The Wildcats played three close games last week coming out on top in just one of them. Playing at Williams on Tuesday, Jan. 21, Joseph City withstood a furious fourth quarter rally by the Vikings but still held on for a 75-71 road win over a good team.
Seth Hutchens paved the way with 31 points. Latrell Kinlicheenie added 19 and Jay Edwards did his part with 14. Colter Westover added 6, Ricky Hulsey had 3 and Avery Buckley added 2.
Hosting rival Mogollon on Friday, the Wildcats played well in the first half building a 38-27 lead. The second half belonged to the Mustangs who outscored Joseph City 39-17 handing the Wildcats a 66-55 home court loss.
Kinlicheenie led the team in scoring with 23 points. Edwards added 15, Hutchens 13, Hulsey and Buckley each had 2.
Playing in Cibecue on Saturday, the Wildcats stayed within one point through the first quarter but in the second they were outscored by nine and trailed 30-20 at the half. That deficit grew by another point through the third, but in the third Joseph City staged a rally which came up short in a 56-51 road loss.
Hutchens led the team in scoring with 25 points. Kinlicheenie added 12 and Edwards finished with 8. Buckley added 4 and Westover finished with 2.
The Wildcats headed into this week with an overall record of 18-5. They are 11-4 in regular season contests and entered last weekend ranked ninth in the 1A standings.
This week they will wrap up the regular season. After hosting Williams on Tuesday, Joseph City will play a double header at Fort Thomas on Saturday. At 2 p.m. they will face the Apaches, then at 5 p.m. they will take on NFL Yet at the same location.
Joseph City will compete in the 1A Central Region tournament which begins on Feb. 5.
