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Phantom cagers<br>do well in tournament

FLAGSTAFF — The Grand Canyon Phantoms summer boys basketball team ended its string of tournaments on a high note with exceptional showings on June 28-29.

The Phantoms dropped its opener to Class 5A Tucson Amphitheater’s junior varsity, 56-51. Grand Canyon led most of the way, squandering a seven-point lead with less than two minutes in the game. Mitchell Walker led with 33 points and 16 rebounds. Tempy Walker had eight points while Ryan Boyd grabbed nine rebounds.

"We just turned the ball over at critical times down the stretch," GC coach Dan Lopez said. "Our guards are very young and had to play against teams that had the depth to keep intense pressure against our freshmen."

In the second game, Page JV downed Grand Canyon, 46-45. Page led by 19 points at halftime only to see the Phantoms close the gap to within three with over two minutes remaining.

Mitchell Walker had 26 points and 18 rebounds. Joe Wilkerson scored six.

Grand Canyon opened Saturday’s action with a 72-56 loss to Sedona Red Rock, which moves up to Class 3A this year. Grand Canyon trailed by only six points with eight minutes to go in the game, but Sedona persevered. Mitchell Walker scored 32 points and had 11 boards.

Mesa Sequoia, charter school champions, downed the Phantoms by a 58-50 final. Incredibly, Grand Canyon fell behind 38-4 at halftime before staging a torrid rally. Mitchell Walker led with 30 points and 16 rebounds despite missing most of the first half with foul trouble.

In the finale, Grand Canyon took a 56-53 win over Hopi with the winning shot coming on a three-pointer by Mitchell Walker. The Phantoms trailed by 21 points early in the second half before coming back to tie the score at 53 with 38 seconds left on a three-pointer by Tempy Walker.

Mitchell Walker finished with 31 points, Tempy Walker scored 17 and Ryan Boyd had eight.

"The team played hard despite the level of competition and we were in every game," Lopez said.


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