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Ray High Bearcats
The Ray girls’ basketball team is two wins away from bringing the 1A state title back to Kearny following a pair of victories last weekend in Prescott.
The No. 3-seed Lady Cats handily defeated No. 14 Bowie/San Simon in their first-round game on Friday, Feb. 16, 61 – 39. That win setup a quarterfinal game versus No. 6 Mogollon the next day.
In a thrilling, low-scoring game that wasn’t decided until the final seconds, the Lady Cats came away with the 29 – 28 win against the Mustangs. Sophomore Shelby Yocum, the 1A East Region Player of the Year, scored the game-winning bucket, securing the Lady Cats’ spot in the state semifinals versus No. 2 St. Michael later this week in Prescott.
“It was a tough game, our opponent was really good, but we pulled through,” Ray senior captain Savannah Rodriguez told Copper Basin News. The game was very intense on both ends. I think that was our toughest game so far.”
The Lady Cats trailed by a point with 30 seconds remaining before Yocum’s heroics.
“We didn’t give up,” Rodriguez said. “We wanted to win, and with our heart and teamwork we made it happen.”
In their last 12 games, the Lady Cats have held their opponents to less than 40 points in 10 of them, all wins. They’ll need more of the same if any hardware is going to be on display at the school after this weekend.
“That game (against Mogollon) prepared us for our next game against St. Michael,” Rodriguez said. “We have to (play) excellent defense. Like coach says, ‘Defense wins championships.’”
A few timely buckets wouldn’t hurt either.
Up next: Feb. 23 vs. St. Michael at 10:30 a.m. Feb. 24 (if necessary) vs. No. 9 Rock Point or No. 4 Baboquivari at 11 a.m. All games will be played at the Prescott Valley Event Center.
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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