by 
By Frank Smith
The San Manuel varsity basketball team opened up the season in Tucson at St. Gregory High School in the Boyd Baker Tournament, the Miners faced off against some tough opponents winning two games and losing two.
On Nov. 19, the Miners fell to Desert Christian 41 – 53 the top scorers for the Miners were Andres Sierra who scored 20 points and Andy Monfred scored 16 points.
The Miners took on Tohono O’Odham on Nov. 20 and came away with the 49 – 12 win with Andy Monfred scoring 17 points and Andres Sierra scoring 14 points.
San Manuel dropped the game against ST. Gregory 30 – 42 on Nov. 21, Andres Sierra scored 13points and
Andy Monfred scored 12 points.
Also on Nov. 21, San Manuel took on Greenfields picking up the win 63 – 56, leading the Miners was Andres Sierra who scored 19 points, Andy Monfred scored 17 points, and Jordan Peasley chipped in with 11 points.
Head Coach Ryan Sichting said, “Overall it was a successful tournament. We played some really good competition and we competed.Defensively we played very well in the tournament.On the offensive side of the ball we struggled at times. We need to find other scorers besides Andy and Andres.
In the two games we lost we were winning at the half.So when we play good teams we need to figure out how to play a complete game.Our biggest weakness is definitely experience so this tournament will help us out down the road.”
The Miners hosted Thatcher on Nov. 29, the Miners took the 59 – 16 loss, the leading scorer for the Miners was Andre Sierra with five points.
The Miners headed up to Tucson on Nov. 27 to take on Immaculate Heart, bringing home the 46 – 30 win. The Miners scored 12 points in the first quarter while holding Immaculate Heart to four points, the Mines extended the lead by scoring 22 points to eight points by Immaculate Heart in the second quarter.
In the third quarter, Immaculate made a run outscoring the Miners 13 – 3 in the quarter but the Miners held on scoring nine points to Immaculate Hearts five points to secure the victory.
Leading the Miners was Andre Sierra with 15 points, six rebounds, four assists, and one block, Andy Monfred chipped in with 13 points with eight rebounds, two steals, and two blocked shots, Lawrence scored six points with five rebounds, and one assist, Wolf Tubach scored four points with three rebounds, Andres Moreno scored three points with one assist, and one steal, Martin scored two points with one rebound, and two assists, Jordan Peasley scored two points with one rebound, and Richard Romo scored one point with one rebound.
Coach Sichting said, “In the Immaculate Heart game, we played a very good first half. We were winning 34 to 12 at half. I really liked that we had more balanced scoring. That’s what we need this year in order to be successful. As a team we did a very good job rebounding. We had 20 defensive rebounds and 8 offensive rebounds.
San Manuel took the trip over to Oro Valley to take on the Canyon Del Oro Dorados on Nov.28 with the Miners taking the 57 – 23 loss. The Miners were outscored in the first quarter 15 – 8, losing the second quarter 16 – 5 to fall behind at the half 31 – 13. In the third quarter, the Miners continued to fall behind getting outscored 26 – 10 in the third to take the loss.
Leading the Miners was Andre Sierra with 14 points, two rebounds, and one steal, Andres Moreno scored three points with one rebound, Demetrious Dietz scored two points with one steal, Richard Romo scored two points with one rebound, and one steal, and Jordan Peasley scored two points with one rebound.
Coach Sichting said, “In the CDO and Thatcher games, both of these teams are very good. CDO will compete in Division 2 this year and Thatcher last year was State Runner UP for Division 3. I like playing good teams like this early because you see what you need to improve on.We need to take better shots offensively and cut down on turnovers. Even though the scores of these two games were lopsided, I was really impressed with how hard our team played.”
The Miners will host Greenfields on Friday with the varsity team playing at 7 p.m.
To comment on this article and others visit the Copper Area News Facebook or send us an email at CBNSun@MinerSunBasin.com
by by