The Winslow Bulldogs had a successful experience in their second tournament of the year. Winslow won three games in the Red Rock Hoops Invitational Tournament before losing to defending state champion Snowflake 62-57 in the championship game.
The Lobos had beaten Northland Prep Academy 80-36, edged Prescott 66-64 and topped Lee Williams 57-41 prior to the Winslow game and beat Cactus 64-61 later. No individual scores were available at press time.
The Bulldogs met and defeated the Payson Longhorns 69-53 in their first game on Thursday. Payson came into the tournament with an 0-2 record, having lost to Bradshaw Mountain 76-48 and Snowflake 67-35. Winslow improved to 4-1 with the victory.
Winslow trailed early in the first quarter against Payson, but came on strong and led 15-11 at the end of the period. The Bulldogs pulled away in the second quarter for a comfortable 37-18 halftime lead. The Bulldogs failed to score for the first half of the third quarter as Payson cut into the lead. The Winslow squad did better in the final minutes of the quarter and led 49-33 entering the final period of play.
Winslow had four players in double figures led by Rory Billy with 16. Akeem Foster had 15 points, and Avondrae Yellowhair and Dalvin Benally scored 10 each.
Ryan Ricke led Payson with 13 points. Rubin Estrada was also in double figures for the Longhorns with 12.
On Friday the Bulldogs got a 79-53 win over Thatcher, which allowed them to advance to play Cactus later that night. The Bulldogs defeated Cactus 80-62 to set up the game against Snowflake on Saturday.
The Bulldogs were to host the Estrella Foothills Wolves on Tuesday, while the Winslow girls are playing at Estrella Foothills High School. Winslow will be in the Pepsi Invitational Tournament at Flagstaff beginning on Thursday, Dec. 10.
