By Jon Johnson
SAFFORD – The Thatcher Eagles got a 28-point effort from MVP Isaac Palmer, and Thatcher distanced itself from Safford late in the fourth to prevail 71-59 on the road Wednesday night at Norma Bellamy Gymnasium.
The game was a battle as the teams traded blows, and Thatcher had to overcome an early deficit.
“That’s what we expect when you come here,” said Thatcher head boys basketball coach Kyle Hull. “Packed house, crowd, rivalry, friends, whatever you want to call it, it’s fun. I love it.”

Thatcher (6-4 conference, 15-10 overall) was at (Tucson) Tanque Verde on Friday, Jan. 31, and left with a massive 76-74 victory over their region opponent.
The Eagles will also be on the road for its next game on Tuesday, Feb. 4, at (Tucson) Empire. Thatcher will finish the regular season hosting Morenci on Wednesday, Feb. 5, and then on the road at (Tucson) Sabino on Thursday, Feb. 6, for three games in consecutive days. Thatcher is currently ranked No. 3 in the 3A South and No. 18 in the 3A Conference standings.
Safford (2-7 conference, 8-17 overall) is ranked No. 7 in the 3A South and No. 33 in 3A, which places it outside the playoffs. The Bulldogs will travel to Tucson on Tuesday, Feb. 4, to take on the 4A Gila Cholla Chargers and finish the season with a regional game against the Tanque Verde Hawks. Both games start at 7 p.m.
Thatcher 71 Safford 59

The game was a battle from the start, with Thatcher drawing first blood on a 3-pointer by Bronson Stringfellow (each team finished with nine 3’s each) and the Bulldogs answering with feisty guard Nick Yentsch, who did most of his damage on drives in the paint. Nick hit for 9 of his co-team high 17 points in the first quarter to help propel Safford to a 16-11 lead after the first period of play.
Things were engaging in the second quarter as the teams traded blows, each time matching the other’s offensive prowess.
Isaac Palmer went off for Thatcher in the second, getting offensive rebounds for second-chance-points and Palmer went toe-to-toe with the Bulldogs’ defense as he hit three of his four triples of the game in the quarter and went for 13 of his game-high 28 points.
Safford countered with its phenom freshman Trae Gaines, who hit for 9 of his co-team-high 17 points in the quarter. At times, it seemed that Gaines and Palmer were dueling with long-ball shots, but both had plenty of support from teammates, including Wyatt Nicholas (11 points) for Thatcher, who came up big crashing the glass, and Cole Yentsch (10 points) for Safford, who was deadly from deep.
And a late 3-pointer from Stringfellow (8 points) made it a 1-point game heading into halftime with Safford on top, 34-33.

Thatcher opened a slight lead in the third behind work by Isaac Palmer and Nicholas. And then Chad Johnson (15 points) started to get involved and ended up with a couple of triples of his own, and Thatcher took a halftime deficit and turned it into a 52-46 lead after three-quarters of play.
The Bulldogs continued to battle, and Cole Goodman came up big on defense with a couple of big blocks in the paint.

And after a Cole Yentsch 3-pointer, Goodman poked the ball away from an entry pass attempt. Jace Jameson snagged the loose ball and hit a sprinting Gaines from half court, who floated the ball through the hoop for the score to drop Thatcher’s lead to one, 52-51.
But the Eagles came back and found an open Jay Carter, who sunk a triple to start a 12-1 run that would doom Safford’s chances of a comeback.
After Nicholas knocked the ball loose late in the fourth and Isaac Goodman finished the ensuing fast break with a rebound put back, the Eagles were up by 12 with 1:38 left to play.
Gaines hit a late triple, and Fernando Felix (5 points) had a nice drive, but it was too little, too late.. Thatcher left Safford with the win and bragging rights, 71-59.
“The difference was we played their game the first half – got caught up in the run-and-gun type thing – and we talked about this. We just need to slow it down and, get into an offense and get into a rhythm. Get a few stops and take control of the momentum of the game. It seemed to work in the second half.”
