They are located in heart of big cities, in the suburbs and off lonely roads in the smallest of towns all around Arizona. With enrollment figures of less than 200 and often below 100, "small schools" play basketball without the media fanfare awarded to the bigger schools.

Nevertheless, the game is played with the same ball, the same court size and the same effort. The only difference, perhaps, is the pride of knowing you are representing your school as a team along with personal goals.

The Patagonia girls and boys traveled to Oro Valley on Monday night to play Immaculate Heart in a Division IV matchup in double-header fashion with the girls playing first.

The Patagonia girls defeated Immaculate Heart 40-24 and the boys completed the sweep with a 50-40 victory.

The Lady Lobos (6-2) took an early 10-4 lead and never looked back. Led by Lily Wharton and Marz Leon, Patagonia went on to build a 16-6 lead at the half and 29-10 after the third quarter.

Theresa Haynes scored 12 points for Immaculate Heart (3-3) to help cut a 38-16 lead down to the 40-24 final. Meredith Ethridge added six points.

Savannah Foster scored 16 points for Patagonia with 10 of those coming in the second half. Leon scored 10 and Wharton had six. Gaby Bueras finished with seven.

On the boy's side, Patagonia (3-5) sprinted out to a 9-1 lead before Immaculate Heart (2-5) could get started. Mack Copeland scored seven of his nine points to help the Knights tie the game at 13-13 with 4:15 left in the second quarter and then freshman Gabriel Busari hit a 3-pointer to give Immaculate Heat a 16-13 lead.

Patagonia went on a 10-3 run to retake the lead 23-16 with Jorge Martinez scoring seven straight points to spark the run.

Immaculate Heart cut the lead back down to four points three times the rest of the way but Patagonia kept the scoring margin intact by answering every mini-run by the Knights.

Martinez finished with 16 points, Javier Maguire had 10, Danny Schrimf added nine and Danny Miranda scored eight to lead Patagonia. Immaculate Heart sophomore Paul Bertlesen led all scorers with 17 points. Copeland scored his nine and Andrew Dittiger added eight.

The initial AIA/MaxPreps seeding data for basketball will be released on Dec. 19.

Top returning Division IV standouts from Southern Arizona:

BOYS

Arthur Cummings, Tombstone

Zachary Malis, Desert Christian

Cashyn Murray, St. David
Daniel Corona, Duncan

Chris Granado, Willcox

Cameron Hodge, The Gregory School

Vidal Urtuzuaztegui, Valley Union

Tarantino Baptisto, Baboquivari

Cameron White, Desert Christian

Nick Rosquist, The Gregory School

Trevin Perry, Tombstone

 

GIRLS

Jasmine Guadarrama, Valley Union

Makenna Merrell, Duncan

Hannah Bjorgum, Desert Christian

Rachel Cummings, Tombstone

Gaby Bueras, Patagonia

Brenna Murray, St. David

Brynn Matthias, Desert Christian

Sarah Butler, Desert Christian

Brenda Rodriguez, Duncan

Addi Vavala, Desert Christian

Maira Nunez, Tombstone