Ganado earns Final Four berth

PRESCOTT VALLEY, Ariz.

In a community eager for their boys’ basketball team to gain some recognition, the Ganado Hornets advanced into the Arizona Class 3A Final Four round on Tuesday.

The last time a Ganado boys team made it to the state playoffs was in 2000, according to current team members.

To absorb the moment Ganado senior Darryl Lincoln got a little emotional after his team posted a hard fought 54-50 win over Tucson Sabino Sabercats at the Prescott Valley Event Center before a large crowd.

“It’s breathtaking,” Lincoln said. “It’s been countless years we haven’t gone to a state playoff, but going to the Final Four and going to that gym that I dreamed of as a child with my teammates is what overcame me.”

The gym Lincoln is referring to is the Gila River Arena in Glendale, Arizona where the state championship games will be decided.

On Friday, the Hornets will play No. 9 seed Winslow at 7 p.m. as the Bulldogs had the improbable task of upsetting the Chandler Valley Christian Trojans. In the nightcap Winslow posted a 63-54 win.

“When we play with a lot of energy and a sense of energy and with our backs against the wall we step it up a notch,” Winslow coach Scott Corum said. “We closed out on shooters, we move our feet and we boxed out and we did a lot of dirty things that maybe we didn’t do during the regular season.”

Surprisingly this will be the first meeting between the two schools this year and Corum is expecting to have their hands full with Ganado 6-9 center Jamaal Coleman manning the interior.

“That’s another challenge for us,” Corum said. “We don’t have a lot of size to match him but if we can play our game, which is run and play fast we can hold our own.”

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