The midseason heartbeat seems to be going strong for the Camp Verde High School boys basketball team after they finished 2-3 at the Alvarez Tire Holiday Classic this past weekend.

Finishing 2-3 at Bradshaw Mountain High School isn’t the greatest tournament for a team by any stretch of the imagination, but three tough losses speak for themselves.

“It was a good tournament for us,” Camp Verde Head Coach Darren Gagnon said. “The whole point is to get better and I think we did that.”

In their two wins, the Cowboys averaged just over 61 points per game against rivals Chino Valley and Payson high schools.
Against Chino Valley on Dec. 28, Camp Verde took an early lead and never looked back, winning 67-31.

Senior Shaq Watahomigie scored 14 points and pulled four rebounds while recording two steals and two assists in the victory.
Junior guard Brian Hudson had 17 points to lead the Cowboys in scoring and also added two steals.

Junior forward Johnny Hudson had 10 points, four rebounds and four assists while senior guard Trey Cooper had eight points, seven rebounds and three assists.

“Trey [Cooper] played only eight or nine minutes actually,” Gagnon said laughing. “We got up early and I rested him.”

In the last day of the tournament Dec. 29, Camp Verde faced off against the Longhorns from Payson and was able to secure a 56-42 victory.

Watahomigie had 11 points and seven rebounds while Cooper had 10 points, three rebounds and two blocked shots against Payson.

Johnny Hudson pitched in with 12 points and two rebounds while junior forward Jake Spleiss had nine points, eight rebounds and two assists.

“We really competed against these teams. When we compete, we’re tough and always have a chance to win,” Gagnon said.
On Dec. 27, Camp Verde lost two close games. The first came against Fountain Valley High School of California, 60-39, and the other came against Catalina Foothills High School, 74-63.

The third loss came at the hands of Kingman High School on Dec. 28, 53-51.

With the 2-3 record in last week’s invitational tournament, Camp Verde improves its record to 6-9 overall this season.

Some might think a 6-9 record is nothing to be excited about, but the Cowboys have lost two games by two points, and two games by four points overall this season.

“I think we’re coming along nicely. We’ve had some tough losses on the road this year and scores have been close. We’ll keep getting better,” Gagnon said.

The Cowboys played their second game all season at home Tuesday, Jan. 4, when they played host to Mayer High School. Camp Verde beat Mayer 59-40 on Nov. 22 in the first game of the year.

Results were unavailable at press time.

Next up, Camp Verde is scheduled to travel south to Scottsdale Christian Academy on Friday, Jan. 7.

Scottsdale Christian is ranked No. 1 in the Arizona Interscholastic Association power point polls, which were released Monday, Jan. 3.

Tip-off is scheduled for 7:30 p.m.

Camp Verde will return home to host Wickenburg High School at 4:30 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 8.