The Globe Lady Tigers would win all their games on the first day of the Copper Cities Tournament. Their first game was against San Tan. They would win 49 to 24. The last game was against Hayden and they handled the Lobos with a 48 to 19 victory. The tough battle of the day would be their early afternoon game against Cibecue. Both teams would display tough defense in the first half. Globe had a 4-point lead with a half time score of 14 to 10. Cibecue would start the half strong and threatened to tie the game all throughout.

The game could have gone either way until mid-way through, what would be, the third quarter. Globe Forward Laura Dalton (#22) was taken to the ground by the resilient Cibecue defense. “When something like that happens, I get mad. But I know I can’t react or let it out in a way that will hurt the team. So, I get even in a better way, I play harder.” Exclaimed Laura as she responded to questions about her performance against Cibecue. After the take down Laura would score 4 points, block 2 shots and steal a pass, all within a matter of about 10 minutes, real time. “She was a little bit rusty, a little bit wild; but that is the kind of hard play you can expect from Laura, every game. She is an athlete. Unfortunately, she has been out since the first game of the season with a wrist injury. I was happy she got some playing time to get ready for this next part of our season,” stated Coach Belvado. Globe would take the lead in this third quarter push and keep it, defeating Cibecue 40 to 32.

As fate would have it, Globe would draw Cibecue for their first game of the single loss elimination tournament on day two. The game would start much the same way as the first. Both teams were playing fast. Both teams zoned up on defense, making life difficult for the offenses. However, Cibecue would wear thin in the second game. Globe bench rotation would prove to be too much for Cibecue as the team tired in the second half. Globe would take a decisive 44 to 33 victory in their second match up.

Although the Globe Lady Tigers were able to defeat Cibecue twice in the tournament, Cibecue would give them a tough fight. The Tigers would fall to Morenci in the semifinals and Morenci would go on to win the tournament by defeating Douglas in the finals. The Globe Tigers host the San Carlos Braves on Tuesday, Jan. 7 and then travel to Miami to face the Vandals on Jan. 10. The girls basketball games begin at 5:30 p.m.