by Ray High Bearcats
It wasn’t supposed to end this way for the Ray girls’ basketball team.
The Lady Bearcats, who may have deserved better than their No. 9-seeding, entered the 2017 1A State Tournament as a title contender.
Unfortunately, those dreams were quickly doused, following a 57 – 51 loss to No. 8-seed Mogollon in the first-round of the state playoffs last Thursday.
Ray finished the season with 20 wins, including a 9 – 1 record in the 1A East Region, where the Lady Cats were behind only top-ranked Ft. Thomas in the standings.
Despite the quick exit from the tournament, the Lady Cats had an outstanding season.
Andy Luberda (1149 Posts)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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