The Wildcats basketball team went 1-1 on the opening day of the 1A Central Tournament held at Williams High School on Friday. Joseph City took care of Grand Canyon in their quarterfinal round by a final of 72-54. The Cats led by just three after the first period but really opened the game up in the second where they outscored the Phantoms by 17 points, grabbing a 45-25 halftime lead. They extended that margin by four in the third then cruised to the 18-point win.
Seth Hutchens has played well all season and he continued that trend in this game scoring 27 points on just 14 shots. Latrell Kinlicheenie added 22; Jay Edwards had 10 with 11 boards; Ricky Hulsey, 7; and Karter Lampsa and Avery Buckley had 2 each.
With that win the top seeded Wildcats moved on to face Williams, who had finished the regular season in a tie for second.
The top two seeds battled tough through the first half with Joseph City holding a three-point halftime edge. The third period was the difference. The Vikings put up 20 points while Joseph City managed just 11. They were never able to make up that deficit in the fourth eventually losing the game 63-55.
Kinlicheenie finished with 22 points. Edwards added 11 with another 10 rebounds; Hutchens, 10; Hulsey, 8; and Colter Westover helped with 4 points.
With the split the Wildcats have compiled an overall record of 21-8. They will have to wait until later in the week to find out who they will play next. If they are involved in the 1A Conference play-in games they will be in action on Saturday. Joseph City was ranked 11th in the 1A rankings prior to the region tournament action.
