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GC boys cagers<br>headed to tournament<br>

After this week’s season-opener against visiting nonconference foe Williams, Grand Canyon High School’s basketball teams will now head for the Williams Holiday Basketball Tournament.

This year’s Williams tournament expanded to 32 total teams with games played in the Vikings’ high-school and middle-school gyms, as well as at Ash Fork.

All of Grand Canyon’s games will be played in Williams.

The boys field includes defending tournament champion Valley and runner-up Needles, Calif. Joining those two schools along with Williams and Grand Canyon will be San Pasqual, Calif., Shonto Prep, Seligman, Fredonia, Northland Prep, Ash Fork, Orme, Rough Rock, Pinon, Mogollon, Bagdad and Laughlin, Nev.

Grand Canyon (0-1) opens Thursday at 5:30 p.m., with a game against Pinon. The game will be played in the Williams Middle School gym.

With a win, the Phantoms will play at 4 p.m. Friday. A loss would put Grand Canyon in an 11:30 a.m. game. Games continue the rest of Friday and then Saturday. Each team should get four games at the tournament.

Last year, the Phantoms went 1-2, but that included a forfeit loss to Fredonia. The team downed Mogollon, 68-66, in the seventh-place game.

Overall, the Grand Canyon boys sport a 5-13 record at the tourney in five years.

Grand Canyon opened its season Tuesday with a 67-50 loss to Class 2A Williams. The Phantoms' Richardson Tisi hit five three-pointers in the game and finished with 15 points, but Williams' inside game was too much.

Donald Jenkins, the 6-foot-6 post player for the Vikings, scored 28 points and was a force on the boards and with blocked shots.

Here’s a rundown of the tournament’s first-round matchups:

BOYS

First Round

Thursday

At Ash Fork

1 p.m. — Valley vs. San Pasqual

4 p.m. — Shonto Prep vs. Seligman

7 p.m. — Ash Fork vs. Orme

At Williams MS

5:30 p.m. — Grand Canyon vs. Pinon

At Williams HS

Noon — Needles vs. Rough Rock

1:30 p.m. — Mogollon vs. Bagdad

4:30 p.m. — Fredonia vs. Northland Prep

7:30 p.m. — Laughlin vs. Williams

The second round continues Friday with loser bracket games at 11:30 a.m. and 2:30 p.m. in Ash Fork and at Williams MS, and winner bracket games at 10 a.m., 1 p.m., 4 p.m. and 7 p.m. at Williams HS. The consolation semifinals will be Friday with medal-round games on Saturday, including the championship at 7 p.m. at Williams HS.


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