Patagonia senior Chris Miranda is closing in on 1,000 career points. (Andy Morales/AZPreps365.com)

 

The 1A Conference playoff picture is coming into focus with less than two weeks left in the regular season and The Gregory School has a solid grip on the top spot thanks to an 80-57 victory over No 4 Patagonia at home on Friday night.

The Hawks improved to 11-1 in power-ranking games and 6-0 in the 1A South Region while Patagonia dropped slightly to 8-2 and 5-1. The 1A Conference does not have a play-in tournament so it will be a straight 16-team shot with the top two teams from each of the five regions earning an automatic berth.

There is one blemish on the Hawks’ schedule and that was an 80-57 setback to No. 7 NFL Yet on Dec. 16. NFL Yet (8-2, 2-0) is battling with Duncan (9-3, 3-0) and Fort Thomas (9-3, 3-0) for control of the 1A East Region but the win over the Hawks came before transfers were eligible to play and The Gregory School picked up a couple of game-changing twins in Tomari and Demari Harris.

The junior guards made the move from Flowing Wells to The Gregory School over the summer and the brothers are averaging a combined 25 points a game for the Hawks since making their debut on Tuesday. Throw in Addison Mort (26 points a game), Sebastian Quintana (16), Anderson Mort (11) and freshman Brightstar Benson (7) and it almost seems a bit unfair.

Patagonia is still in a good spot, especially with senior guard Chris Miranda and junior forward Victor Barajas on the court. Miranda scored 15 points in the loss to The Gregory School, but he was hampered with an ankle injury that kept him out of the action for most of the second half.

Miranda has 977 career points but it is uncertain when he will be able to play again but he could break 1,000 points against No. 22 St. David (3-8, 3-3) at home on Thursday, Jan. 25.  Barajas was limited to 10 points in the loss thanks to foul trouble and he missed most of the second half also, allowing the Hawks to pull away for the win.

Addison Mort led all scorers with 21 points and Tomari Harris poured in 19.

The 1A state playoffs are slated to start on Friday, Feb. 16 in the Prescott area. There will be ten automatic berths with six at-large bids available.