The Phoenix Cortez boys basketball vehicle is revved up and ready to go to Flagstaff for the Division III state tournament. Will it be able to carry the Colts to a championship?

We will find out on Friday (Feb. 15), when the seventh-seeded Colts take on No. 10 Florence in a second-round game at Northern Arizona University’s Walkup Skydome in Flagstaff. Tip-off is 10:30 a.m.

If Cortez defeats Florence, it likely would play second-seeded Gilbert Christian in the quarterfinals on Monday (Feb. 18) at Tim’s Toyota Center in Prescott Valley. Gilbert Christian has won two state titles in the last three years and finished as runner-up in the middle year.

But first things first. Cortez coach Tarik James, a one-time hoops star at the school, vows his team will be ready to play. He likes his team’s seeding, which was good enough to earn a first-round bye on Tuesday (Feb. 12) but safe enough to not have a huge bunch of expectations smother it.

Cortez (19-6) is led by Jorrell Smith, a senior guard who has threatened some of James’ scoring records set about 20 years ago.

Other key players include junior guards Octavius Holguin and Danny Cervantes.

“I’ve always said that Octavius is the gasoline, Danny is the engine and Jorrell is the driver,’’ James said.

Cortez played some tough competition earlier in the season, including Division II top seed Phoenix Sunnyslope, and James said that helped his team become “battle-tested.’’

He said that because he was an offense-minded player, some thought that he would not be much of a defense-minded coach.

That hasn’t been the case.

“We have played great defense,’’ James said. “Our first offense is a good defense.’’

So now it is on to Flagstaff.

“Everybody on this team knows their role, knows what they’re supposed to do. That’s what has made this season special,’’ James said.