Basketball Recap: Carmelo Manakaja's Big Game Can't Quite Lead Seligman over Joseph City

After flying high against Ash Fork on Friday, Seligman came back down to earth. The Seligman Antelopes fell 74-65 to the Joseph City Wildcats on Friday. Unfortunately, that's the second time they've come up short against the Wildcats this season, as they also lost their prior matchup 69-54 back in January.

Carmelo Manakaja

Points

02/07/25 vs Joseph City	27
02/07/25 vs Ash Fork	31
02/04/25 @ Grand Canyon	22
01/31/25 @ Mogollon	15
01/29/25 vs Mohave Accelerated	18

Seligman's loss came despite a true team effort with many players turning in solid performances. Perhaps the best among them was Carmelo Manakaja, who dropped a double-double with 27 points and 16 boards. The match was Manakaja's fifth in a row with at least 15 points. Montae Walker was another key player, going 7-for-17 en route to 17 points in addition to eight assists and six rebounds.

Even though they lost, Seligman smashed the offensive glass and finished the game with 14 offensive rebounds. The team's really been improving in that area: they've now improved their offensive rebound total in three consecutive games.

Joseph City's success was the result of a balanced attack that saw several players step up, but Eli James led the charge by almost dropping a double-double with 20 points and nine boards. James is also on a roll when it comes to field goal percentage, as he's posted one of at least 45% in the last nine games he's played. Another player making a difference was Jaxon Arnell, who went 5-for-8 to rack up 15 points and three steals.

Seligman's defeat dropped their record down to 20-7. As for Joseph City, they are on a roll lately: they've won 19 of their last 21 contests, which provided a nice bump to their 24-6 record this season.

Seligman has already played their next matchup, a 77-66 win against Music Mountain on the 7th. As for Joseph City, they also wasted no time getting back out on the court and have already played their next game, a 90-60 victory against Maryvale Prep on the 13th.