The first round of power rankings for basketball are set to be released on Tuesday, Jan.13 and several teams are gearing up for a favorable ranking heading into region play. Catalina Foothills beat Rincon/University Friday night 77-40 to move to 5-2 in power-ranking games, while the Rangers fell to 2-8.

The Falcons compete in the 5A Conference and the path to the state playoffs can take many forms. The top eight teams from 4A, 5A and 6A will qualify for the Open Division along with the next eight ranked teams overall. Then comes the 16-team adaptable bracket (play-in phase), from the teams that did not qualify for the Open Division. In all, there are plenty of chances to advance to the state playoffs and the same goes for the 1A, 2A and 3A Conferences.

Catalina Foothills and Rincon/UHS played evenly with the Falcons leading 15-13 with 3:01 left in the first but a 14-3 run to close out the first quarter provided the separation the Falcon needed. Things don’t get much easier for both programs with Rincon/UHS traveling to Sahuaro (5-2) on Jan. 13 and Catalina Foothills host Salpointe (3-4) on the same night.

 

CATALINA FOOTHILLS 77, RINCON/UNIVERSITY 40

 

RU: 16-10-11-3: 40

CF: 29-22-19-7: 77

CF: Jack Van Amburg 5 (3) 3-4: 16; Albert Efentyev 4 (3) 2-4: 13; Luke Franco 6 (1): 13; Killian Hickey 4 2-2: 10; Cam Storie 3: 6; Logan Purdy 2: 4; Luis Flores 2: 4; Justin Alexander 2-2: 2; Nico Hickey 1: 2; Mateo Sbarra 1: 2; Abel Burruel 1 0-4: 2; Hugo Harvey 1-4: 1; Xavi Valenzuela 1: 2. TOTALS: 30 (7) 10-20: 77.

RU: Jorge Allende Baez 4 2-2: 10; Hudson Gordon 3 2-2: 8; Gavin William: 3 (2): 8; Will Edwards 3: 6; Ezra Shaffer 2: 4; Steven Ishimwe 1 (1): 3; Noah Turk 1-2: 1. TOTALS: 16 (3) 5-6: 40.