Saldana gets hattrick, Kings win
ASU 80 Washington 72 ASU: 9-11 (6-8) WAS: 5-19 (4-15)
second half. He was trailing Holland Woods, who wrapped a no-look pass around UW center Nate Roberts. Lawrence caught it in stride and put it up in traffic.
Arizona State scored 23 points off 14 UW turnovers while Washington scored 11 off a dozen ASU miscues.
The Sun Devils scored 40 in the paint to Washington’s 30. The Huskies put up 27 3-pointers, making 11 and missed four straight from behind the arc as time was winding down.
The Kofa boys soccer team snapped a 7-game winless streak Thursday night on the road against Valley Vista.
Kofa, on the road for the third straight game, was led by Angel Saldana’s hat-trick to win 5-1.
Saldana began the scoring off a Hector Quiroz assist. Then, Tiernan Nicewander ripped a shot through the net on a penalty kick.
With seconds remaining in the first half, Quiroz knocked in a header off a corner kick from Saldana.
Saldana would then proceed to score two more on the night to help the Kings win for the first time in 30 days.
Girls soccer Kofa 5, Valley Vista 2
Just like in the boys game, the Kofa Kings had a hat-trick offensively. Hanna Urtado found the back of the net three times in the win.
Dayana Gonzalez and Roselin Ramirez also collected goals.
us down...I felt like we needed to change it up a bit and went with a smaller lineup in the second half. The big adjustment was we went small and we wanted to attack their guards.”
With Jaheim Wilson-Jones earning his third start of the year at shooting guard, he brought the intensity on defense for the Hawks as he ripped away three steals in the win.
As one of the best athletes in town, Daily realizes he can’t leave someone like Wilson-Jones on the bench for long.
Wilson-Jones’ efforts on the defensive end of the floor allowed Gila Ridge to set the tempo and get out running. Senior guard Jamison Kay, Jordan Stevens and Anane Wilson were able to get in transition and attack the basketball.
Kay finished with 17 points while Stevens tallied nine and Wilson notched eight.
The combination of unselfish play and attacking the basketball will be the key for Gila Ridge come playoff time. The Hawks travel to No. 3 Ironwood Friday as the final four regular season games have the playoff feel.
“All four (remaining games) are playoff-caliber games,” Daily said. “We
need to have the right mindset. We can’t go in here thinking we need to just win one of four. We need to go in there to win all four games and win the region title and just take it one game at a time. We’re a bunch of Yuma kids, but they can play.”
While Gila Ridge gears up for the postseason, Cibola’s looking to end its season on a positive note. With just two seniors on the roster, plenty of talent returns next year for the Raiders.
Bratton says finishing
the final three games on a winning streak can go a long way in the offseason.
“With sophomores and juniors, you’re going to have a rollercoaster ride and I’m going to hang on for the ride and go along with them,” Bratton said. “It’s important the last three games to gain momentum going into the spring and summer. Cibola could be a really good basketball team the next two years.”