The boys basketball team at Sedona Red Rock High School traveled to Pinetop this past week to participate in the ninth annual White Mountain Holiday Classic.
“We love going up to Pinetop. It’s a good time to get away, spend some time with the team away from Sedona for a three-day period,” third-year Sedona Head Coach Bob Murphy said.
It is the fifth year in a row Sedona has participated in the White Mountain Holiday Classic, winning it during the 2007-2008 season, Murphy’s first as head coach for Sedona.
After a tough 61-41 loss to Show Low High School to begin the tournament Tuesday, Dec. 29, the Scorpions rebounded to defeat lowly Seligman High School, 85-18.
Yes, that’s right, 85-18.
Seligman looked like an unorganized middle school team for most of the 32 minutes played Tuesday, not scoring their 10th point of the night until 30 seconds to go in the first half.
At the same time, Sedona was up 47-10 which was the lead the Scorpions took into the locker room.
Senior Kevin Cox led all scores with 19 points on 9-12 shooting while pulling four rebounds, adding three steals and recording two blocked shots.
Every player that played for Sedona against Seligman scored with junior Troy Loparco next in the pecking order with 16 points and 15 rebounds.
Sophomore Bradley Cox was next with 15 points, nine rebounds and four steals while seniors Thomas Wisbey, Pedro Ortega Jr., and sophomore Chris Oestmann and J.R. Henry each had eight points.
The Scorpions were 41-76 from the field, shooting 54 percent on the game, easily their best performance of the season.
Sedona also recorded 22 steals while committing only eight turnovers.
“We played well which is better than I can say for the first game earlier today,” Murphy said.
In game one Tuesday morning, Sedona struggled out of the gates against Show Low and found themselves trailing 17-5 after the first quarter.
Show Low continued to put the pressure on and outscored the Scorpions 24-9 in the second quarter to take a 41-14 lead at halftime.
Sedona managed to right the ship in the second half, outscoring Show Low 27-20 but the damage had been done as they went on to lose, 61-41.
Cox led all scores again with 13 points on 6-16 shooting with six rebounds and four blocked shots.
The Scorpions’ shooting percentage topped off at a dismal 26 percent, or 16 of 61 from the field — a far cry from the later game against Seligman.
Sedona had 18 turnovers against Show Low, one of the big reasons why the Scorpions only managed 41 points.
Bradley Cox had eight points and four rebounds while Loparco had six points and six rebounds and Henry posted two points and seven rebounds.
The White Mountain Holiday Classic continued Wednesday, Dec. 30, and Thursday, Dec. 31, but results were unavailable at press time.
Sedona’s record currently stands at 6-5 overall on the season and Sedona is still ranked No. 11 in the Arizona Interscholastic Association power point standings, which aren’t affected by tournament play.
The Scorpions will return home after the two-week Christmas break to play host to Chino Valley High School on Tuesday, Jan. 5. Tip-off is scheduled for
7 p.m.
