By Greg Perkins The Lady Wildcats of Joseph City entered the Division IV Section III tournament as the top seed, but by the time the dust had settled at Miami High School on Saturday they finished as the runner-up. The loss to second seeded Ft. Thomas left the Wildcats outside of the top six seeds for the state tournament, which gets underway this weekend. Facing Ray in the semifinal round on Tuesday, the Wildcats led by three after one and by four at the half. A strong third period gave them the margin they needed to secure the 54-45 win and advance to Saturday’s title game. Madison Fields led the Cats in scoring with 22 points. Krista Edwards added 12; Katelyn Pugh. 11; Lindi Gardner, 4; Brooke Baldwin, 3; and Amanda Baldwin, 2. Saturday’s championship game against Ft. Thomas started slowly with the Cats trailing 7-6 after the first eight minutes. Joseph City stepped up its offense in the second and led by three at the half. The second half wasn’t so kind to the Wildcats. Ft. Thomas outscored them by ten in the third period and by five in the fourth to win the title and secure the top six state tournament seed with a 52-40 win. Joseph City dropped to the No. 13 overall seed and will face No. 20 Rock Point on Friday night, Feb. 21, at Yavapai Community College in Prescott. With a win they would match up with No. 4 seed Gilbert Christian on Saturday, also in Prescott. For all remaining teams, a loss from here forward brings their season to a close.