Winter tournaments got underway Tuesday morning across Southern Arizona from soccer in Sahuarita to small-school basketball in Tombstone and boys basketball at Sabino. Pusch Ridge will join the mix on Wednesday and Flowing Wells will climb on board on Thursday.

The day began at Walden Grove High School for a couple of soccer matches with Walden Grove and Flowing Wells playing to a 0-0 tie followed by a 1-1 tie from the girls of Rio Rico and Tanque Verde.

Walden Grove (8-1-1) is two years removed from a Division III state championship and the Wolves followed that up with a quarterfinal finish last year. The team will play this year without the services of all-state forward Bella Solorza due to an injury she sustained in the offseason.

Senior forward Rachel Carrell has filled in nicely along with fellow seniors Keyara Zuniga, Lauren Henn, Malia Vanisi and Hayden Zuniga. Junior midfielder Mariah Vasquez has also stepped up her game.

“All of our seniors have been with the program for four years,” Carrell said. “This is our last chance to make a run at state. We work well together and it’s an honor to help lead this team.”

The Wolves outshot Flowing Wells 10-4 but freshman goalie Savannah Ferguson came up with one her best outings of the year and recorded seven saves including an offering by Carrell with five seconds left in the match.

“This was high-intensity and heart-racing,” Ferguson explained. “My year has been rocky with a lot of ups and downs but this game was crazy.”

Ferguson gave up soccer for two years but is now the starting keeper for Flowing Wells (2-3-3).

Walden Grove junior Heaven Chambers came up with four saves to keep Flowing Wells off the scoreboard. Walden Grove eliminated Flowing Wells from the D-III playoffs last year.

Tanque Verde is now 6-1-2 on the year after coming off the best season in school history where the Hawks came up with a runner-up finish in the D-IV state playoffs while Rio Rico (3-3-1) looks to turn things around from a losing season last year.

Freshman forward Halah Harris took a pass from Michelle Escobar in the 21^st minute to give the Haws a 1-0 lead but Rio Rico freshman Bianca Cruz returned the favor in 44^th minute to even things up.

Rio Rico took 19 shots and Tanque Verde keeper Mackenzie Bernal collected 10 saves. Tanque Verde had three shots.

We moved over to Sabino High School to catch a few games including Yuma Catholic’s 67-45 win over Flowing Wells and Buckeye’s 69-48 win over Amphitheater. Yuma Catholic returned later in the night for a58-42 win over Sunnyside.

The Shamrocks (10-2) are the defending D-IV state champions. The tournament also features American Leadership (D-IV semifinals) and Buckeye (D-IV quarterfinals). Yuma Catholic is now in the 3A Conference along with American Leadership. Buckeye remains in the 4A Conference.

Sunnyside made it to the D-II quarterfinal round last year and the Blue Devils are now in the 6A Conference. Jacob Inclan graduated but junior Nikc Jackson transferred in from Michigan. The 6-8 forward is averaging over 10 rebounds a game. Jackson recorded 28 points and 17 rebounds in a win over Flowing Wells, which gave him a state-leading 10 double-doubles.