Haxtun wins over Simla; set to enter State at #6

It was a battle to the finish, but one that paid off big in the end. The Haxtun Bulldogs took a 10-point win over Simla at the Region 2 Tournament in Brush Saturday afternoon to punch their ticket to the 1A State Basketball Tournament later this week.

Simla earned their way to the championship match against the Bulldogs after knocking off Stratton 51-43 the day before. Haxtun took the court in their white jerseys as the home team ranked number three in Regional standings. The visiting Cubs, in blue, entered the Regional Tournament as the number four seed.

The first quarter started off slow, really slow, with neither team scoring for nearly three and a half minutes. Simla put a bucket in the hoop to put the first two points on the board but Haxtun answered back quickly taking the lead from the Cubs. The two point lead in the first quarter is the only one Simla would hold in the entire first half. The Bulldogs held a 30-23 advantage at half time.

Haxtun came out strong in the third, putting the first points on the board in the second half and controlling much of the game, even as things heated up between the two teams and things got more physical.

After leading by as many as 13 points in the second half, Haxtun allowed the Cubs back in the game as Simla tied things up at 47 with just under three minutes left in the contest. Senior Isaac Andersen went to the free throw line, sinking one of two to give the lead back to the Bulldogs. On Andersen's missed shot, Simla came up with the rebound under the basket but seconds later turned it over to give the Bulldogs the ball back on their own side of the court.

Head Coach Jayden Stieb called a time out and right after, junior Maclin Tempel came up big for the Bulldogs with a two-point bucket to give the Bulldogs a larger advantage. In a full court press, senior David Avery caused a turn over and put the ball up and in the hoop for a quick two points for the home team on the board.

While playing the clock with the lead, senior Owen Knode found junior Michael Gerk wide open under the hoop. Gerk put the shot in the basket and took the foul for an and-one advantage. Gerk sunk the free-throw giving the Bulldogs the lead, 54-47. Shortly thereafter, Andersen again found a scoring opportunity to give Haxtun another bucket and just like that, the Bulldogs were back on top by nearly 10.

The Bulldogs went on to claim a 60-50 win over the Cubs, advancing them to the 1A State Tournament slated for Thursday, Friday and Saturday.

"The guys played well on Saturday. It was a game of big runs by both teams," Stieb said. "Simla had the biggest run of the game in the fourth quarter. I was proud of the fight our guys showed. There was a pretty long stretch in the fourth where it seemed like we couldn't do anything right, couldn't get anything going and none of the breaks were going our way. They kept their composure and fought hard in the last three minutes to re-extend the lead and finish off the game."

Knode led the Bulldog team in points Saturday afternoon. The senior put up 17. Gerk trailed with 16 points. Avery added 11. As a team, Haxtun connected with 14 of 22 free throws for a 64 percent rating against the Cubs.

Tempel led under the net in rebounds, pulling down 12. He brought down two on offense and 10 on defense. Knode and Gerk each nabbed 10 rebounds.

Knode registered six assists while Avery led on the opposite side of the ball with two steals.

Haxtun earned a sixth seed in the 1A tournament and is set to face off with number three seeded Granada on Thursday morning at 10:15 a.m. on the University of Northern Colorado campus in Greeley. Sierra Grande went in as number one and Evangelical Christian as number two. Caprock Academy took the fourth place seed ahead of five McClave. Merino enters the seventh seed just ahead of eighth seeded Dove Creek.

Should the Bulldogs win in their first contest of the tournament, they will face the winner of Evangelical Christian and Merino at 5:30 p.m. on Friday night. Should Haxtun suffer a loss, they will face the loser of the same contest on Friday morning at 10:15 a.m. All games will be played at UNC until the championship matches, which are set to take place at the Budweiser Event Center in Loveland. For a complete bracket of the 1A State boys' tournament, see inside this week's edition of the Herald.

"As far as this week goes, we'll need to focus on staying in our regular routine," said Stieb. "The State Tournament is best high school sporting event of the year in my opinion. You get three days to try and win three games. The biggest game is Thursday. We will spend the week prepping for Granada. Right now they have our full attention."