By Greg Perkins The Lady Wildcats turned around what looked to be an off-season and thanks to their first-round victory in the 1A state tournament they are still playing. Joseph City went 2-5 through their first seven games and looked nothing like a team that had a chance to get into the state tournament let alone win at least one game. However, after going 5-3 over their final eight games, the Lady Cats earned themselves an eighth overall seed in the 1A state tournament and along with it, they were able to host ninth seeded San Manuel on Saturday afternoon. Their home court was a good place to be as the Cats outlasted the Miners, 47-43 and advanced to the second round of the state tournament. That four-point win now has them matched up with top-seeded Leading Edge Academy in Gilbert at 7 p.m. tonight (March 10). The Spartans are 17-1 on the season and even if Joseph City can’t pull off the upset, just getting to the second round has to feel like a huge win for this year’s Joseph City team and certainly something they can build on for the future. Joseph City will enter Wednesday’s second round game with an overall record of 8-8.