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Ray High Bearcats
The 11th-ranked Ray girls’ basketball team took of care of business last week, as was expected, winning three-straight games by lopsided margins. The Lady Cats defeated Phoenix Day School for the Deaf, San Manuel and Hayden by a combined score of 188 – 92. The average margin of victory in three games was 32 points per game.
In last Friday’s regular-season home finale, Ray defeated Hayden 56 – 34, sending off seniors Ashley Rutter, Gabbi Montano and Iiana Goad victorious in their final home appearance.
The Lady Cats have won six of their last seven games, the loss coming against top-ranked Ft. Thomas on Jan. 20. Ray appears to peaking at the right time with the 1A East region and Arizona state tournaments around the corner.
The state tournament, which begins Feb. 17 in Prescott Valley, will include 10 automatic berths and six at-large berths to form the 16-team field. The Lady Cats can assure themselves being one of the 10 automatic entries by reaching the 1A East Region Tournament finals. The six at-large qualifiers will be based on ranking.
Upcoming schedule: Jan. 31 at Superior and Feb. 2 at Duncan. Both games are scheduled for 5:30 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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