By Greg Perkins The Joseph City Wildcats went 2-1 last week, leaving them positioned on the edge for their section and state tournament berths. Playing Red Valley-Cove last Tuesday at Teec Nos Pos, the Wildcats held a three-point halftime margin, but found the tables turned in the third and trailed by three heading into the fourth. They cut one point off the Miners’ lead, but came up short in the 48-46 loss. Koby Smith led Joseph City with 13 points and 17 rebounds. Matt Fields added 10 points; Tristan Richard, 7; Forester Flake, 6; Troy Poudrier and Aaron Johnstun, 4 each; and Carlos Sanchez, 2. Two nights later, the Cats picked up a home court win over Ash Fork. They held a slight advantage over the Spartans in each of the four periods en route to the 41-33 win. Smith led the team again in scoring with 17, followed by Fields with 13; Richard, 6; Johnstun and Sanchez, 2 each; and Flake, 1. Last Friday’s game at Rough Rock resulted in a 10-point loss for Joseph City. The Cats found themselves trailing by 10 at the half, then played even with the Sun Devils in the second half, but couldn’t make up the early deficit, losing 69-59. Smith had a stellar game, scoring 29 points with 19 rebounds. Poudrier added 9 points; Flake, 8; Richard, 7; and Sanchez, Daniel Tigert and KJ Kinlicheenie, 2 each. The Cats head into the final week of the regular season with an 11-12 mark. They have just three games left on their schedule and they may need to win them all to stay in the playoff hunt for both sectionals and state, depending on the outcomes of other Division V contests played this week. After hosting Cibecue on Tuesday, they will play at Red Mesa on Friday, Feb. 5, then travel to St. Michael on Saturday, Feb. 6, for the season finale. If they qualify for the Division V Section I Tournament, they will be playing in Holbrook. The girls will play on Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday of next week, and the boys on Wednesday, Friday and Saturday.