Ash Fork School District

Ash Fork High School Basketball 
The Lady Spartans have a good-sized team this year with 20 girls participating, most of which are sophomores and freshmen.  There are only two seniors, Violeta Trujillo and Julissa Nixon, and two Juniors, Aspen Bond and Jamie Keele; 8 Sophomores: Aura Mendez, Crystal Nixon, Gracie Staples, Isabella Grijalva, Jessica Millan, Dakota Matson, Pamela Vazquez, and Lupita Trujillo; 7 Freshmen: Eva Flores, Arlette Sotelo-Ayala, Laney Trovillion, Andrea Vazquez, Gabby Gillespie, Nettie Jackson, and Sol Ayala, so it is a very young team. The boys team consists of 3 seniors: Gabe Zeller, Parnell Tsosie and Andres Santoyo; 3 Juniors: Josue Tellez, John Cauthen, and Jeffrey Trovillion; 6 Sophomores: Miclo Ayala, Jesus Ayala, Branson Milius, Jhovanny Vazquez, Evan Maestas, and Nathan Keele; 4 Freshmen: Victor Ayala, Brian Purser, Chandler Benavides, and Joshua Hall. 
The high school basketball teams opened up their regular season with three games this past week.  On Wednesday, November 15, the Spartans traveled to Bagdad for their season opener. The JV girls dominated the Sultans, defeating them by a score of 45-10.  High scorer was Eva Flores with 20 points.  Arlette Sotelo and Isabella Grijalva did a great job on the boards.  The boys JV defeated the Sultans by a score of 23-11.  Miclo Ayala was the leading scorer with 8 points.  The varsity girls defeated the Sultans by a score of 38-19.  The Lady Spartans had 7 steals and Gracie Staples dominated the boards with 5 offensive boards and 12 defensive boards.  She was also the leading scorer with 16 points.  The varsity boys defeated the Sultans by a score of 49-31. The leading scorer was Josue Tellez with 19 points.  He was 5 for 7 in three-point shooting.  Parnell Tsosie had 14 points, and Gabe Zeller with 13 points.  Gabe had 11 rebounds, and Jesus Ayala contributed with 6 rebounds and 2 steals. 
On Friday, November 17, the Spartans had their home opener with the Red Mesa Redskins.  The JV girls defeated Red Mesa by a score of 37-22.  Eva Flores was the leading scorer with 18 points.  The JV boys dominated the Redskins by a score of 39-6.  Miclo Ayala led all scorers with 10 points.  John Cauthen hit two 3-pointers for six points.  Brian Purser contributed with 100% from the free throw line, 4 for 4.  The varsity girls lost a close one, 38-30.  The Lady Spartans were down 30-16 at half.  This could have been a blowout, but the Lady Spartans fought back in the second half.  They outscored the Redskins 18-8.  Aspen Bond contributed to the fight with 2 steals, Crystal Nixon and Gracie Staples contributed with their rebounding with a total of 14.  Andrea Vazquez was the lead scorer with 9 points.  The varsity boys had a dominating performance, defeating the Redskins by a score of 67-30.  Gabe Zeller was the lead scorer with 27 points.  He was 9 of 11 from the free throw line.  Parnell Tsosie had 20 points, 18 of those points were three-point shots.  Jesus Ayala had 2 assists and 3 rebounds.  
On Saturday, November 18, the Spartans traveled to Rock Point.  The JV girls had a dominating performance, defeating the Cougars by a score of 63-25.  Eva Flores was the lead scorer with 24 points.  Andrea Vazquez had 10 points and Pamela Vazquez contributed with 7 points.  She was 7 of 8 from the free throw line.  The JV boys won a close one, defeating the Cougars 28 to 24.  Jhovanny Vazquez was the lead scorer with 12 points and Brian Purser had 9 points.  The varsity girls played a really great game against the Cougars.  Going into the fourth quarter the Lady Spartans were only down by a score of 32-28.  However, in the 4th quarter #13, Taylyn Woody, from Rock Point, frustrated the Lady Spartans with her defense.  The Cougars outscored the Lady Spartans, 20 to 4, therefore losing by a score of 52-32.  Gracie Staples was the lead scorer with 11 points and also had 9 rebounds.  Aura Mendez had 9 points.  Crystal Nixon contributed with 7 rebounds.  The varsity boys won a nail biter, in a low scoring game 28-27.  Parnell Tsosie made a 3-point shot to tie the game up with less than a minute to go.  These were his only points scored by Parnell.  Gabe Zeller then was fouled and made a free throw to put the Spartans ahead and the Spartans defense kept the Cougars from scoring in the final 8 seconds.  Josue Tellez was the lead scorer with 12 points, all of which were 3 point shots.  Jesus Ayala had 9 points.  Andres Santoyo contributed with his defense.  In the fourth quarter, he took a charge from one of the key players from Rock Point.  This charge gave #30 his 5th foul.  The Spartans next game will be after Thanksgiving break, hosting the Joseph City Wildcats on Monday, November 27.