Joseph City took care of a struggling Mayer team at home on Tuesday, taking down the visiting Wildcats 74-51. Mayer, looking for their first regular season win of the season, led by one at the close of the first but by the half Joseph City had righted the ship with a 33-25 lead. Joseph City controlled the second half to get the win.
Matt Fields led the charge with 18 points. Jay Edwards added 14; Jacobson Begay, 11; Seth Hutchens, 9; KJ Kinlicheenie, 8; Latrelle Kinlicheenie, 6; Carlos Sanchez, 4; Kaden Moss, 2; and Rance Haddox helped with 2.
Playing against rival Mogollon in Heber on Friday night the Cats held on for a four-point win in an exciting contest. This is one of those games where rankings don’t mean much. The Mustangs came in ranked 21st, and the Cats were second. After the first period Joseph City held a 10-point lead, but the Mustangs trimmed the margin to four points at the half. The second half went back and forth with the two teams combing for 43 points in the final period before the Wildcats prevailed 70-66.
Latrelle Kinlicheenie led the Cats in scoring with 19 points. Fields added 17 and pulled down 13 boards. Begay netted 12; Hutchens, 10; Sanchez, 5; Edwards, 4; and Moss finished with 3.
Saturday’s home court win over Grand Canyon marked the Cats fourth straight victory since the calendar turned 2018. Joseph City beat the Phantoms 65-42.
Begay led the team with 15 points. Latrelle Kinlicheenie added 14; Fields, 12; KJ Kinlicheenie, 9; Hutchens, 5; Talon Smith, 5; Sanchez had 3 but pulled down 10 boards and Edwards scored 2.
With the three wins the Wildcats moved their overall season mark to 15-6. In regular season power point contests they are now 10-1 and were ranked second in the 1A division entering this week’s action.
Joseph City hosted Basis from Flagstaff on Tuesday. They will host Mogollon on Thursday and on Saturday they travel to Ash Fork.
