- Section I finals a junk yard dogfight
- February 3, 2012
- The Division III, Section I wrestling championships, to be held today, Friday, Feb. 3, and tomorrow in Winslow, will probably be the most competitive of the three section tournaments because state top-10 ranked teams Blue Ridge, Coconino, Mingus and Chino Valley are members. The Section II championships are under way at Tucson Sabino and Section III is occurring at Greenway High, Phoenix. Section I is the smallest of the three with 13 member schools while Section II and III encompass 17 schools each. Along with the Section I tournament drawing some of the finest teams in the state, it will feature some of the most accomplished individuals, with 35-plus top-eight ranked wrestlers competing over the course of the two days. Which means Payson wrestlers will face plenty of mat challenges as they battle for individual honors and team points. The 138-pound division is possibly the most stacked weight class in the sectionals and is the one in which Payson’s best wrestler, Jake Spear, competes.
- Fountain Hills dashes upset aspirations
- February 3, 2012
- A well-oiled Fountain Hills boys basketball team, ranked among the best in Division III, squashed Payson’s hopes of pulling off the upset of the season, whipping the Horns 78-49 on Jan. 31 in Wilson Dome. The visiting Falcons jumped out to a 22-9 lead in the first eight minutes; expanded it to 45-26 at halftime; and coasted to the win. In the loss, the Longhorns turned in one of their worst shooting nights of the season, hitting just 21 of their 61 attempts (34 percent). Cole Belcher was about the only Horn player to muster much offense, finishing with 13 points. Tanner Hintze, the team’s lead scorer, was held to nine points. Josh Oakley contributed six and Richard Neilson had five. Sometimes prep teams can make up for shooting woes by cashing in at the free throw line. But Payson drew just 10 fouls and hit five of the attempts, so the charity stripe was not much help. Some of the Horns’ setbacks can be attributed to a lack of offensive rebounding, which meant there weren’t many “put back” points. Not a single Payson player corralled more than one offensive rebound and, as a team, the Horns had just six.
- Lady Horns push Falcons to the edge
- February 3, 2012
- Lady Longhorn first-year basketball coach Jennifer White is calling it “our best game of the year,” even though her team dropped a 51-46 thriller to highly regarded Fountain Hills. The Falcons entered the game, played Jan. 31 in Fountain Hills, with a 17-3 record, on a four-game winning streak and as huge favorites to stampede the Lady Horns into oblivion. Few gave Payson a chance to win, but the gutsy and gritty Lady Horns surprised soothsayers by playing on even terms with Fountain Hills most of the game. Possibly part of the Lady Horns’ urgency in the Section III clash can be attributed to the fact White and her players realized they needed a crucial win over FH to stay in the chase for a sectional tournament berth. While PHS didn’t get the much-needed “W”, the team continues to hold out hope that a victory tonight, Feb. 3 over Show Low, would provide the power points the team needs to advance to the S-III tournament and possibly earn a berth in the division tournament.
- Facts don’t support reasons for AIA changes
- February 3, 2012
- Let’s see — when the Arizona Interscholastic Association did away with the former conference/region configuration and replaced it with a division/section alignment a year ago, the reasons given were the new arrangement would save transportation money, cut down on travel time and limit student athletes’ time out of class. Sounds reasonable, but let’s check it out. For the upcoming Division III basketball tournaments that both Payson High teams could be competing in, first-round games are on Feb. 14 at “a site to be determined,” the AIA tournament bracket shows. So who knows where that will be? Possibly the home site of the highest seed which would mean half of the tournament’s 24 teams would not have to travel. But the other half might have to travel great distances and possibly incur expenses of an overnight stay. For example, what if Payson and Rio Rico were to meet in the first round and Rio Rico is the home team? That would mean Payson would have to make about a 500-mile round trip on a Tuesday, possibly missing a full day of school. If Payson would win, the team would travel the following Friday to Northern Arizona University in Flagstaff for a second-round game.
- Record crowds expected at expos
- February 3, 2012
- Outdoor enthusiasts from around the Rim Country, whether they are hunters, anglers, hikers, campers or mountain bikers, are gearing up for two upcoming expos designed to tickle the fancy of all who attend. The events include the International Sportsmen’s Expo to be held Feb. 23 to 26 in University of Phoenix Stadium in Glendale and the Arizona Game and Fish Outdoor Expo set for March 31 and April 1 at the Ben Avery Shooting Range in Phoenix. Both offer an opportunity to experience first-hand the great Arizona outdoors. The International Sportsmen’s Expo has drawn fishing and hunting outfitters from around the state and will have on display the newest in fishing tackle and hunting gear, boats, motors, marine accessories, mountain home furnishings, ATVs, trucks, outdoor apparel and optics. More than 300 companies are expected to exhibit. Also the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation, Arizona Deer Association, Eastmans’ Trophy Deer and Boy Scouts of America will have information booths and displays set up throughout the entire show.
- Recreation Roundup
- February 3, 2012
- This camp offers young wrestlers, in the third- through eighth-grades, the opportunity to learn skills from the Payson High School coaches and players. Registration continues through Tuesday, Feb. 21, with the camp held from 4 p.m. to 5:30 p.m., Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday from Feb. 21 through March 1. The cost is $25 per child. Youth Spring Socceer League Registration is now taking place for the Youth Spring Soccer League and will continue through March 13. Games could be played both weekdays and on Saturdays between March 27 and May 17. The league is open to children age 4 through high school seniors. Participants in the third-grade and up will be using full fields at Rumsey Park, while the younger players will use the smaller fields. Volunteer coaches are needed and if you coach your child’s team, the $30 participation fee is waived.
- Wrestlers brace for sectional showdown
- January 31, 2012
- Although the Longhorn wrestling team does not have a stable full of wrestling thoroughbreds to enter in the Division III, Section I tournament, the team has some strong finishers who could make a name for themselves in prep grappling circles. The tournament will be contested Saturday, Feb. 4 at Winslow High School. Among Payson’s top contenders for section honors are Jacob Spear (138), Dallin Macnab (112), and Anselmo Vasquez (195). Zac Wilson (120), Conner Anderson (152), William McCrary, (128), Cody Shepard (106), Trevor Anderson (132), Brett Royer (182), Denny Clinton (170) and Kyle Brown (145) could also make some noise now that they have a full season of wrestling moxie to buoy them. Spear is a strong candidate to win a medal, possibly a gold, because he has been rock solid all season long, finishing 7-0 in the Tucson Catalina Invitational, 2-0 in the Show Low Duals and 5-0 at the Payson Invitational tournament. Also in the PI, coaches voted Spear the Outstanding Wrestler among the lighter weights and he was a weight class champion.
- Club Rim adds Jacket, Lobo players to roster
- January 31, 2012
- There’s a grand sports experiment going on in Payson and as unique as it is, success appears imminent. The experiment involves the Club Rim volleyball team and the out-of-town players currently on the roster. Since the club was founded six years ago, only Payson High School players have been members of the team. But this year, the Club Rim 18-years-and-under team has attracted three out-of-town athletes and, believe it or not, the trio are from two of the Payson High’s most fierce rivals — Blue Ridge and Snowflake. Jessica Johnson and her younger sister Jenifer Johnson joined Club Rim from Blue Ridge, and Snowflake’s Tandi Yellowhair is also on the roster. During the past high school volleyball season, Jessica Johnson, a senior setter for the Yellow Jackets, was named Division III’s Player of the Year, an AIA and Arizona Republic first team honoree and on Jan. 21 in Mesa was named a high school All-American. She was also chosen to the 3A all-region and all-state teams in 2009 and 2010.
- Horns face crucial showdown tonight
- January 31, 2012
- Payson High School first-year basketball coach Joe Sanchez, also a former Longhorn player, loves home cookin’. And he’s hoping for a healthy plate of it this evening, Jan. 31, in Wilson Dome where his Horn hardwooders play host to Fountain Hills in what could be both teams’ most crucial game of the season. The home cookin’ Sanchez is hoping will be dished up is an overflowing crowd of PHS fans to show up and cheer the team’s every move, providing the support all teenage athletes thrive on. The game is particularly significant in Division III hoops, Sanchez said, “Because they are ranked in the top five in power points and we continue to move up. We lost to them (on Dec. 20) by two points at their place.” A key to a Payson victory this evening could be slowing the Falcons’ 6-foot, 3-inch junior swingman Matt Fisher, who turned in what has been his finest performance of the season in the first meeting of the two teams — scoring 25 points. If the Payson defense can stop Fisher from going off like that again and also limit their own turnovers, the Horns could be enjoying an upset and a big boost in power points.
- Lady Horns need big ‘W’
- January 31, 2012
- A formidable foe, the homestanding Fountain Hills Falcons await the Lady Longhorns this evening, Jan. 31, with an upset win being the catalyst Payson needs to gain one spot in the power point rankings and earn a berth into the Division III, Section III tournament when it is played Feb. 7 to Feb. 11 in Surprise. To qualify for the post-season tournament, the Lady Horns must be ranked eighth or higher in the power point standings. Currently Payson (8-8) is sitting ninth, but only about .4 of a power point behind eighth-ranked Sedona Red Rock (9-7). A win over Fountain Hills could catapult Payson past Sedona, but a loss would drop the Lady Horns even further behind in the chase for post-season honors. With only one game remaining, Feb. 3 at Show Low, after tonight, the clash vs. the Falcons is most likely for all the marbles. In games last week, the Lady Horns turned in a break-even record, losing 50-37 to St. Johns on Jan. 26, but winning a day later, 42-6, over Miami.
- Coach hopes home crowd fills gym for game
- January 31, 2012
- A deafening standing-room-only hometown crowd has often spelled the difference between winning and losing for high school sports teams, especially in basketball where fans are crammed into a single gym or field house. The advantages home teams have is one of the reasons PHS coach Joe Sanchez is hoping for a huge Payson turnout for tonight’s crucial showdown vs. Fountain Hills. Tip off is 7 p.m. in Wilson Dome. Great crowd support tonight could be just the benefit the underdog Horns need to pull off the upset. The advantages of the home crowd have been debated, but I met one coach years ago who argued a home crowd was as good as having an extra player on the team.
- Longhorn teams earn needed wins over Mogollon Mustangs
- January 27, 2012
- Both the Payson High School boys and girls basketball teams picked up much-needed power points with victories over the Mogollon Mustangs on Wednesday, Jan. 25 in Wilson Dome. The Lady Longhorns, who are trying to move up from 10th to at least eighth position in the standings in order to qualify for the Section III postseason tournament, corralled the Mustangs 49-20. The boys team, which will qualify for the sectional tournament barring a catastrophic late-season collapse, hog-tied the ’stangs 75-54 behind Cole Belcher’s game high 18 points. Senior point guard Guillermo Lopez contributed what might have been his best all-around floor game with 12 points that included 2-of-3 three-point shooting, four rebounds, two blocked shots, one assist and a steal. The outcome of the game was never in doubt as Payson jumped out to a 23-9 lead after the first eight minutes and expanded it to 41-16 at halftime. With the wins, the boys team improves to 14-8 and the girls are now 10-10. The girls return to the hardwood, today, Jan. 27, to host the Miami Vandals in Wilson Dome. The boys travel Jan. 31 to Fountain Hills. Both game times are 7 p.m.
- Lady Horns looking for strong finish
- January 27, 2012
- Lady Longhorn basketball players could be on the outside looking in when the Division III, Section III tournament kicks off Feb. 7 in Surprise. The plight exists because only the top eight teams in section power point rankings will be seeded into the tournament and Payson is currently sitting in 10th place. For the Lady Horns to earn a postseason berth, the team will need a boost in power points that could come with victories in the final four games of the regular season. Ninth-ranked Parker and eighth-rated Cortez are the two teams the Lady Horns must pass to advance to the postseason. Highballing past Parker is very attainable because only about a 1.4 difference in power points separates the two. But Cortez, a Glendale school, holds about a 3.1-point lead over the Lady Horns, which means catching the Colts will take a solid effort in which PHS wins out and Cortez struggles down the stretch. Rendering the Payson task of reaching the postseason doubly tough is the team is without the services of leading scorer Teanna Lopez who was injured two weeks ago and is not expected to return this season.
- Payson bass team finishes second
- January 27, 2012
- It took just one nice-sized bass to propel the Mesa team of Rich Kereny and Dean Kruezen to a first place finish at a Western Outdoor News (WON) Bass Arizona team tournament held Jan. 7 at Bartlett Lake. The largemouth tipped the scales at 2.53 pounds, which not only represented the heaviest catch of the tournament but was also the “Big Fish” winner. The Payson team of Keith Hunsinger and Bobby O’Donnell caught two fish, but they weighed in at just 1.59 pounds, which was good enough for second place. WON Arizona Teams Director Tracy Purtee said following the weigh-in that O’Donnell told him, “it was ugly out there,” to which Purtee responded, “I think a lot of the anglers would agree.” Ken Howden and Gary Understiller weighed in 1.45 pounds of fish to finish third.
- Fumble was gut-wrenching, but get over it
- January 27, 2012
- Arizona State University alumni, including myself, cherish the moments we cheer former Sun Devil sports stars as they go on to make a name for themselves in the professional ranks. Over the decades, ASU had produced some of sports finest including Danny White, Pat Tillman, Jumpin’ Joe Caldwell, Reggie Jackson, Curley Culp, Heather Farr, Phil Mickelson, Rick Monday and Sal Bando. But every once in a while, there is a hiccup among the former ASU players that makes us squirm in our recliners, throw up our hands and shout, “Oh No!” Such was the case in the San Francisco 49ers 20-17 overtime loss on Sunday to the Super Bowl-bound New York Giants. Kyle Williams, a second year pro out of ASU and a graduate of Scottsdale Chaparral High fumbled a punt in OT that set up Lawrence Tynes’ game-winning field goal. Watching Williams fumble was painful, distressing and gut-wrenching, especially for ASU faithful.
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