GC cagers drop Seligman<br>thriller, but beat Fredonia

GCNP — There’s one safe statement that can be made about this year’s Grand Canyon High School boys basketball team — they’re not boring.

In what Grand Canyon coach Steve Boynton called one of the most exciting games he’s ever seen, the Phantoms fell in double overtime at Seligman Friday night, 88-86. The team came back the following evening to outlast Fredonia, 51-48.

Jose Diaz-Gonzalez goes strong to the basket inside vs. the Lynx.

In a game with many heroic moments, Seligman escaped to win Friday. Mitchell Walker drove to the hoop with a couple of seconds left in the second overtime in an attempt to tie and force a third TO, but the ball did not fall. Boynton said it appeared there was a no-call on a foul from the official.

Still, the first-year Phantom coach said the game was thrilling, even though a loss.

“That was one of the best high-school basketball games I’ve ever been a part of,” Boynton said. “It was a fantastic game, absolutely great.”

The game was close throughout with Grand Canyon leading 40-39 at halftime. By the end of the third, the Antelopes led by five to set up a cardiac-arresting fourth.

With the game tied with under a minute to play, Boynton wanted his team to hold the ball for the final shot. But the Phantoms took a shot and missed with 16 seconds on the clock. Seligman got the rebound and scored to take a two-point lead.

Grand Canyon had a final chance and inbounded to John Hender. The senior forward caught the ball at the top of the key, turned and attempted a three-pointer at the buzzer.

The shot didn’t fall, but he was fouled. Hender went to the line with no time left on the clock and made the first two foul shots. Since he was fouled in three-point territory, he got a third free-throw attempt. But it didn’t fall and the teams went to the first overtime.

In the first TO, the two teams went back and forth and Grand Canyon held a two-point advantage in the final seconds. Seligman got a last chance with five seconds left and got a tip-in at the buzzer to force another extra period.

The two teams battled all the way again in the second TO. Unfortunately for the Phantoms, there would be no last-second shot this time and Seligman got the win.

Three Grand Canyon players scored 20-plus points in the contest. Walker finished with 28 points, Hender had 24 and Jose Diaz-Gonzalez scored 22. The team hit six three-pointers (Walker with four, Mike Vincent with two) and made 73 percent of its free throws.

After getting home at 12:30 a.m. and playing a two-overtime game, the Phantoms had to turn around and host Fredonia Saturday evening.

Grand Canyon appeared to be on a mission and sent Fredonia on the long ride back home with a three-point loss.

“After last night ... there was nothing left in the tank physically, mentally and emotionally,” Boynton said. “They were just exhausted all the way around. The guys just willed this win.”

The Phantoms came out of the gate quick. After Fredonia took the 2-0 lead, Grand Canyon scored eight straight points and would not trail again until the opening seconds of the second quarter.

Hender was a force all evening and was hot early. Hender scored 12 of the Phantoms’ first 16 points of the game.

After Fredonia took a 13-12 lead on a three-pointer 24 seconds into the second quarter, the Phantoms responded with six unanswered points. Hender scored a fast-break bucket on a pass from Diaz-Gonzalez, Hender followed with a pair of free throws and Walker scored for a five-point lead.

By halftime, however, Fredonia had recovered and went up 24-21.

The rest of the way saw Grand Canyon try to pull away on a few occasions. With 3:21 left in the game, a Walker basket put the team up 46-39, the biggest lead of the night.

Fredonia responded with a 9-3 run to pull within 49-48. A key basket in that stretch was a three-pointer from the corner by Vincent, his second of the night.

“Vincent came up with some big threes,” Boynton said. “Two nights he’s done that. He stepped up and made them.”

After Fredonia pulled within one with 19 seconds left, the Lynx fouled Grand Canyon at the 13-second mark. Walker walked up to the line and calmly sank a pair of free throws for the 51-48 lead.

Fredonia missed a shot with six seconds left and Walker got the rebound. After a timeout, Grand Canyon threw the in-bounds pass to Walker, who was fouled with two seconds left.

Walker missed the front end of the 1-and-1, but it didn’t matter because Fredonia ran out of time.

Hender ended up with 23 points and Diaz-Gonzalez added 10. Vincent and Walker each had nine.

The team was again sound at the free-throw line, making 65 percent.

Grand Canyon goes to 2-1 in the conference, 3-5 overall.