According to the team, the girls of Tombstone last tasted victory on February 2 of 2010. That translates to over 30 games of long bus rides home and disappointment at home.

That all changed under new head coach Dale Cummings after the Yellow Jackets defeated St. Augustine 45-17 Wednesday night in Tucson.

Tombstone was led by junior guard Jalyssa Rodriguez.

“We played better today and were much more confident,” a calm Rodriguez stated. “We didn’t win a game last year but we know we have more games to play.”

There were no excessive celebrations one would expect after a victory like that but Rodriguez explained it simply, “We weren’t cocky about it because we know how they (St. Augustine) feel.” Refreshing.

Rodriguez scored 13 points, and teammates Gabby Chavez and Marina Luna added 10 points each. In all, eight players scored for Tombstone.

St. Augustine coach Bill Moten is having a rough time of it this year after making it to the second round of the state playoff last year. Some of his starters from last year are sticking with volleyball or have even given up the sport to join the cheer squad.

Then, there a few who lace them up for basketball and then change into their cheer outfits for the boys game. (The smaller schools play a double-header with the girls varsity playing before the boys team.)

One of those basketball/cheerleaders is all-sport star Alana Erchull. Erchull claims it works out fine because she never gets tired. Erchull holds three track records at St. Augustine so she is more than in shape.

“This is the first year our school has had an official cheer squad,” explained Erchull. “I really wanted to do it but my coach asked if I could do both. Why not?”

Jasmine Salazar and Christie Cesare have also made the commitment to do both.

The team scored a season-high 17 points in the loss and were led by Cesare’s 8 points and Erchull added 6. Hailey Freeman drained a 3-pointer in the fourth quarter to round out St. Augustine’s scoring.

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St. Augustine boys coach Rick Luna is also having a difficult start to his season and they came up against a very deep Tombstone squad late Wednesday night.

The Wolves could not match the talent and speed of Tombstone but several players put in an heroic performance in the 79-20 loss. Dexter Humphreys scored 10 points in the loss and Manny Stacey scored 4. Luis Rojel scored 3 and Owen Humphreys hit a 3-pointer late in the game.

Tombstone spread out their playing time with all ten players getting extensive time on the court but Anthoney Prestly still managed to score 18 points and Orlando Galvez scored 13. William Serrano added 10.

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