The March of Madness hits GJHS

GJHS students competed in a March Madness bracket

Mason Strippel, Reporter

April 6, 2026

The updated GJHS March Madness bracket. The Hot Shots won the bracket, and the prize was AirPods.

Grand Junction High School held its very own March Madness for students to prove their basketball skills and win a prize.

GJHS team “Hot Shots,” featuring GJHS junior Harper Young, junior Makinna Young and sophomore Keely Wright, won the bracket. Each player won a pair of AirPods.

The “Hot Shots” beat “Dubs Can’t Shoot” 15-14 in the championship final. “Dubs Can’t Shoot” featured senior Alex Townsend, senior Rhett Kempton, and junior Ethan Bunnell. The “Hot Shots” made an 8-point comeback for the win.

“It felt so good to win, especially in a comeback win. My teammates Keely and Kinna were perfect with their passes and position, letting us win the game. It was fun doing March Madness; it was a great event,” said Harper Young.

There were 11 teams with three players each competing against each other from March 30 to April 3 in the main gym. Eight of the 11 teams competed on the first day, six teams competed on March 31, four teams April 1 and the final two teams went against each other on April 3.

“We wanted to do March Madness last year but didn’t get the chance. We wanted to involve March Madness in the school because college basketball is really popular around this time of the year, and we wanted to do a tournament,” said GJHS teacher and Advanced Leadership Team (ALT) advisor Brodie Smith.

According to Smith, ALT plans to continue March Madness next year due to its success.

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About the Contributor

Mason Strippel, Reporter

Mason Strippel is a junior. He is part of the Orange and Black Newspaper. He likes to play basketball, video games, and mountain hiking. He is also part of the TRIO Upward Bound program. He joined the Orange and Black Newspaper during his sophomore year.