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The Wildcats won both games over the weekend pushing their overall mark to 10-11 with a home court win over Mayer on Friday, followed by a road win at Ash Fork/Seligman on Saturday.
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Friday’s game with the visiting Wildcats from Mayer quickly turned in Joseph City’s favor with the team outscoring their guests 19-5 in the first frame. Joseph City nearly duplicated that effort in the second with a 17-4 edge to lead 36-9 at the break. With the game basically over at the half, the Wildcats outscored Mayer 26-17 in the second half and cruised to the 62-26 home court win.
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Jay Edwards led the way on offense with 15 points and played well on defense with nine blocks. Seth Hutchens netted 13; Latrell Kinlicheenie, 10; BJ Martineau, 6; Carlos Sanchez, 6; Kaden Moss, 4; and Avery Buckley, Talon Smith, Damon Sandoval and KJ Kinlicheenie each scored two points.
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Saturday’s game at Ash Fork was more competitive but the result was a 61-48 Wildcat win. Joseph City again started well on both ends of the floor in the first half holding a 31-17 halftime edge. They were outscored by just a single point over the final two periods, but still came away with the 13 point win.
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Latrell Kinlicheenie had a big day with 25 points, thanks in part to four three-point shots. Hutchens added 14, with 9 boards; KJ Kinlicheenie had 9 points; Edwards, 6; Smith, 3; BJ Martineau and Moss each had 2 points.
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With the two wins the Wildcats improved their regular season mark to 8-4. They were ranked 13th in the 1A rankings prior to Friday’s games and with the two wins they should move higher when the new rankings are released on Tuesday morning. Joseph City needs to remain in the top 16 in the rankings in order to make the state tournament. They have just six regular season games left to keep those post-season hopes alive.
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The Wildcats will play at Round Valley on Thursday, then will travel to Basis School in Flagstaff on Saturday. Next Tuesday they will host Williams.
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