FORT COLLINS – With Limon threatening to climb back into the championship game Saturday night, Tatum Kocerha decided enough was enough.

The Simla junior put the Cubs on his back, sparking an 11-0 run with six consecutive points to send Simla to a second consecutive Class 2A boys basketball crown with a 49-39 victory over the Badgers at Moby Arena on the Colorado State University campus.

Kocerha scored a game-high 29 points, eight of which came during that second-half run.

“Once it gets to the four or two range, I just tell myself it’s time to go,” Kocerha said after a trip into the stands to embrace his family and the Simla fans. “I just get in the zone.”

Simla (23-4) defended its title despite losing a number of seniors from last year’s title-winning group. The team had only two seniors on the roster, and the core of the squad will be back next season.

“A lot of people counted us out. We had a pretty hefty, really good senior class last year that we finally got it done,” Kocerha said. “The younger guys stepped up and hard work pays off.”

Limon (18-10) had upset top-seeded Sanford in the Great 8 to return to the title game for the first since winning it all in 2024. The Badgers got off to a strong start early against Simla by feeding post Keagan Mellott inside.

Simla rode Kocerha’s 15 points in the first half to an eight-point lead at the half, but Mellott scored seven points in the third to make it a 30-26 game. That’s when Kocerha took over, with two buckets late in the quarter and two more to open the fourth, which were sandwiched around two free throws from Logan Rayfield.

“I think sometimes the best coaching is to let your player do his thing and get out of the way,” Simla coach David Guy said. “There were a couple times he had the ball in his hands, and my assistants were like ‘what are we going to run?’ I just stayed quiet, because I could see space. If he’s got space, I’m not going to get in the way.”

Mellott was held scoreless in the fourth quarter.

“We wanted to take their two guards out of the game,” Guy said. “We’re lucky to have a 6-7 kid that can play, and that makes it hard to score inside. We thought if we can keep them from scoring outside, we can survive the inside stuff.”

Evan Guy finished with eight points for Simla, all of which came in the first half.

Mellott led Limon with 15 points. Daniel Forristall added 12 and Aidan Kollath added 10.

“Dirk (Pedersen) and Ryan (Smithburg) and their staff, they are amazing coaches,” David Guy said.

It was a 2A sweep for the Cubs at Moby as the girls team also captured a championship. Both teams posed together with their trophies on the floor after the game before leading their fans in a spirited chant.

Kocerha has a sister and three cousins on the girls squad.

“To win it at the same time, it’s just a dream come true,” Kocerha said. “I’ve playing all of them in my aunt and uncle’s gym since I was little, so to be able to share this moment with them it means everything to me.”