The Wildcats had their season come to a close on Saturday in the second round of the 1A State Tournament. Joseph City entered the tournament as the No. 2 overall seed and dispatched No. 15 seeded El Capitan early Friday morning at a game played at the Prescott Valley Events Center.
Joseph City nearly doubled up the Eagles in the first period then held a 31-19 cushion at the half. El Capitan did outscore the Wildcats in the second half, but never really threatened for the win.
Matt Fields led the way with 17 points and 17 rebounds, ironically marking his 17th double double of the season. He also had one triple double. Jacobson Begay added 14; Latrelle Kinlicheenie, 13; Jay Edwards, 8; Carlos Sanchez, 4; Talon Smith, 2; and Seth Hutchens helped with two.
The first round win advanced Joseph City to the second round played on Saturday afternoon at Yavapai Community College, where they faced seventh seeded Red Mesa. The Redskins earned their trip to round two with a 67-46 win over Anthem on Friday.
Joseph City struggled to find buckets in the first half and trailed 29-15 at the break. They managed to trim two points off that lead in the third period but the Redskins put the game away in the fourth bringing an end to Joseph City’s season with a 56-41 loss.
Joseph City was led by Edwards with 12 points. Playing his final game as a Wildcat, Fields finished a stellar high school career with 11 points, Latrelle Kinlicheenie added 8; KJ Kinlicheenie, 6; and Carlos Sanchez and Seth Hutchens each netted two in the loss.
Joseph City finished a remarkable season with an overall record of 25-8.
