Bulldogs close season in Safford against Hawks
By Raymundo Frasquillo
THATCHER – The 3A No. 8 Thatcher Eagles host the No. 25 Sabino Sabercats on Tuesday, Feb. 4. The region pairing is on John Mickelson Field, beginning at 6 p.m.

Other South Region matches this week (Feb. 3-8) include Palo Verde Magnet at Pusch Ridge, Tanque Verde at Safford, and Empire at Andrada Polytechnic on Feb. 4. Catalina has completed its region and regular season schedule.
Non-region matches are Pusch Ridge at Ironwood Ridge on Feb. 3.
3A State Rankings
The Top 16 teams will make up the state tourney field, beginning with the first round on Feb. 11. There is no play-in round. The Metro (6-7) and South (6-9) Regions both had six teams still in contention, and both the West (2-6) and East (2-7) Regions had two apiece. The four region champions and the other 12 top-ranked teams will comprise the state tourney field. Gilbert Christian currently leads the Metro Region, Tucson Catalina the South Region, Yuma Catholic the West Region, and Queen Creek American Leadership – Ironwood the East Region.
State rankings as of Jan. 31 were Gilbert Christian (10-0 seeding, 17.6447 rating) No. 1, Phoenix Northwest Christian (7-3, 11.9201) No. 2, Yuma Catholic (8-3, 11.5837) No. 3, Phoenix Bourgade Catholic (9-1, 9.5124) No. 4, Tucson Catalina (10-1-1, 8.5498) No. 5, American Leadership – Ironwood (7-3, 8.3841) No. 6, Chandler Valley Christian (6-4, 4.3761) No. 7, and Thatcher (7-3, 2.0860) No. 8.
Tucson Pusch Ridge Christian (6-3-1-, 2.0385) was No. 9, Queen Creek Benjamin Franklin (6-4, 1.4383) No. 10, Tucson Palo Verde Magnet (6-4, 1.4187) No. 11, Chandler Seton Catholic (5-5, 1.3258) No. 12, Buckeye Odyssey Institute (5-4-1, 1.1032) No. 13, Tucson Tanque Verde (5-3-2, 1.0565) No. 14, Waddell American Leadership – West Foothills (5-4-1, 0.5840) No. 15, and Tucson Empire (5-4, minus 0.3004) No. 16.
Rankings for the other three South Region teams were Safford (2-9, minus 10.7725) No. 24, Tucson Sabino (2-10, minus 11.4741) No. 25, and Tucson Andrada Polytechnic (1-10, minus 16.8255) No. 27.
3A South Region Standings
Region standings as of Feb. 1 were Catalina (13-5-2 overall, 10-1-1 seeding, 7-0-1 3A South Region) first, Pucsh Ridge Christian (7-8-1, 6-3-1, 5-1-1) second, Palo Verde Magnet (13-8, 7-4, 5-2) third, Tanque Verde (7-6-2, 6-3-2, 4-2-1) fourth, Empire (9-5-1, 6-4-1, 3-3-1) fifth, Thatcher (9-8-1, 7-4, 3-4) sixth, Sabino (2-14, 2-10, 2-5) seventh, Safford (2-11, 2-9, 1-6) eighth, and Andrada Polytechnic (1-10, 1-10, 0-7) ninth.

To date, the region wins were for Catalina over Safford (5-0, Jan. 7), Tanque Verde (4-0, Jan. 9), Thatcher (5-1, Jan. 17), Sabino (5-1, Jan. 21), Andrada Polytechnic (9-0, Jan. 23), Pusch Ridge (3-2, Jan. 27), and Palo Verde Magnet (3-2, Jan. 29); and Pucsh Ridge Christian over Thatcher (3-1, Jan. 9), Sabino (5-4, Jan. 15), Andrada Polytechnic (6-0, Jan. 17), Empire (2-1, Jan. 23), and Safford (4-0, Jan. 24).
Palo Verde Magnet defeated Sabino (9-0, Jan. 7), Andrada Polytechnic (7-0, Jan. 15), Empire (2-1, Jan. 21), Thatcher (1-0, Jan. 23), and Safford (7-0, Jan. 31); Tanque Verde defeated Empire (2-1, Jan. 7), Palo Verde Magnet (3-2, Jan. 17), Andrada Polytechnic (9-0, Jan. 21), and Sabino (8-0, Jan. 31); and Empire defeated Sabino (6-0, Jan. 9), Safford (6-1, Jan. 17), and Thatcher (1-0, Jan. 31).
Thatcher defeated Andrada Polytechnic (8-0, Jan. 7), Tanque Verde (2-1, Jan. 15), and Safford (4-2, Jan. 29); Sabino defeated Safford (3-2, Jan. 23) and Andrada Polytechnic (2-1, Jan. 29); and Safford defeated Andrada Polytechnic (3-1, Jan. 9).
The ties were Catalina with Empire (1-1, Jan. 15) and Pusch Ridge with Tanque Verde (2-2 OT, Jan. 29).
No. 25 Sabino Sabercats (2-14)

Sabino (2-14 overall, 2-10 seeding, 2-5 3A East Region) is averaging a score per seeding match of 1-5 (11-63) or a 4-point deficit. The Kashmir Beamish-coached Sabercats have seeding wins over Safford (3-2, Jan. 23) and Andrada Polytechnic (2-1, Jan. 29) along with losses to Sahuarita Walden Grove (0-6, Dec. 9), Sahuarita (0-4, Dec. 11), Oro Valley Ironwood Ridge (0-8, Dec. 13), Rio Rico (0-2, Dec. 16), Palo Verde Magnet (0-9, Jan. 7), Empire (0-6, Jan. 9), Benjamin Franklin (1-7, Jan. 13), Pusch Ridge (4-5, Jan. 15), Catalina (1-5, Jan. 21), and Tanque Verde (0-8, Jan. 31).
Additionally, the Sabercats went 0-4 during the Palo Verde Magnet tourney, with losses to Tucson Sahuaro (0-1, Dec. 27), Sahaurita (2-3, Dec. 28), Tucson Flowing Wells (0-8, Jan. 2), and Tucson Cholla (1-3, Jan. 3). Sabino is averaging an overall score per match of 1-5 (14-78) or a 4-point deficit.
The Sabercats have a 20-member team of two seniors, seven juniors, seven sophomores, and four freshmen. The roster includes seniors Gavin Botkin (20) and Benjamen Forgue (14); juniors Kaoru Amano (7), Bennett Farmer (3), Robert Kim (1), Andrew Lopez (12), Colin McNamara (17), Jared Olsen (25), and Eli Valasek (8); sophomores Decio Alzaga (2), Brandon Correa (15), Jaffar Green (22), Isaiah Leyva (18), Isaac Meija (4), Benjamin Osborne (10), and Tyler Walcott (5); and freshmen Caleb Hymson (19), Atlas Kohler (13), Matthew Steele (11), and Marcus Yeager (9).

Sabino is competing in the 9-member 3A South Region with Safford, Thatcher, and Tucson schools Andrada Polytechnic, Catalina, Empire, Palo Verde Magnet, Pusch Ridge Christian, and Tanque Verde.
No. 8 Thatcher Eagles (9-8-1)
Thatcher (9-8-1 overall, 7-4 seeding, 3-4 3A South Region) is averaging a score per match of 4-2 (46-17) or a 2-point margin. The Eagles have wins over Tucson Tanque Verde (4-3 OT, Dec. 12), Tucson Sahuaro (7-1, Dec. 16), Tucson Andrada Polytechnic (8-0, Jan. 6), Coolidge (8-0, Jan. 9), Tanque Verde (2-1, Jan. 15), Morenci (11-0, Jan. 25), and Safford (4-2, Jan. 29) along with losses to Tucson Pusch Ridge Christian (1-3, Jan. 9), Tucson Catalina (1-5, Jan. 17), Palo Verde Magnet (0-1, Jan. 23), and Empire (0-1, Jan. 31).

In addition, the Eagles went 1-2 during the Queen Creek Benjamin Franklin tourney and 1-2-1 during the Gilbert Arete Prep tourney. The wins were over Prescott (1-0, Dec. 6) and Yuma Gila Ridge (2-1, Jan. 4) while the losses were to Yuma Cibola (0-2, Dec. 6), Yuma Kofa (0-6, Dec. 7), Surprise Paradise Honors (0-2, Jan. 3), and Chandler Valley Christian (0-1, Jan. 4). The tie was with Tempe McClintock (2-2, Jan. 3). Thatcher is averaging an overall score per match of 3-2 (51-31) or a 1-point margin.
The Eagles have a 21-member team of eight seniors, 11 juniors, one sophomore, and one freshman. The roster includes seniors Kody Bingham (6), Will Chidester (9), Crew Farris (2), Blake French (17), Patrick Nicholas (23), Brasen Penrod (8), Cade Winkler (22), and Callum Winkler (13); juniors Ethan Griffin (1), Smith Mangum (21), Luke Marble (25), Trent Nelson (4), Bryson Nielson (7), Nevin Patton (14/38), Noah Rasmussen (20), Ty Shupe (18), Tanner Smith (10), Cayson Stayley (1), and Cash Whittle (11); sophomore Thomas Chidester (5); and freshman Aiden Alva (15).

Thatcher is competing in the nine-member 3A South Region with Safford and Tucson schools Andrada Polytechnic, Catalina, Empire, Palo Verde Magnet, Pusch Ridge Christian, Sabino, and Tanque Verde.