The Payson Longhorns lost against the American Leadership Academy - Ironwood Warriors back in December of 2022, and unfortunately they wound up with the same result on Friday. Payson took a serious blow against American Leadership Academy - Ironwood, falling 76-40. While losing is never fun, Payson can't take it too hard given the team's big disadvantage in MaxPreps' Arizona basketball rankings (they are ranked 94th, while American Leadership Academy - Ironwood is ranked 29th).
Payson's lost despite a true team effort on the offense, the best among them being Omar Fierro-Nava, who scored 13 points. Another player making a difference was Anderson Hatch, who scored 10 points.
Jackson Edgerton was his usual excellent self, going 7 for 11 from beyond the arc en route to 35 points and 3 assists for American Leadership Academy - Ironwood. That makes it two consecutive games in which Edgerton has scored at least 25% of American Leadership Academy - Ironwood's points. The team also got some help courtesy of Chad Coplin, who scored 17 points along with 6 rebounds and 4 steals.
This is the second loss in a row for Payson and nudges their season record down to 2-4. As for American Leadership Academy - Ironwood, the win (which was their third in a row) raised their record to 4-1.
Payson will head out on the road to face off against Bourgade Catholic at 7:00 p.m. on Monday. As for American Leadership Academy - Ironwood, they will be playing in front of their home fans against Scottsdale Christian Academy at 7:00 p.m. on Tuesday.
