Raymundo Frasquillo Photo/Gila Herald: Thatcher slipped past Safford 57-51 for the 60th annual Eastern Arizona Boys Holiday Tourney title on Dec. 29. It was the Eagles’ 22nd meet title and ninth earned against the Bulldogs. Thatcher defeated Morenci 58-52 on De. 28 and Saint David 68-35 on Dec. 27. The Kyle Hull-coached team members, not in order, were Braden Bryce (13), Christian Carter (32), Landon Duncan (1), Chad Johnson (30), Brett Jones (3), Ryan Jones (10), Rhett Lunt (12), Wyatt Nicholas (21), Daniel Palmer (23), Isaac Palmer (33), Dylan Riney (31), and Bronson Stringfellow (24).
By Raymundo Frasquillo
THATCHER – The Thatcher Eagles (5-2) slipped past the Safford Bulldogs (10-3) 57-51 for the boys’ 60th Eastern Arizona Holiday Tourney title on Dec. 29.
It was the 11th championship game meeting between the Graham County schools, with Thatcher having a 9-2 advantage. The margin was single digits during seven of the pairings and double figures in the other four, with two needing extra periods. Three points separated the teams thrice, 50-47 in two overtimes during 1983 and 54-51 during 1986 before the 3-point shot, and 56-53 in overtime during 2006. Thatcher has qualified for 37 finals (22-15) and Safford 22 (9-13).
Morenci (14-2) came from behind to defeat Pima (9-4) 52-45 for third place and Fort Thomas (11-5) defeated Valley Union (6-7) 68-43 for fifth place. Seventh place Saint David (5-12) fell 33-45 to Pima in an exhibition.
Thatcher defeated Morenci 58-52 in the semifinals on Dec. 28 and Saint David 68-35 in the first round on Dec. 27. Safford qualified for the championship game by edging Pima 57-54 in the semifinals and Fort Thomas 64-33 in the first round.
Consolation round results were Valley Union over Saint David 56-51 and Fort Thomas over Saint David 60-46 in an exhibition.
Morenci defeated Valley Union 69-26 in the other first-round pairing. Pima drew a bye. Only nine of 11 games counted for advancement, the other two were exhibitions held for each participating team to play three games.
This week (Jan. 2-6), Morenci (14-2, 6-0, 2-0 2A East Region) visits Eagar Round Valley (15-6, 8-2, 7-0) on Tuesday, Jan. 2, Pima (9-4, 3-1, 2-0 2A East Region) visits Snowflake (11-5, 4-2, 0-1 3A East Region) and Saint David (5-12 overall, 2-5 seeding, 0-0 1A Tucson Southeast Region) visits Patagonia (7-11, 4-4, 1-0 1A Tucson Southeast Region) on Thursday, Jan. 4, Safford (10-3, 5-0, 0-0 3A South Region) hosts Tucson San Miguel Catholic (0-12, 0-6, 0-0 3A South Region) and Morenci visits Tombstone (5-9, 3-5, 0-3 2A East Region) on Friday, Jan. 5, Fort Thomas (11-5, 7-1, 2-0 1A Copper Region) visits Salome (9-8, 4-4, 1-1 1A West Region) on Saturday, Jan. 6.
Thatcher (5-2, 2-2, 0-0 3A South Region) is at the 3-day Show Low tourney and Valley Union (6-7, 5-5, 0-0 1A Tucson Southeast Region) at the 3-day Apache Junction tourney beginning on Thursday, Jan. 4.
60th Eastern Arizona Holiday All-Tourney Team
Tourney champion Thatcher and runner-up Safford both landed three players on the 2023 honor team. Thatcher had senior Christian Carter, junior Wyatt Nicholas, and sophomore Isaac Palmer while Safford had seniors Brayden Bowman, Nathaniel Quintero, and “JoJo” Ruelas. Carter was the most valuable player.
Third place Morenci had junior Tristen Sanchez; fourth place Pima senior Sam Ray, junior Clark Ashby, and sophomore Keegan Corona; fifth place Fort Thomas senior Kyle Secody, sophomore Damare Dosela, and freshman Cleono Wright; sixth place Valley Union senior Landon Glenn; and seventh place Saint David junior Gannon Carrafa.
Quintero totaled 55 points and averaged 18.3 points per game, Carter (51, 17.0), Carrafa (43, 14.3), Ruelas (40, 13.3), Sanchez (40, 13.3), Palmer (33, 11.0), Glenn (31, 10.3), Corona (28, 9.3), Nicholas (27, 9.0), Bowman (25, 8.3), Ashby (23, 7.7), Secody (23, 7.7), Dosela (20, 6.7), Ray (18, 9.0), and Wright (14, 4.7).
Bowman, Carter, Quintero, and Sanchez were also on the 2022 team. Sanchez was a 3-time selectee and was also named to the 2021 team.
Championship: Thatcher – 57, Safford – 51
A slow start by designated home team Safford, scoring in single digits during the first two quarters, allowed the visiting Thatcher Eagles to take a 24-13 advantage at halftime. The Bulldogs returned with a 38-33 second-half effort, but it was not enough to offset the deficit. Thatcher led 12-8 following the first quarter and 43-32 heading into the fourth quarter.
The Eagles enjoyed a double-digit advantage early in the fourth quarter, leading by as much as 15, 51-36 with 1:35 elapsed. The Bulldogs came within three twice, 50-53 with 1:51 and 51-54 with 10 seconds left, but could not tie or take the lead. Thatcher added 3-4 free throws in the closing eight seconds to account for the final score.
On the evening, Safford totaled 20 field goals (one 3-pointer) plus 10-18 free throws while Thatcher had 22 field goals (five 3-pointers) plus 8-16 free throws.
Senior Nathaniel Quintero (22) tallied 18 points on eight field goals plus 2-2 free throws, senior JoJo Ruelas (5) 11 on five field goals plus 1-3 free throws, and senior Nephi Fox (35) 10 on four field goals (one 3-pointer) plus 1-1 free throws. Senior Brayden Bowman (45) added nine points and junior Cole Goodman (13) three.
Thatcher senior Christian Carter (32) had a team and game-high 25 points on eight field goals (four 3-pointers) plus 5-8 free throws and sophomore Isaac Palmer (33) 12 on five field goals (one 3-pointer) plus 1-4 free throws. Junior Wyatt Nicholas (21) added nine points, sophomore Chad Johnson (30) six, and senior Landon Duncan (1) five.
3rd Place: Morenci – 52, Pima – 45
A 19-7 fourth-quarter effort allowed Morenci to overcome a 33-38 three-quarters disadvantage. Five different Wildcats scored in those eight minutes. Junior Yedidia Laputa Kanyinda had six points, senior Tristen Sanchez five, junior Christopher Lopez four, and both senior Joseph Seballos and junior Noah Chavez two apiece.
Pima led 14-9 after the first quarter, 25-21 at halftime, and 38-33 heading into the fourth quarter.
On the afternoon, Pima made 19 field goals (two 3-pointers) plus 5-11 free throws while Morenci had 23 field goals (four 3-pointers) plus 2-9 free throws.
Pima senior Sam Ray (12) netted 13 points on five field goals plus 3-5 free throws. Senior Riley Alder (5) added nine points, junior Clark Ashby (0) and sophomore Keegan Corona (14) eight apiece, junior Preston Russell (33) four, and junior Rhett Hughes (15) three.
For Morenci, Chavez (10) totaled 17 points on seven field goals (three 3-pointers), Kanyinda (13) 12 on six field goals plus 0-1 free throws, and Lopez (23) on five field goals (one 3-pointer). Sanchez (22) added nine points, Seballos (5) two, and sophomore Adrian McCallum (25) one.
5th Place: Fort Thomas – 68, Valley Union – 28
A noticeably quicker quintet allowed Fort Thomas to score at will. The Apaches led 13-0 by the time the Blue Devils scored with 4:18 elapsed in the game. The deficit was 28, 2-30, before Valley Union added a second field goal 1:18 into the second quarter and nearly four minutes later when reaching double figures.
Fort Thomas led 24-2 following the opening quarter, 45-12 at halftime, and 54-23 after three quarters.
Recapping the scoring, Fort Thomas connected on 29 field goals (four 3-pointers) plus 6-10 free throws compared to 12 field goals (three 3-pointers) plus 1-8 free throws by Valley Union.
Ten of 11 Apaches suited up scored, paced by senior Kyle Secody (23) with 12 points on five field goals plus 2-4 free throws, freshman Cleono Wright (44) with 12 on six field goals, and sophomore Michael Olivar (34) with 11 on five field goals (one 3-pointer). Sophomores Jasiah Bowman (20) and Channing Wilson (11) added eight points apiece, sophomore Damare Dosela (31) seven, Victor (25) four, and senior Darius Miles (10), junior Allen Gilbert (14), and junior Justin Kitcheyan (45) two each.
Valley Union junior Dylan Mitchell (5) had eight points, sophomore Miles Richardson (3) seven, senior Landon Glenn (23) five, senior John Curiel (11), freshman Michael Durazo (10), sophomore Christopher Gonzalez (15), and sophomore Jacob Miller (34) two apiece.
7th Place: Pima – 45, Saint David – 33
The placement had already been decided before the teams squared off. Saint David was the seventh-place team, and the contest was an exhibition, allowing Pima to get into a third game during the tourney.
Saint David led 15-12 after the first quarter, but Pima had a 25-21 halftime edge and led 37-29 heading into the fourth quarter. The Roughriders used a starting line-up utilizing players not listed on the 12-member varsity roster to gain court time at that level.
For the game, Pima connected on 22 field goals (two 3-pointers) plus 12-22 free throws, while Saint David made 13 field goals (five 3-pointers) plus 2-8 free throws.
Sophomore Charlie Richardson (32) and freshman Joel Mattice (23) both netted 14 points on six field goals plus 2-5 free throws and 2-6 free throws, respectively. Sophomore Isaac Thompson (1) added nine points, junior Wyatt Bingham (10) six, Smith (3) five, Bryce (4) and junior Daxton McRae (13) four each, and senior JoJo King (2) two.
Saint David junior Cooper Merrill (2) had 13 points on five field goals (three 3-pointers). Freshman Keston Richardson (15) added seven points, junior Gannon Carrafa (12) six, sophomore Chase Pacheco (5) three, and both junior Vincent Cabot (3) and sophomore Adrian Nuernberger (1) two each.
