No. 19 Tuba City upset No. 14 Pusch Ridge 53-35 in the first round of the 3A state playoffs Tuesday night. The Warriors will travel to play No. 3 Winslow (14-3) in second round action Friday night.

The Warriors made it to the quarterfinal round in 2020 but the team was unable to play last year due to COVID restrictions. The Lions made an incredible leap from a 5-12 campaign last year to a 16-3 record in power-ranking games this winter. Pusch Ridge junior Molly Garnand led the team with 15.2 points a game this year and she came up big against Tuba City with 13 points but the Warriors put on the pressure defense to come away with the win.

Garnand put Pusch Ridge up 2-0 seconds into the game but Warrior senior Gracee Curley score five of her game-high 15 points to help put Tuba City up 7-2. Pusch Ridge was held scoreless for almost seven minutes of action but a couple of buckets from Vienna Elliott in the final minute cut the Warrior lead down to 9-8 heading to the second quarter.

Vienna Elliott had 12 points for Pusch Ridge. (Andy Morales/AZPreps365)

 

The teams played even in the second quarter and Tuba City led 20-19 at the break. Pusch Ridge was held scoreless again for the first three minutes of the half and the Warriors hit three shots from beyond the arc to take a commanding 39-27 lead after three.

Sophomore Sedona Dietrich scored with 4:50 left to cut the Warrior lead down to 42-33 but Tuba City shifted to a ball-movement stall and scored on a back-door cut to take a 44-33 lead with 2:51 left. The Warriors slowly pulled away for 53-35 victory from there.

Tuba City is now 5-10 in ranking games and the team have to pull things together again if they hope to stay with the Bulldogs Friday night. No. 18 Yuma Catholic beat No. 15 Coolidge 53-46 in the other first-round upset.

The quarterfinal round in 3A action is slated to be played in Prescott Valley on Monday, Feb. 21 and the semifinals and championship game will move over to the Memorial Coliseum in Phoenix.