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The No. 7 Ray boys’ basketball held third place in the 1A East Region standings with an impressive 57 – 40 victory at No. 8 Superior last Friday night. The Panthers missed an opportunity to climb past the Bearcats in the standings and are now fourth.
The Cats started fast, opening an 11-point lead at the end of the first quarter. They increased their lead to 33 – 20 at halftime before outscoring the Panthers for the third consecutive quarter to hold a 45 – 26 lead heading into the fourth.
Superior sophomore Dominic Hernandez again led his team with 20 points – half of its scoring total – in addition to a team-high six rebounds, Andrew Martinez, Adam Navarrette and Brayan Aguilar finished with four points apiece. Sophomore Matthew Perez added five rebounds.
Ray up next: Jan. 24 at San Manuel, Jan. 25 at Arete Prep. Both games are scheduled for 7 p.m.
Superior up next: Jan. 24 vs. Arete Prep, Jan. 25 at Cibecue/Dischii Biko. Both games are scheduled for 7 p.m.
Andrew Luberda began writing for Copper Area News Publishers (CANP) in February 2013 after working 15 years in Healthcare Financial Management. Andy covers sports for 11 high schools. His stories are published in Copper Basin News, San Manuel Miner and Superior Sun, in addition to the San Tan Valley Daily PRSS and CopperArea websites. Additionally, he has written human interest stories and business profiles. In May 2012, he earned an AAS in Sports Management at Central Arizona College before graduating with a BS in Communication from Arizona State University in 2014. He and his wife, Kelli, have three sons – AJ, Kyle, and Kade.
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