Bulldogs set to travel to Sanford for Regional basketball action

The Haxtun Bulldogs are headed to Sanford for the first round of Regional basketball action. The Bulldogs secured one of 32 spots in the 2023 Colorado High School Activities Association 2A boys basketball state tournament bracket as the 25th ranked team. Haxtun is set to face off with seventh ranked Sanford in opening round of play on Friday afternoon.

Haxtun traveled to Wiggins Tuesday night for the opening round of District basketball action. Despite a battle with the higher seeded Tigers, the Bulldogs fell 65-47. Although the Bulldogs suffered a loss in the first round of Districts, the team still advances in post season play as one of the top teams in Colorado 2A action per CHSAA rankings.

The Tigers went on to face Merino later in the week, but suffered an overtime loss to the Rams. Wiggins secured a third place finish at Districts with a 10-point win on Saturday over Holyoke. Wray clinched the District Championship with a 58-42 victory over Merino.

"We rebounded very well against Wiggins. I thought we were the more aggressive team throughout," said Head Coach Jayden Stieb. "Unfortunately they hit more shots than we did. We talked about in big situations we need someone to step up and hit a shot. I'm confident that we have a good group of guys that can do that for us in future."

Senior Michael Gerk put 17 points on the board in Wiggins last week. He connected with eight field goals and made one of two free throws. Sophomore Ryland Wolff totaled 14 points from six two-points shots while also sinking two free throws.

Under the basket, Gerk led his team with 14 rebounds. He pulled down eight on offense and six on defense. Keegan Colglazier brought down eight rebounds while Maclin Tempel registered five. Tempel led in assists with five. Chase Goddard, Kyle Fryrear, Wolff and Gerk each tallied two steals.

According to MaxPreps, Sanford is currently 14-8 overall and went 6-1 in their Southern Peaks league. The Mustangs picked up wins over Sargent and Del Norte in their District Tournament last week.

"Going into Regionals were focused on Sanford. We know that they are a good team and we're going to have to step up," Stieb said. "Most of our practice will be spent going over what they do specifically to find success and what we will need to do to play our pace of play, not theirs."

The Bulldogs will take on Sanford on Friday at 4 p.m. Should they win on Friday, the Bulldogs will advance to play the following day against the winner of 10th ranked Merino and 23rd ranked Monte Vista.

There is a high likelihood Haxtun could face fellow Lower Platte League team Merino on Saturday in the second round of Districts. Those two teams took the court in the final regular season game in Haxtun several weeks ago, however, that game was canceled due to an in-game medical emergency for a Merino Ram. The game was cancelled less than two minutes into play. The first time those two teams meet, Merino won by two in overtime.

"Obviously we want to see Merino. That means we took care of business Friday. We still have an overtime loss against them that we'd like to avenge. Playing a rival in an elimination game is all you can ask for in high school basketball. We hope we get that opportunity!" Stieb said.