up 14.

Safford will visit the Thatcher Eagles on Wednesday, Nov. 28, starting at 7 p.m.

Safford Girls Basketball

In the girls’ game, Safford was also victorious, 58-51.