The Winslow Bulldogs defeated the Florence Gophers 80-68 in a quarterfinals game in the Arizona State 3A Conference Championship Tournament played at Prescott Valley on Tuesday, Feb. 20. The Bulldogs then played Chinle, 64-55 winners over Wickenburg in the semifinals on Friday, Feb. 23.
Winslow was a second seed with a record of 25-6 going into this game. The Bulldogs defeated Fountain Hills in the tournament 80-56 after a first round bye. Florence was a seventh seed with a record of 17-11 going into this game. The Gophers defeated Globe 74-67 in the tournament after a first round bye.
The Bulldogs started strong and led 23-13 after the first quarter. Florence cut the lead to 42-37 at the half but it was back up to 61-47 after three quarters of play. Junior Villanueva led Winslow and all scorers with 25 points. Zach Wagner with 18 points, Darius James with 16 points and Yoann Djassa with 10 points were also in double figures for the Bulldogs, and Dakota Spencer had nine points for the victors. Florence was led by Rarey Sommer with 24 points. Nick Tucker and Cooper and Zion White each scored 15 points for the Gophers.
