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Vikings head to state tournament Feb. 18
Williams boys sweep regional playoffs

<br>Submitted photo<br>
Pictured from left to right is Coach Tristan Heisley, Kole Weise, Eric Leon, Raul Aguilar, Alex Rodriguez, Adam Schulte, Guy Forbis, Alex Ruiz, Junior Esparza, Terry Fuller, Darius Brown, Doug Forbis and Junior Varsity Coach Denis Kirkley following their win against St. Michaels. The Vikings will go on to play in the state playoffs where they will take on Tanque Verde this afternoon at Bradshaw Mountain East High School beginning at 4:30 p.m.

<br>Submitted photo<br> Pictured from left to right is Coach Tristan Heisley, Kole Weise, Eric Leon, Raul Aguilar, Alex Rodriguez, Adam Schulte, Guy Forbis, Alex Ruiz, Junior Esparza, Terry Fuller, Darius Brown, Doug Forbis and Junior Varsity Coach Denis Kirkley following their win against St. Michaels. The Vikings will go on to play in the state playoffs where they will take on Tanque Verde this afternoon at Bradshaw Mountain East High School beginning at 4:30 p.m.

The Williams High School Vikings swept the regional playoffs Feb. 13-14 in Flagstaff, coming away from the hard fought games undefeated. The Vikes also took home a crucial win against Grand Canyon during their last regular game of the season Feb. 10, winning the game with a final score of Williams 60, Grand Canyon 51. The Vikes ended the season 9-1 in conference, neck in neck with Beaver Dam - also 9-1 in the conference, according to Vikings Coach Tristan Heisley.

"We lost the coin toss to them, making them the number one seed for the tournament," Heisley said. "We became the number two seed. This actually worked in our favor in the long run I think."

The Vikes took a big win to start the conference Feb. 13, taking the win in the elimination game with a final score of Williams 71, Rock Point 54. The Vikes were led by Doug Forbis with 19 points, followed by Guy Forbis with 15 points and Adam Schulte with 13 points.

"We had lost earlier in the season to Rock Point by six points, so this was quite a statement that our boys made," Heisley said. "This game ensured that we would at least make it to state, so that was a relief. I think it also set the tone for the whole tournament for our boys. We made a commitment to play tough defense throughout the tournament and, for the most part, we did."

The Vikes went on the play the number one seed from the east, Joe City, in more tournament play Feb. 14. Williams took the win with a final score of Vikes 63, Joe City 57. Guy Forbis led the Williams team with 20 points, followed by Doug Forbis with 16 points.

"We lost earlier in the year in overtime to them as well," Heisley said. "We took a 15 point lead into the half, then Joe City came out and stepped up their defense and gave us a scare, but the boys never faltered and kept the lead."

That same evening, following their Joe City win, the Vikings went up against the St. Michaels Cardinals in their final championship game. By halftime the Vikes were up 25-12 over St. Michaels, though the Cardinals rallied to close the gap to 50-47 by the fourth quarter of play. The Cardinals were forced to foul the Vikes in an effort to stall the Williams boys, who rallied themselves at the free throw line. The Vikes hit six straight free throws to win the game 56-47. The win put the Vikings in the number one seed for the state basketball tournament beginning with a 4:30 p.m. game today, where the Vikes will take on Tanque Verde at Bradshaw Mountain East High School.

As was the case with Rock Point and Joe City, Heisley said Williams lost earlier in the year to St. Michaels.

"What is interesting about this is that we lost to all three of these teams in the same week of December, but beat them all in the same weekend in February, and February is when you want to win big games like these," Heisley said. "I can't even begin to tell you how proud of these boys I am. They bought into the system that we were teaching them and far exceeded my expectations for this tournament. I knew we would be in contention for the championship, but I didn't know that we would do it with such dominance. We led the entire tournament, except for the first 30 seconds of the Joe City game. That is an amazing statistic for basketball. I have high expectations now for the state tournament and hope we can play our way into the top four this upcoming weekend."


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