Sahuaro improved to 15-3 in power-ranking games after the Cougars defeated Mica Mountain 58-36 on the road Monday night. Sahuaro entered the night ranked No. 5 in the 4A Conference and No. 15 in the Open Division and Mica Mountain (12-5) was No. 9 in conference play and No. 29 in the greater Open Division, with the top 32 teams taking part.

The Thunderbolts are in the third year of a full schedule after starting out with a minimal schedule in 2020-21 and the program lost in the conference play-in phase in 2022 and 2023. The team faces No. 7 Rio Rico (14-3) Tuesday night to end the regular season and a win there could cement an Open Division invitation with the Hawks also on the edge at No. 20 in that bracket. The Bolts beat Rio Rico 48-44 on Jan. 18 and the rematch will also decide the 4A Gila Region title outright.

Bell Webb celebrates her 1,000th career point. (Andy Morales/AZPreps365)

 

Mica Mountain junior Bella Webb broke 1,000 career points in the loss and she finished with a team-high 15 points with Delymar Torres adding six. Sahuaro senior Cassandra Coolidge broke 1,000 career points earlier in the year and she led all scorers Monday night with 25 points. Dazmyne Gambrell scored nine and Maggie Boyd and Biale Sika scored six each.

Tuesday is the end on the regular season and the first round of the Open Division is slated for Tuesday, Feb. 13. If a team loses in the first two round of the 32-member bracket then that team will be sent back to the 6A, 5A or 4A state playoffs along with the eight winners of the Play-In Tournament scheduled for Feb. 15. The first round of the conference tournaments start on Feb. 22 in a 16-team single elimination bracket.

Sahuaro made the Open Division last year at No. 30 and a loss in the first round moved the team to the 4A bracket as a No. 5 seed where the Cougars finished in the quarterfinals.