Haxtun takes on Prairie & Merino in first two contests of tourney

A mid-December blizzard on the plains of northeastern Colorado caused havoc in scheduling for organizers of the 2022 Holiday Tournament at Northeastern Junior College last week. What was slated for a Thursday, Friday, Saturday tournament turned into action for Saturday, Monday and Tuesday. Haxtun kicked off play with a win over Prairie in round one of action and a two-point, overtime loss to Merino in round two.

Haxtun entered the tournament bracket as the number one seeded team which pitted the Bulldogs against Prairie in round one of play on Saturday night at NJC in Sterling. As they have most of the season thus far, the Bulldogs jumped to an early lead in the first half and carried that through for a final 51-35 win over the Mustangs. The victory in round one advanced Haxtun to the second round for a contest with the Rams from Merino.

As the majority of Haxtun versus Merino basketball action goes, Monday’s nights action kept fans on the edge of their seats. The Rams took a 13-9 lead after the first quarter but the Bulldogs put 17 points on the board in the second while holding Merino to just 10 giving Haxtun a 26-23 at half time.

Merino out scored the Bulldogs by one in the third to narrow in on the scoring gap. The fourth quarter came down to the wire and free-throw shooting but as the final buzzer sound, both teams showed 49 points on the board to send the game into overtime. In a back-and-forth match up it came down to one shot in the final seconds and as Haxtun held a one-point lead, Merino came up with one final three-pointer to take the win by two, 61-59. The loss is the first for the Bulldogs this season.

A loss in second round action of tournament play put the Bulldogs in a match up for third and fourth against Dayspring Christian Academy. That contest was not decided before the Herald’s press deadline this week.

After the 2022 Holiday Tournament, Haxtun will break for two weeks before returning to the court on Jan. 6 as the Bulldogs host Prairie for the team’s second meeting this season. On Jan. 7, Haxtun is set to travel to Wiggins to take on the Tigers.