After opening the season with a one-point win over St. Johns, the Wildcats have evened their regular season mark at 1-1 with a home court loss to Cibecue on Tuesday of last week.
Cibecue came off the bus firing and netted 22 first period points building a nine point margin by the end of the opening quarter. Joseph City trimmed four points off that edge in the second and trailed 35-30 at the break. Cibecue added three to their lead in the third then finished off the home team Wildcats with a 23-point outburst in the fourth period handing Joseph City a 74-60 home court loss.
Seth Hutchens did his part netting 21 points for the Cats. Latrell Kinlicheenie added 11, as did Jay Edwards with 11 boards. Carlos Sanchez finished with six; Kaden Moss, 4; Talon Smith, 3; KJ Kinlicheenie, 2; and DJ Beatty also helped with 2.
The Wildcats made two three-point field goals, one each by Hutchens and Latrell Kinlicheenie. Joseph City shot 50 percent from the line making 10 of their 20 attempts.
Over the weekend, the Wildcats were in action at the Route 66 Tournament held in Williams. Joseph City went one and four in their five games played at the tournament. They started the tournament on a good note, with a 36-35 win over Bagdad on Thursday afternoon. A come from behind fourth period resulted in the one point win. Hutchens led the team with 18 points.
Later on Thursday evening Joseph City came up seven points short in a 37-44 loss to Ash Fork/Seligman. Edwards led the way in that game with a 14-point effort.
Friday afternoon Joseph City met up with Grand Canyon and came out on the wrong end of a 25-29 outcome against the Phantoms. Hutchens led with 11 points in the low scoring game. Edwards helped with 11 rebounds in the loss. Later in the afternoon the Wildcats had their worst outing of the tournament in a 15-50 loss to Hopi. The Bruins took advantage of a cold shooting Joseph City team, which scored just two points in the first half of action. Hutchens and Sanchez each had six in the loss.
Joseph City scored better in the final game of the tournament played on Saturday afternoon, a 40-47 loss to El Capitan. Hutchens again led the team with 12 points.
Overall the Wildcats now stand at 2-5 on the season, but they are still 1-1 in regular season games, which count towards the final season power point standings.
The team played in Mayer on Tuesday and will travel to Valley Sanders on Thursday. On Saturday they will host NFL Yet. Next Tuesday they will host Ash Fork/Seligman.
