Basketball Game Preview: Joseph City Wildcats vs. Fort Thomas Apaches

Joseph City is on a 18-game streak of home wins (dating back to last season), while Fort Thomas is on a six-game streak of away wins: one of those streaks is about to end. The Joseph City Wildcats will challenge the Fort Thomas Apaches at 4:30 p.m. on Friday. Both squads will be entering this one on the heels of a big victory.

On Tuesday, Joseph City really took it to Ash Fork for the full four quarters, racking up a 59-13 victory. The game was pretty much decided by the half, when the score had already reached 44-4.

Audrey Neill and Amber Neill were among the main playmakers for Joseph City as the former went 5 for 12 on her way to 13 points and four steals and the latter posted 15 points. Audrey has been hot for a while, having posted two or more steals the last 13 times she's played. Another player making a difference was Gabrielle Jesmer, who put up six points and four steals.

Joseph City smashed the offensive glass and finished the game with ten offensive rebounds. That strong performance was nothing new for the team: they've now pulled down at least eight offensive boards in 32 consecutive matches dating back to last season.

Meanwhile, winning is always nice, but doing so behind a season-high score is even better (just ask Fort Thomas). They simply couldn't be stopped on Tuesday as they easily beat Ray 86-23. Given the Apaches' advantage in MaxPreps' Arizona basketball rankings (they are ranked 41st, while the Bearcats are ranked 300th), the result wasn't entirely unexpected.

Fort Thomas is also on a roll lately: they've won 19 of their last 20 contests, which provided a nice bump to their 23-4 record this season. The wins came thanks to their offensive performance across that stretch, as they averaged 61.3 points per game. As for Joseph City, their win bumped their record up to 22-4.

Joseph City didn't have too much breathing room in their game against Fort Thomas when the teams last played back in February of 2024, but they still walked away with a 49-45 victory. Does Joseph City have another victory up their sleeve, or will Fort Thomas turn the tables on them? We'll have the answer soon enough.