Tharptown notches first win of season

The Tharptown Wildcats have been waiting for a long time to get their first win of the season. Friday night, the Wildcats met the Vina Red Devils – also looking for their first win of the season.

Tharptown wasted no time putting an exclamation point on their first win, racing out to a 26-2 first-quarter lead over the Red Devils. Dylan Valdez, Malachi Minor and Edwin Vela put up big numbers in the first quarter, with Valdez scoring six points and Minor and Vela scoring six points each.

“These guys have been working hard every day,” said Tharptown Coach Sonny Conwill. Conwill, who was hired just as varsity practice was set to begin, has seen his team improve each game. “We are getting better. The guys are buying in, and it was great to finally get in the win column and get that monkey off our back.”

Tharptown extended the lead over Vina to 46-13 at halftime and led 57-21 at the end of the third quarter.

Minor led Tharptown with 13 points. He was followed by Luis Valdez with 12 points. Vela and Dylan Valdez scored 11 points each. Tyler Amos and Alexi Quezada added eight points each, and Jackson Clement chipped in four points.

Camden Lawler led Vina with ten points. Christian Pursere added six points, Nate Stidham five points and Conner Davidson two points.