Citizen Staff Writer
HIGH SCHOOL BASKETBALL
KEN BRAZZLE
kbrazzle@tucsoncitizen.com
Tucson High girls basketball coach Paul Reed didn’t sound like the coach of a team that had just won its eighth straight game.
Tucson High won at Rincon/University on Tuesday night, but the 55-40 score was much closer than the 42-point margin the Badgers beat Rincon by last month, leaving Reed worried about his team’s progress heading into the postseason.
“This is very disappointing,” Reed said. “You are always happy to get a win but you don’t want to win like this.”
Rincon kept within striking distance of Tucson High (22-2) through three quarters, trailing 33-27 heading into the final period.
Tucson High junior guard RaTanya Newsome scored eight of her 18 points in the quarter while teammate Christine Clark tallied six of her 18 points in the period.
“We were thinking about the big picture and not taking care of one game at a time and not taking care of the little things like boxing out,” Reed said.
“We knew Rincon was going to come out and play aggressively. For 3 1/2 quarters, they matched our aggressiveness. The things that got us to this point we left at home.”
Rincon (12-9) scored the first two baskets in the third quarter to pull even at 23. Tucson High answered with a 10-4 run, grabbing the six-point lead heading into the fourth quarter.
Tucson never looked back.
“We didn’t have our basic fundamentals,” Rincon coach Mel Williams said. “We had some shots but they didn’t go down.”
Marquisha Corley scored 20 points to lead Rincon.