Montgomery will try to continue its title string in Casa Grande’s 14th annual Brett Callan Memorial boys basketball tournament running Thursday through Saturday in the Coach Ed Iacopi Gymnasium.
The Vikings defeated host Casa Grande, 55-48, to win their second straight Callan title last year.
The tournament will have a new look this season with St. Vincent, Urban from San Francisco and Credo from Rohnert Park in the tournament. Returning teams are Analy, Del Campo from Sacramento and Washington from San Francisco in addition to Montgomery and Casa Grande.
In the opening game at 3:30 p.m. on Thursday, St. Vincent will face an Analy team that is a Callan Tournament veteran entry.
St. Vincent, preparing to move into the North Bay League next season, has gotten off to a slow start playing an ambitious early-season schedule and playing without point guard and team leader Miguel Bunting, but the Mustangs are expected to again contend for the North Central League IV title after finishing second last season.
Analy, after struggling to a 6-20 record last season, has turned things around this year, and will enter the tournament with a 5-2 record, counting among its wins a 53-44 victory over tournament entrant Washington of San Francisco.
In other first-night games, Urban meets Montgomery at 5 p.m., Del Campo plays Washington at 6:30 p.m. and Credo faces host Casa Grande at 8 p.m.
Urban from San Francisco is another team off to a fast start, compiling a 4-1 record through its first five games. The Blues were 10-18 last season.
They face a Montgomery team that was 18-11 last season, finishing second to Cardinal Newman in the highly competitive North Bay League-Oak.
The 6:30 game features two Callan veteran teams. Del Campo was third last year. The Cougars are coming off a 13-14 season.
The always athletic Washington Eagles enter the Callan Tournament with a 4-3 record after going 14-16 last season.
Tournament newcomer Credo from Rohnert Park is one of the area’s best small-school teams. The Gryphon bring a 5-3 record into the tournament after going 10-11 last season.
Casa Grande hosts the tournament with a 2-4 record, but coming off an impressive 71-60 win over Rancho Cotate in its last pre-tournament game.
The tournament, now in its 18th season, is played annually in honor of former Casa Grande player Brett Callan, who was 16 years old when he died in a car crash in 2004.
Former Gauchos coach James Forni began the tournament in Callan’s name the year after the player’s death. Forni, a popular Casa Grande coach and teacher, died of cancer in 2015 at the age of 36. One of his former players, Chris Gutendorf, now coaches the Gauchos.
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