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Analisa Robles, Angelica Zuniga, Katie Monfred, Angelica Garcia, Felicia Gomez work as a team under the basket. Genevieve Burnham | San Manuel High School
Angelica Zuniga, Kadi Monfred work to bring the ball down the court. Genevieve Burnham | San Manuel High School
San Manuel Miner
The San Manuel Miners girls’ basketball team, the 16th seed, will face the 17th-seeded Tombstone Yellow Jackets in the first round the Division IV State Championship. The game will be played at Bradshaw Mountain High School on Friday, Feb. 21, 2014. The game is scheduled for 7:30 p.m.
The Miners enter the championship tournament with a record of 21 – 7. They are coming off a first-round sectional tournament loss to Immaculate Heart last weekend. Angelica Zuniga, Analisa Robles and Kadi Monfred will be expected to lead the way for Miners. Zuniga averages 16 points and 11 rebounds per game.
The Yellow Jackets enter the game versus the Miners with a record of 14 – 14 and a five-game winning streak. Sophomore Rachel Cummings and junior Maira Nunez are the leading scorers for the Yellow Jackets with each averaging 9 points per game. Junior Haley Stites averages 7 rebounds per game.
The Yellow Jackets will be battle tested as they prepare for the first round game against the Miners. With their 14 – 14 record, they likely need to win each of their final five games to qualify for the tournament.
The winner of this matchup will face the tournament’s top-seed team, Valley Union, in the second round on Saturday, Feb. 22.
The complete Division IV State Championship bracket can be found at http://bit.ly/1fddLn7.
Andrew Luberda began writing for Copper Area News Publishers (CANP) in February 2013 after working 15 years in Healthcare Financial Management. Andy covers sports for 11 high schools. His stories are published in Copper Basin News, San Manuel Miner and Superior Sun, in addition to the San Tan Valley Daily PRSS and CopperArea websites. Additionally, he has written human interest stories and business profiles. In May 2012, he earned an AAS in Sports Management at Central Arizona College before graduating with a BS in Communication from Arizona State University in 2014. He and his wife, Kelli, have three sons – AJ, Kyle, and Kade.
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