By Greg Perkins Through their first six games, the Wildcats have balanced their season mark at 3-3 after going 2-1 in contests played last week. Facing St. Michaels in back-to-back games the Wildcats prevailed in both match-ups, winning by a large margin in the first one and a closer outcome in the second. Tuesday’s first match up found the Wildcats trailing after the first eight minutes by three points. In the second they turned the tides quickly. Joseph City outscored the Cardinals 24-6 in the period, grabbing a 40-25 halftime lead. That margin grew in the third and again in the fourth before settling on the final number of a 79-46 win. Jay Edwards had a phenomenal day scoring 46 points on 22 of 31 shots. Amazingly enough with all those points he only shot two free throws making one. He also canned one three-point bomb in what was a career day for the 6’7” senior. Edwards also dominated the glass, pulling down 20 rebounds. Not very many high school kids earn a double-double stat night with 46 points and 20 boards regardless of conference level. Karter Lampsa also scored in double figures with 15. Avery Buckley had 8; Jeyrell Billie, 3; Bannon Johnston, 3; Blake Palmer, 2; and Bridger Fields helped with 2. The Wildcats made four three-point field goals and went 3 for 9 at the free throw line. Two days later the same two squads matched up and with the first half being similar to the previous game. St. Michael led 20-17 through the first period, then the Wildcats outscored them by 10 in the second to lead 33-27 at the half. The Cats padded their lead by three in the third then held off the Cardinals in the fourth securing the 66-60 home court win. Edwards didn’t put up the gawdy numbers from the previous game but still had a good night with 24 points and 14 rebounds. Lampsa tacked on 14; Johnston had 13; Buckley, 9; and Tyler Penrod finished with 6. Collectively, the Wildcats made five three pointers with Lampsa counting for two of those and the big man Edwards added another to his resume. Playing at Fort Thomas on Friday the Wildcats got a trio of three-point field goals from Johnston but it wasn’t enough to overcome a good Apache team which handed the Cats a 61-48 loss. Edwards led the team in scoring with 18 points and pulled in another 15 rebounds. Johnston finished with 15 points; Penrod added 6; Buckley, 5; and Lampsa finished with 4. Joseph City made nine of 14 free throws in the loss. This week the 3-3 Wildcats have just two games. After hosting Mayer on Tuesday, they will travel to Ash Fork on Thursday. Next Tuesday Joseph City will host St. Michaels for their third match up in two weeks.
