Joseph City had their four-game winning streak stopped in Williams on Tuesday last week with the Vikings prevailing, 71-58. The game started well enough with Joseph City building a 5-point lead through the first quarter. That was matched by Williams in the second, leaving the two squads tied at 30-30 at the break. Williams pulled in front by 6 in the third, then pushed the lead to double digits in the final frame to secure the win.
Cort Miller did his job with 28 points and 10 boards. Jared Layden added 17; Eli James, 8; Landon Miller, 3; and Brent Bush helped with 2.
Playing at home on Thursday night, Joseph City bounced back with a 62-46 win over visiting Superior. The Cats led by 5 after one but held just a 2-point lead at the break. In the third, they pushed that lead to double digits then gradually increased their advantage throughout the final period.
Cort Miller again led the way with 17 points. James added 16; Landon Miller, 10; Layden, 6; Heston Miller, 6; Bush, 3; and Cole Moss, and Cody Nockideneh each had 2.
They couldn’t carry that momentum into the next day. Hosting Fort Thomas on Friday night, Joseph City saw 2-point first-period lead fall back to a 29-all tie by the half. The Apaches led by 3 after three, then pulled away in the fourth handing the Wildcats a 60-51 home-court loss.
Cort Miller led with 23 points. Layden added 10; James, 7; Jan Armengol, 6; Landon Miller, 3; and Bush scored two.
Joseph City heads into their final three games with a regular season mark of 10-5. They were ranked ninth before Friday’s loss to Fort Thomas. After traveling to Cibecue on Monday, they will host Hayden on Thursday. They wrap up the regular season at Mogollon next Tuesday.
The team will play in the 1A Copper regional tournament before seeing action in the 1A state playoffs which get underway on Wednesday, Feb. 7, at high-seed locations. If the Wildcats can climb into one of the top eight spots in the rankings, they could host a first-round game, if not they will find themselves on the road for that first round. Joseph City is 17-8 overall on the season.
