The Joseph City Lady Wildcats came home state champions and it wasn’t even close. Going up against the Fort Thomas Apaches last Friday, Joseph City earned their second consecutive 1A State championship trophy with their 66-34 win in the final game on Friday at the Veterans Memorial Coliseum in Phoenix.
The Lady Cats led by just 4 after the first eight minutes but expanded that lead to 31-18 at the break. The lead grew to 46-28 after three, and in the fourth the Wildcats put the game away, outscoring the Apaches 20-6 over the final eight minutes.
Audrey Neill certainly did her part. The senior finished with 33 points, 11 rebounds and six steals in the title game. Sister and teammate Amber was also pivotal, with key points and big rebounds, along with Mackenize Jesmer whose size on top of their 1-2-2 trapping defense gave the shorter Fort Thomas team problems throughout the contest.
Joseph City had been in the state title game the previous three years in a row but lost the first two of those chances. Last year they won the title, and this year backed that up with a convincing win over second seeded Fort Thomas.
Top seeded Joseph City finished up the season with a very impressive 33-3 overall record.
Joseph City is one of the best 1A clubs in state history, having made four straight championship games. The Wildcats made four straight from 1976 to 1979 as a “C” level team. St. Michael went to four in five years (1997-2001), and Seligman participated in six title games within a decade (1987-1998).
