Peetz Boys Win State Title

There would be no denying what they had rightfully earned.

The Peetz Bulldogs defeated the South Baca Patriots 51-44 Saturday night at the Colorado High School Activities Association (CHSAA) State Championship tournament in Loveland, CO, to take the CHSAA 1A State Championship title.

The win finished off a season for the ages where the Bulldogs tore through their regular season schedule undefeated, ending their run with a 25-1 record and with their first state championship in basketball since 1962.

Peetz entered the state tournament as the number five seed, and were matched in the first game Thursday against the fourth seeded Sangre de Cristo out of Mosca.

The Bulldogs powered their way past the Thunderbirds, avenging their 63-27 loss to Sangre de Cristo the 2015 state tournament with a 64-29 trouncing, advancing the Bulldogs to the semifinals.

Next up on Friday was the No 1 seeded Creede Miners, and despite a 33 point explosion from Creede senior Isaac Borchers and 14 lead changes, the Bulldogs were able to pull past the Miners in overtime with a thrilling 69-67 victory to propel them into the finals on Saturday.

The finals pitted the Bulldogs against the sixth seeded South Baca Patriots who defeated third seeded Heritage Christian, the only team to have defeated Peetz this season, in the quarterfinals, and then bounced second seeded Front Range Baptist in the semifinals.

The game started with Peetz establishing an early lead, then South Baca coming back to go ahead by one point in the first quarter.

It was the only lead the Patriots would have as Peetz played solid defense and made their shots when they needed to keep the Patriots at bay. At the end of the game, Peetz was able to keep the ball away from South Baca while hitting a string of free throws to seal the 51-44 victory.

Peetz standout Logan Sircy scored 23 points in the victory to lead the Bulldogs.