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Miners’ Jose Damian sets up a jump shot. Photo by Isabella Barragan
The San Manuel boys’ basketball has won four of its first five games of the 2017-18 season, including three of four at the season-opening Boyd Baker Tournament, which took place Nov. 20-22.
San Manuel defeated tournament co-host Immaculate Heart (56 – 43), Academy of Tucson (82 – 47) and Valley Union (87 – 45) before suffering its first loss in the final game of the tournament against other co-host The Gregory School, 83 – 72.
In the victory against Academy of Tucson on Nov. 20, Miners’ senior Fabian Russo scored a team-high 18 points on 7-of-10 shooting from the field and 4-of-5 from the free-throw line. He was one of three Miners’ to reach double-figure scoring versus the Lynx.
Javy Tamayo, a sophomore, and junior Hector Sierra added 17 and 12 points, respectively.
Russo, Tamayo and junior Louis Chavez pulled down six rebounds apiece. Sophomore Jose Moreno had a team-high three steals in the win.
Upcoming games: Dec. 11 at Immaculate Heart, and Dec. 12 vs. St. Augustine Catholic. All games are scheduled for 7 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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