Have another tremendous field to make up the 2A boys basketball state tournament this weekend in Loveland. All eight teams have spent time in the top 10 rankings this week and all have nothing on their mind but collecting three wins in three days and land a championship trophy.
PHOTO PROVIDED BY VAN HOLLIS
Probably the toughest draw in the bracket belongs to both Denver Christian and Wray. Both are strong title contenders but since they pair up on Thursday, one will be eliminated from the chase on the opening day. And the winner may also get the task of challenging top ranked and pre-tournament favorite Yuma in the semifinals. Should they gain the win there, DC or Wray would still need one more win to claim the championship. It’s a tall order for those teams based on bracket placement.
Wray is the defending state champion and enter the tournament as maybe the healthiest they’ve been all season. The Eagles welcomed the return of point guard Chris Arambula to the lineup for the regional tournament after playing just seven games during the regular season. He scored 19 combined points with eight assists in wins over Plateau Valley and Heritage Christian.
A second starter, Jaden Dodsworth, competed in just 13 regular season games but suited up for both regional games as well. The senior, who played critical minutes during the championship run a year ago, did not score last week but provides the Eagles with more depth and a big guard on defense.
Those two are back in the regular rotation with the likes of Bryant Schoenthal (17.5), Rafael Trejo (8.0), Andrew Trejo (7.4) and Ryce Peterson (5.3) The defending champs also feature a deeper bench now with Joey Uyemura (5.8) and AB Ruiz (4.3) providing quality play from there.
The Eagles will need all eight to get past a very good Denver Christian club that has struggled a bit down the stretch. They closed the regular season with late losses to Heritage Christian and Limon but recovered to get past Wiggins and Thomas MacLaren in the regional tournament. They have the depth to match Wray so it should be a great contest on Friday.
Ben Buhler is the scoring (15.0) and emotional leader for the Thunder and he will look to knock down some outside shots against the Wray zone defense. He has 20 three-pointers on the season. Andrew Schneider (17), Aden Cariveau (17) and Jackson Schroder (12) are others who can score from the perimeter and they will be crucial against the much bigger Eagles.
With that being said, the key player for DC this week could be Xander Neu. The six-four senior collects 12 points and eight rebounds a game on the season and how well he battles against the likes of Schoenthal and Trejo inside may decide if the Thunder advance to the semifinals or drop into the consolation bracket. No one outworks him and he’s been in this situation several times on the season and ended with success.
As mentioned, the winner will likely take on Yuma in the semifinals. The Indians are seeded number one and favored to get past Lotus School in the quarterfinals. Win or lose, it’s a big moment for the Meteors as they’re in the Great 8 for the first time in school history. Thursday’s game won’t be their first major challenge of the season as they’ve lined up against the likes of Aspen, Limon and Byers in regular season play and also toppled Vail Mountain at their place to win the regional tournament.
The Meteors have four double figure scores who combine for roughly 60 points a game in Elias Dessalegn, Petros Tareke, Caleb Bafukila and Adani Hassan. Before thinking about points however, those four and the rest of the Lotus club must get ready for the relentless full court pressure put forth by the Indians. They are deep on defense and coach Dave Sheffield will use 7-8 players throughout the game to keep that pressure fresh. The Indians have recorded a whopping 331 steals in 23 games including 65 from Clay Robinson, 55 from Junior Gamboa and three others with at least 30.
Robinson is the main threat on offense and the senior can get points on the board in several manners. He’s been a starter all four years and scored double figures in each; entering the tournament with over 1200 points on his career. Three more wins as the senior lands his second state championship with the first coming in 2019.
There’s good balance on the lower half of the bracket as Limon, Sanford, Peyton and Crowley County have enough talent and momentum to see a semifinal contest on Friday. There is familiarity between the teams as Sanford edged Peyton 42-40 in overtime this past December and Limon also opened their season with a solid 42-22 win over Crowley County.
Sanford outrebounded Peyton 35-23 in the first meeting and that’s a main factor in the rematch on Saturday. The Indians have much more size than the Panthers so Peyton will have to knock down the three-pointer or create points off turnovers to turn-around the earlier loss. They were just 2-11 in the first meeting but did force 19 turnovers.
Peyton has played a strong schedule and maybe has the best momentum of the season thanks to a 57-28 blowout of 5th ranked Mancos in a regional last week. The Panthers led 21-11 at halftime and then won the game with a 23-9 run in the third quarter. Gibson Gellerman had a huge game; scoring 22 points with two three-pointers and three steals. AJ Lashley (12) and Logan Nickell (10) also reached double figures in the win. Those three need big games this week for the Panthers to win three straight and take the title.
Sanford survived a physical game to whip Holyoke 61-39 in their regional final over the weekend. It was their ninth straight win since falling to neighboring rival and 3A state quarterfinalist Centauri on February 8th. They feature tremendous depth with an eight-player rotation headed up by McCray Larsen. He leads the team in points (12.5) and rebounds (9.3) on the season. He stands 6-4 and went for 14 points and 15 rebounds in the first meeting. Kelton Gartrell and Cash Caldon each added 10 in the first win with Caldon knocking down two three-pointers.
Crowley County is back in the state tournament for the first time since reaching the 2018 state championship game. They fell to Yuma which ended their attempt at a perfect 26-0 season.
The record this year (19-5) is not as compelling but the Chargers have gotten hot at the right time. They were 7-5 after a conference loss to Holly but have won their last 12 to reach the state quarterfinals. Along the way they scored a two-point win over Fowler and a one-point decision over Rye to win the district 6 tournament. Those wins allowed them to play at home for regionals where they took out Ignacio and Cedaredge by a combined 24 points.
In the early loss to Limon, neither team shot the ball very well as the Chargers connected on 21 percent of their attempts and Limon only 27. Expect much better efficiency from both teams in the rematch this week.
The Chargers almost feature an inverted offense. Senior Terrance McNeil is listed at six-foot but still leads the club with 18 points and 13 rebounds a game. Freshman Gunner Hughes stands 6-4 but is aptly named as he tops the Chargers with 38 treys on the season.
Those two provide what could be interesting matchups on both ends of the court. McNeil will be undersized against the Limon inside trio of Kaden Becker, Eli Weisensee and Treyton Marx but Hughes will have a considerable height advantage against the Badger guards, Brady and Jordan Rockwell, Trey Hines, Dante Arnold and Michael Hoffman.
Limon of course is coming off a state championship game appearance last year where they fell short to Wray. The Badgers have won their last 15 and may also have their best offensive rhythm of the season. During the run they avenged a 58-37 January loss to Denver Christian by downing the Thunder 54-46 in the district championship game.
The Rockwell brothers combine for nearly 25 points a game and between them have 57 three-pointers. Their production comes from the perimeter while ecker (8.2) and Weisensee (7.3) combine for 15 in the paint. Hines has played just eight games as he recovered from a shoulder injury suffered in the state football championship but has contributed four points, three rebounds and two assists down the stretch. His return also gives the Badgers more depth as they go from a seven to an eight-player rotation and several lineup possibilities.
