Arizona
Gigantic evergreen tree brings Christmas spirit to Arizona Capitol. How it got there
The holiday spirit has arrived on the steps of the Arizona Capitol.
San Carlos Apache Tribal Chairman Terry Rambler gifted a 40-foot ponderosa pine tree to Gov. Katie Hobbs on Monday. The tree arrived at the capital on Friday.
“We know this tree will be used to spread holiday warmth and cheer, and it is our hope that it will further serve as a reminder of the natural beauty that exists within our great state and the deep roots the San Carlos Apache have in this region,” Rambler said.
The San Carlos Apache Tribe and the Arizona Department of Forestry and Fire Management picked out the enormous tree from the Point of Pines area, northeast of Globe. Together, they harvested it on Nov. 22.
“The Capitol Christmas tree from the San Carlos Apache Tribe is a beautiful gift to Arizona,” Hobbs said in a statement. “We are honored to receive a tree from a Tribal nation for the second year in a row. As we deepen relationships with Tribal communities, this tree celebrates the vibrant cultures that make Arizona so special.”
Due to its enormous size, the now decked-out tree was cut down to 20 feet to fit within the Capitol Rotunda.
A lighting ceremony will be held on Monday.
The ponderosa pine, a type of yellow pine, lives at elevations typically above 5,000 feet along the Mogollon Rim and other higher elevations in Arizona. The San Carlos Apache Tribal Reservation is noted for one of the largest contiguous stands of this evergreen conifer in the world.
Arizona
Arizona women’s basketball uses inside superiority to dominate CSU Bakersfield
Whatever difficulties the Arizona Wildcats have had early in the season, coming into a game against 0-8 Cal State Bakersfield didn’t seem like much of a challenge. It wasn’t. The Wildcats used their size to dominate both early and late on the way to a 76-39 victory.
“Was disappointed after the GCU game, just in how we kind of led and at the end, let it slip away,” Barnes said. “I hope that you saw we got better today. Obviously, it’s hard to gauge against different opponents, against a zone, but we weren’t so stagnant against the zone. So we really took pride in working on some different situations and understanding where to get shots from, how to get shots against man or zone, and I thought we did a better job executing and sharing the ball. Hope it looked like that today. And moved the ball better. We didn’t hold it a lot. We still did it sometimes, but baby steps.”
Both Breya Cunningham and Isis Beh hit their first three shots. Cunningham had 13 points, five rebounds, two assists, one block, and one steal in 18 minutes of play. Beh contributed eight points on 4-for-4 shooting, two rebounds, one assist, and three steals in 11 minutes on the court.
“She brought really good energy,” Barnes said of Beh. “And what I love is that she looked to score. She’s such an unselfish player. But we are better when she gets the ball and she’s a threat. We aren’t good when she doesn’t look at the basket.”
Beh was returning after missing two games while in concussion protocol, although she came off the bench rather than her usual starting position. Sahnya Jah also returned after missing the GCU loss for undisclosed reasons.
Skylar Jones tied Cunningham for the game high with 13 points in 23 minutes. She went 4 for 4 in the first half, including hitting both of her 3-point shots. Jones ended the game shooting 5 for 6 from the floor. She dished out three assists but had four of the Wildcats’ turnovers. She also had one steal.
Most important for Jones was that she played more fundamentally sound. It’s something that she has been working on in practice.
“I think that’s why I shot five for six today, because I shot on balance and I shot the open shots and didn’t force anything,” Jones said. “I don’t think I had a charge today. I didn’t have charge today! That’s the first time in like, four games! Those charges have make me a little bit more hesitant with driving to the basket. So I think I need to just play basketball and stop overthinking it and go off two feet, because that’s making my percentage go up, and it’s more accurate when I shoot off two feet and not out of control. Coach, don’t nod your head.”
With the game well in hand, Barnes was able to get plenty of playing time for her young players. Katarina Knežević took full advantage. She had the best game of her young career with nine points, five rebounds, three assists, and three steals in 25 minutes.
As a team, the Wildcats took care of the ball better than they have all season. They had just 10 turnovers, three less than their previous season low against California. Four of the five starters did not turn the ball over at all. With 18 assists, it was the first time the team had a positive assist-to-turnover ratio this season.
“A lot of our turnovers come from the guards trying to get the ball inside or passing too fast off of one foot, not having balance, things like that,” Cunningham said. “Once we were focused in, conscious of how we were passing, we were slowed down. That was one of our goals before the game, was to have a positive assist (to turnover).”
They also had a season-low nine personal fouls. The most whistles came on Cunningham, but she only had two fouls.
“We need to learn that a lot of us need to be on the floor so we can’t pick up early fouls and stupid reaching fouls or fouling with our hands down, things like that,” Jones said. “So I think that was the main focus of us is moving our feet more and more communication, which was seen today, which was good. Which is probably why we had a few less turnovers. Not me, though, I have four, but as a team, we did have less turnovers. We only had like 10.”
Barnes was happy about the decrease in fouls, although she admitted that some of that was likely due to the opposition’s ability to put pressure on Arizona’s defenders.
“I think we’re getting a little bit more disciplined,” Barnes said. “I think some of it was not being really aggressive, us being a little bit passive, like not as much pressure on the ball, which I recognize that. And then just the talent offensively. I think it’s a lot harder to contain when you guard really freak athletes. So I think there’s a combination of both of those things. But the thing is, in the past, you would have seen us slapping down. So we’re working on that. But these are things that we’re working on daily. We are working on playing without fouling.”
Arizona held CSUB below 10 points in three of four quarters. The Roadrunners scored nine in the first quarter, six in the third, and eight in the fourth. The shot 29.2 percent from the floor and hit 6 of 21 shots from beyond the arc.
Things got ragged on the offensive end for the Wildcats at several points, especially when they had a lot of newcomers on the floor at the same time. After shooting 56.7 percent from the floor in the first half, they dropped to 34.3 percent in the second half. However, they also shut down the Roadrunners on the defensive end.
Arizona
Arizona starting DB Gunner Maldonado enters transfer portal
Arizona starting DB Gunner Maldonado enters transfer portal
In life and in college football sometimes things just don’t go as expected. Gunner Maldonado entered the 2024 season expecting that it would be his last to complete a five-year career that began at Northwestern.
Instead, a season-ending injury halted the Chandler native’s year after just four games but preserved his ability to redshirt giving him one more season of eligibility remaining.
The Arizona starting safety entered the transfer portal on Tuesday indicating that he plans to exercise his opportunity for an extra season but will likely do it at another school.
Maldonado had quite the career turnaround with the Wildcats as he continued to improve each season after arriving in Tucson from Northwestern as a freshman. Between the 2021 and 2023 seasons, 6-foot defensive back raised his production each year culminating with a career-best 81 tackles in the Wildcats’ 10-win 2023 campaign.
In that season, Maldonado also had 2 interceptions and 3 passes defensed plus 2 forced fumbles and 3 fumble recoveries. One of those fumble returns went for 87 yards in last season’s Alamo Bowl and helped spark a comeback for the Wildcats helping them to secure their 10th victory.
The scoop and score from Maldonado was a key play in that game, and it was one of many he made throughout his career with the Wildcats.
Maldonado joined Treydan Stukes and Dalton Johnson as key returners in the secondary during the coaching transition from Jedd Fisch to Brent Brennan last offseason.
However, the fall did not go according to plan for Maldonado and others on the Arizona defense. Injuries impacted the group throughout the year and left defensive coordinator Duane Akina with a depleted group.
During his four seasons at Arizona, Maldonado racked up 175 tackles (113 solo), 4.5 tackles for loss, 4 interceptions, 6 forced fumbles and 3 fumble recoveries.
Arizona now has 24 players who have entered or have indicated they will enter the transfer portal, which opened Monday. Maldonado is one of three defensive starters to do so alongside linebacker Jacob Manu and defensive lineman Ta’ita’i Uiagalelei.
The current transfer portal window will remain open until Dec. 28.
Arizona transfer portal departures
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Arizona
Cold front sweeps through Arizona
PHOENIX (AZFamily) —A sunny and cooler day is on tap for Arizona. In the Valley, look for a high of 67 degrees, which is exactly average for the second week of December in the Valley.
A dry cold front is sweeping through the state, leading to gusty winds, especially in the Lower Colorado River Valley and in the higher elevations of the state today. Northerly winds could gust to 40 miles per hour in spots. Valley winds should stay lighter but still breezy at about 10 to 15 miles per hour.
Behind the front, temperatures are set to drop. After a cooler day today, clear skies and lighter winds tonight will bring a cold start to Wednesday. Valley neighborhoods will wake to the mid-30s to low-40s tomorrow morning.
A Freeze Warning has been issued for portions of Pinal and Gila Counties, including the Globe, Maricopa, and Casa Grande communities. Western communities of Parker and Blythe are also included. Temperatures could drop to the upper 20s to low 30s in those spots Wednesday morning. Be sure to protect the 4 Ps—-people, plants, pets and pipes.
Temperatures are set to moderate slowly for the rest of the week, warming to lows in the 40s in the Valley and highs in the 70s for Wednesday through the weekend. No rain is expected for at least the next seven days.
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