The Patagonia High basketball teams pack up the bus today and hit the road for one of the highlights of their regular season—a four-night stay in Williams for the Coach Edgar Brown Holiday Tournament.
“It’s a huge deal,” athletic director and boys coach Nate Porter said. “[The students] have to raise over $8,000 to do it.
“They worked hard to raise that money. Often it’s some of the kids’ favorite memories of high school. The kids appreciate it, they look forward to it.”
The trip is about bonding, team building, experiencing new things, but don’t forget the basketball. Call it fun and games. Lots of games.
“We play five games in three days,” Porter said. “They’ll learn a lot about themselves basketball-wise.”
Both boys and girls teams have struggled some to start the season.
The Lobo boys went 2-2 in the season-opening Boyd Baker tournament in Tucson—beating Tombstone and Adrada Polytechnic and losing to St. Augustine and Duncan—then took a week off for Thanksgiving and returned to action Monday night, losing 49-46 at San Simon.
The Lobo girls lost to San Simon, Benson and St. Augustine at the Boyd Baker, then were beaten again by San Simon on Monday night by a 40-31 score.
The tournament games are not figured into overall records for rankings purposes, so both teams are “officially” 0-1.
Porter said there’s still a lot to learn about his team. He was pleased with their play in the Boyd Baker event, given that four of his top players were out of action, but less thrilled with the San Simon game. The Lobos led by five in the third quarter but struggled to cloe out the game.
“That was a tough one,” he said. “They wanted it more than us. Down the stretch, nobody could make a shot. We really struggled offensively to execute.
“I was really proud of how they played at the Boyd Baker Tournament – excited about the intensity and how hard they players. We were down four of our top eight players and it was great to see new guys stepping up in different roles.”
Porter was particularly impressed by senior Noah Gallardo. “He played every position on the floor,” he said. “He was by far our best player. He’s really stepped up his game.”
After returning from Williams, the Lobos play at St. David on Dec. 10 before finally hosting their first home game on Dec. 11 against Hayden.
“I thought we would be better than we are right now,” Porter said. “We’ve got five seniors who play a lot.
“The Williams tournament is really hard, and then we have two of our tougher games all year the next week when we get back. It will be telling to see if they can keep working hard to improve.”