The final week of the regular season was a busy one for the Wildcats. Three games, all wins, were capped by a one-point thriller over visiting NFL Yet on Saturday.
Joseph City opened the week at Cibecue and came away with a 76-71 win. Cibecue held a three-point lead after the first period and still had a 40-38 lead at the half. The third period is where the Cats won the game. They outscored Cibecue 23-11 to gain the upper hand then held on in the fourth for the win.
Matt Fields had a huge night scoring 28 points, with 10 rebounds and eight assists. Latrelle Kinlicheenie made five three-point field goals and finished with 21 points. Jacobson Begay added 10; Carlos Sanchez, 6; KJ Kinlicheenie, 4; Seth Hutchens, 3; Talon Smith, 2; and Jay Edwards helped with 2.
Friday’s game at Mayer was their only easy game of the three. Joseph City led by seven after the first then opened up a 34-14 lead at the half. They cruised to the 61-33 win.
Hutchens led four Wildcats in double figures with 14. Latrelle Kinlicheenie added 13; Fields, 10; Sanchez, 10; KJ Kinlicheenie, 5; Edwards, 4; Kaden Moss, 3; and Stephen Woody finished with 2.
Hosting the second ranked NFL Yet Eagles on Saturday afternoon, third ranked Joseph City played a solid first half and held a 39-24 lead. They needed all of that 15 point margin before the second half was over. The Eagles outscored the Wildcats by seven in the third period, then duplicated that effort in the fourth trimming all but one point away from Joseph City’s lead, resulting in a 78-77 Wildcat win.
Another huge game from Fields who finished with 29 points, with 17 rebounds and 10 assists recording a triple double. Latrelle Kinlicheenie added 18, Smith, 8; KJ Kinlicheenie, 8; Sanchez, 8; and Hutchens finished with 7.
With the three final regular season wins the Wildcats finished the regular season with a 21-7 mark. They entered the weekend ranked third in power points and they are the top seed in the upcoming 1A Central Region tournament, which began on Tuesday for the Wildcats when they take on Mayer in the opening round. The 1A State Tournament will get underway on Friday, Feb. 16, and the Wildcats figure to be a top three seed in the final bracket.
