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The San Manuel girls’ basketball team punched its ticket to the postseason with three consecutive wins last week against Hayden, Gilbert Classical, and Miami.
The Lady Miners, now 6 – 4 and in fifth-place in the Section IV standings, will finish no worse than sixth in the final standings and will face either Ray or Duncan in next week’s Section IV Tournament, which will begin on Tuesday, Feb. 9, at Thatcher High School.
Ashley Vargas’ three-point play was the play of the game that sealed the 38 – 30 victory against Hayden. Eneida Quintero scored a game-high 17 points in a game that was close throughout until the Miners’ took the lead for good in the fourth quarter, thanks in part to a steal by Vargas that led to her key play.
A lackluster 36 – 27 win at Gilbert Classical followed the victory against Hayden.
“We played one of our worst games of the year,” San Manuel head coach Dave Jungbluth said. “We won, but we played down their level.”
Quintero led the Miners with 12 points while Lysette Campa added eight points.
Perhaps the most important game of the week came on Friday versus Miami with the winner clinching a spot in next week’s tournament.
The Miners held the smallest of leads at halftime (15 – 14) before their strong man-to-man defense in the third quarter helped them increase their lead to seven points before going on to win, 32 – 25.
Quintero, once again, led the team with 10 points. Angela Navarro and Ashely Vargas added six and five points, respectively.
Upcoming schedule: Feb. 2 vs. Duncan and Feb. 5 vs. Ft. Thomas. Both games are scheduled for 5:30 p.m.
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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