Another strong week in the books for the Wildcats with three more wins has moved them into the second overall position in the 1A power rankings. Joseph City picked up wins over Basis, Mogollon and Ash Fork during the week.
Hosting Basis on Tuesday, the Cats led by just one point at the half, but a strong defensive second half limited the Yeti to only six points in both the third and fourth periods. The Cats poured in 25 in the half to win the game 54-40.
Latrelle Kinlicheenie and Carlos Sanchez each scored 14 points in the win. Matt Fields added 12; KJ Kinlicheenie, 5; Seth Hutchens, 4; Talon Smith, 3; and Jay Edwards added 2.
Joseph City welcomed in rival Mogollon on Thursday but they weren’t exactly gracious hosts, sending the Mustangs home with a 32-point loss. The Cats hung 50 points on the board in the first half then cruised in the second half before winning 75-43.
Fields had a huge game with 25 points and 8 boards. Latrelle Kinlicheenie added 17; Jacobson Begay had 12 on four three-point shots; KJ Kinlicheenie, 10; Hutchens, 5; Edwards, 4; and Kaden Moss helped with 2.
Saturday’s game in Ash Fork was a scoring fest. The Cats were up 20-12 at the end of the first and pushed that margin to 42-26 at the half where they were seemingly in control. In the second half the Spartans piled up 46 points while holding the Cats to 35, although Joseph City was able to hold off the home team and collect the 77-72 win.
Latrelle Kinlicheenie led the charge with 28 points. Begay and Fields each netted 14; Smith, 7; Carlos Sanchez, 5; KJ Kinlicheenie, 4; Edwards, 3; and Hutchens finished with 2.
With the three wins the Wildcats pushed their overall season record to 18-6 and they are 13-1 in regular season games leaving them ranked second at the onset of this week. They have just one game this week, which was played at Williams on Tuesday afternoon.
Next week the Cats will have three games, which will wrap up the regular season.
