MHS girls basketball moves to 19-4 (VIDEO)

Senior Tyra Williams scored a career high 33 points as the Maricopa High School girls basketball team defeated McClintock 83-35 Tuesday night.

It was their last home game. They play at Williams Field tonight and at Apollo to end the regular season on Feb. 7.

The Rams are also gearing up for the post-season, where they hope for a high seeding in the 5A tournament. After the McClintock game, coach Melvin Mitchell spoke about some of the past weaknesses they are working to overcome:

The Rams had two other players in double-digit scoring against McClintock. Sopomore Jayla Johnson put up 15 points, and junior Sydni Callis scored 13. Senior Clara Morris added eight.

“The bench did a little bit better tonight,” Mitchell said. “They stepped in and gave us some good, valuable minutes on defense. Kyla Boyce really helped us a lot with the put backs and  rebounding, so I definitely glad to have her back and her 6-2, 6-3 frame. Just being long in girls’ basketball, it means a lot.”

The Rams are 12-2 in the conference and tied with Ironwood at the top of 5A Metro with records of 8-1. They have a split record against Ironwood this season.

Despite the win against struggling McClintock, Maricopa’s power ranking dropped from ninth to 10th in 5A this week. If that stands, they would host the 23rd ranked team in the conference play-in Feb. 9. If they are able to climb above the ninth ranking, they can get directly into the state bracket.

It has been an odd year for the girls, who are 19-4 overall. A Dec. 6 game against Poston Butte that appeared to be a win was cancelled by the Arizona Interscholastic Association after a scorekeeping mistake. Then the Dec. 2 freshman and junior varsity games against Campo Verde were forfeited when it was discovered one freshman played all quarters in the freshman game and three quarters in the JV game. All three coaches were reprimanded and AIA placed the program on “advisement” for a year.

MHS Girls Basketball Senior Night

1 of 20