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Ray Girls Varsity Team following their win at a holiday tournament. Photo courtesy of Shelby Yocum.
The Ray girls’ basketball team claimed the championship of the 2017 Women’s Holiday Hoops Invitational Tournament, which was hosted by Phoenix Christian Jr/Sr High School last weekend.
Shelby Yocum was named MVP.
Lady Cats’ sophomore point guard Shelby Yocum earned tournament MVP honors while teammate Savannah Rodriguez, a senior guard, was named to the All-Tournament Team along with Yocum.
Savannah Rodriguez and Shelby Yocum
“Being named MVP was a very exciting experience for me,” the 5-foot-8 Yocum told Copper Basin News. “I was happy to share that moment with my team(mates) and my coach.”
Ray defeated tourney host Phoenix Christian in the quarterfinals of the eight-team event last Friday before besting American Leadership Academy – Queen Creek (68 – 33) and Northwest Christian (59 – 42) last Saturday in the semis and finals, respectively.
“It was a proud moment for (us), especially since it’s the first tournament we’ve won together,” Yocum said.
Upcoming games: Dec. 12 vs. Hayden (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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