Photo: 1 Addie Prisciandaro led all scorers with 27 points, gets fouled on her way to the basket
Varsity Girls Basketball
Emmalynn Little calmly knocked down three straight free throw shots with just two seconds left to lift the #21 ranked Prescott Lady Badgers to a hard fought thrilling 54-51 win over #11 ranked Mingus Marauders, in the Badger Dome.
Little launched a three point attempt from the corner and was fouled sending her to the line with the score tied at 51. Little said, “I was a little bit nervous, but I said a quick prayer, and it helped me out a lot.”
The Lady Badgers move into second place in the Grand Canyon Region, behind Flagstaff, with a (4-1) mark, and are now (12-7) overall. Mingus falls to (4-2) in the GCR and (16-3) overall.
The first half saw a game of “runs”, as the Lady Badgers led 4-0, 9-4 at the start with Mingus always coming back to tie the game. An 8-0 run pushed the lead to 17-9 at the end of the opening quarter. The Prescott lead grew to 21-10, before the Marauders knocked down a pair of three point shots by Brianka Villalobos, and baskets by the Mingus leading scorer Savannah Tobias, eventually closing the gap to 23-21. From that point forward it became a see-saw battle.
Mingus took their first lead of the game 26-25 with just over a minute to play in the first half. Addie Prisciandaro made a shot to end the half with the Lady Badgers up 27-26.
Photo: 10 Bella Abt gets double teamed on her attempt to get in position for a shot
Prescott took a 32-29 lead, but Mingus scored a pair of baskets to take the lead 33-32. Bella Abt, who battled inside against bigger opponents, scored for a 34-33 lead.
Photo: 30 Ruby Jensen goes high for a rebound in the second half
The two teams exchanged baskets, but Prescott held a 38-37 lead at the end of the third quarter. The Marauders drilled yet another three pointer, but Ruby Jensen’s rebound and put back tied the game at 40.
Rylee Hobson picked off a pass and went the distance for the bucket and was fouled. Hobson completed the old fashioned three point play for a 43-40 with under five minutes left. After Prisciandaro hit a pair of free throws, the Lady Badgers held a 47-41 lead with 2:40 left. The Marauders came roaring back to tie the game at 49 with a minute to play. Prisciandaro knocked down another pair of free throws for a 51-49 lead, but Makela Martinez scored to tie the game with a half minute to play, setting things up for the final exciting finish.
Prisciandaro, the second leading scorer in the 4A Division, and eighth in the state, led all scorers with 27 points, with a great effort that saw her double teamed on many attempts. Abt had a huge game inside and said, “To me this was almost like a rival game because I used to play with Savannah (Tobias). We are both so competitive and both want to win so much that made it more fun. A game like this just makes you want to play hard, so close with each team getting ahead. Tonight we grew more as a team. This was a really good win for us.”
Little added, “This experience really helps us because we know we can play in close games and come out on top.”
Tobias led Mingus with 16 points. The two teams will battle each other again in Cottonwood on February 1 at 7 pm.
PRESCOTT LADY BADGERS 54, MINGUS MARAUDERS 51
MINGUS (51)-Herrera 1 0-0 3, Martinez 2 4-6 9, Kinsey 4 0-0 8, Thompson 1 1-2 4, Tobias 7 2-3 16, Villalobos 3 2-2 11, Barro 0 0-0 0, Martin 0 0-0 0, Phillips 0 0-0 0. 18 9-13 51.
PRESCOTT (54)-Prisciandaro 9 8-8 27, James 1 0-0 2, Abt 3 5-8 11, Hobson 2 1-3 5, Jensen 1 0-0 2, Libis 1 0-0 2, Little 1 3-3 5, Murdock 0 0-0 0. 18 17-22 54.
Score by Quarters- 1 2 3 4 – T
Mingus 9 17 11 14 – 51
Prescott 17 10 11 16 – 54
Total Fouls-Mingus 16, Prescott 14
Three Point Baskets-M(6)-Villalobos 3, Herrera 1, Martinez 1, Thompson 1. P(1)-Prisciandaro
SCOREBOARD
PRESCOTT 54, Mingus 51
Ash Fork 41, Seligman 6
Bradshaw Mountain 41, Lee Williams 34
Coronado 37, Tempe 36
Deer Valley 71, Cactus 15
Dysart 69, Cortez 19
Flagstaff 69, Coconino 28
Joseph City 70, Williams 27
Mayer 61, Music Jr./Sr. 34
Salome 42, Bagdad 10
Seton Catholic Prep 68, Marcos de Niza 14
St. Mary’s 64, Arcadia 41
Trinity Christian 46, Skyline 26
GRAND CANYON REGION STANDINGS
School- W-L W-L
Flagstaff 6-0 16-4
PRESCOTT 4-1 12-7
Mingus 4-2 16-3
Bradshaw Mountain 3-2 6-11
Coconino 2-3 8-11
Lee Williams 1-6 6-11
Mohave 0-6 6-12
Varsity Boys Basketball
The Prescott Badgers knocked off the Mingus Marauders in Cottonwood 59-44.
Uriah Tenette scored 26 and Zane Gaul added 10.
The Badgers, ranked #7 this week in the 4A Division, opened up a commanding 36-12 halftime lead, cruising in the second half for the win. Prescott will visit Mohave on Friday at 5:30 pm.
GRAND CANYON REGION STANDINGS
School- W-L W-L
PRESCOTT 5-0 15-3
Flagstaff 5-0 10-11
Bradshaw Mountain 4-2 13-6
Coconino 3-3 8-11
Lee Williams 2-4 9-8
Mohave 1-5 4-11
Mingus 0-6 7-12
SCOREBOARD
PRESCOTT 59, Mingus 44
Arrowhead Christian Academy 69, BASIS-Prescott 22
Bradshaw Mountain 57, Lee Williams 43
Coronado 64, Tempe 61
Deer Valley 71, Cactus 61
Flagstaff 58, Coconino 49
Mayer 70, Music Mountain Jr./Sr. 48
Mesquite 61, Saguaro 52
Mica Mountain 74, Douglas 53
Peoria 67, Agua Fria 46
Salome 61, Bagdad 43
Seligman 81, Ash Fork 32
Seton Catholic Prep 70, Marcos de Niza 46
Skyline 85, Trinity Christian 62
St. Mary’s 68, Arcadia 39
Thunderbird 55, Moon Valley 49
Williams 71, Joseph City 58
