Peetz Falls Short to Haxtun, 62-50

Peetz's Bulldog boy's basketball season ended with a 62-to-50 loss to the Haxtun Bulldogs in the Class 1A Region 2 Tournament at NJC in Sterling on Saturday. The loss ends Peetz's season with a 17-and-6 mark.

Peetz started the regional tournament on Friday as the number four seed, and drew number nine seed Denver-Waldorf. The Spartans entered the tournament with a 10-and-9 record, but were lead by 6'7" junior Aly Sakho who averaged over 22 points per game. Peetz started the game sharp, with senior Dominic Naegele winning the jump ball over Sakho to give the Bulldogs the first possesion and the first points of the game.

Peetz used a deliberate and patient offesive scheme with plenty of passing, while senior Bryson Long matched up against Sakho and limited his effectiveness. After building a sizable lead in the first quarter, Long waited until the final seconds of the period to drive the lane, getting the bucket and the foul to complete the three point play and put the Bulldogs on top 22-to-7 going into the second quarter. Long's tight defense against Sakho continued in the second period, and the Bulldog's defense keyed on the big man when he had the ball. After Peetz senior Blake Roelle drew his second charging foul of the game against Sakho, forcing the Spartan's best weapon to sit on the bench for the remainder of the half with three fouls.

Both teams played aggressive defense and were in the bonus for the remaining five minutes of the second quarter. But the Peetz offense was able to beat the Denver-Waldorf defensive schemes, and started to pull away with field goals and free throws when fouled. With Sahko on the bench, the Bulldogs went on to open a 36-to-19 lead at halftime.

The Spartans were able to come back somewhat in the second half, but the Peetz lead was too much to overcome and the Bulldogs took the victory by a final score of 58-to-48 to move on to the final game on Saturday against Haxtun. Peetz had played Haxtun at home back in December, but lost in a lopsided 78-to-52 contest.

Again Peetz started fast, opening a 4-to-0 lead until Haxtun started to battle back to take a 9-to-8 lead on a three point shot with 2:35 remaining in the first quarter. Peetz senior Zach Holtz sank a free throw with two seconds left to end the first quarter with Peetz leading 11-to-10. Peetz started the second period slowing the offense down, patiently passing the ball and waiting for the high percentage shot. But as they have done all season, the Haxtun team's outstanding defense was able to outlast the Peetz offense, picking their spots to steal, bat away passes, and force turnovers. The officials were allowing quite a bit of contact by the defenses, which enabled the Haxtun squad to get even more aggressive and disrupt the Peetz offense's shots.

Haxtun's stout defense and sharp-shooting offense combined to start pulling away from Peetz, and they steadily built their lead through the quarter. With under two minutes left in the half, Haxtun had opened a 21-to-13 lead, and Peetz's frustration was starting to show. After missing a short jump shot, Peetz's Long was called for his third foul trying to scramble for a rebound. As the period wound down, Peetz set their offense for the final shot only to have Haxtun steal the ball away and take it all the way down for a layup.

The layup missed, but Naegele was too aggressive trying to grab the rebound and pulled the net, resulting in a goaltending call and giving the bucket to Haxtun, who went into the half up 24-to-13.

The third quarter opened with Peetz junior Cooper White hitting a three pointer to close the gap to 24-to-16, but Haxtun immediately responded with their own score to bring the score to 26-to-16. The entire period followed this narrative, with both teams going through dry spells at the same time, and every time Peetz would score, Haxtun would respond. The Peetz boys battled hard, with Long being a defensive and offensive force while playing in foul trouble. But every time the Bulldogs would narrow the lead, Haxtun would respond to put the lead back to around 10 points.

The third quarter ended with Peetz trailing 39-to-30, needing a few scores and defensive stops to get back in the game. The Bulldogs delivered the scoring in the early going of the quarter, with a free throw then a field goal by Long narrowing the lead to 39-to-33. But the defense could not get a stop, and Haxtun again scored to put the lead at 41-to-33. After White sank two free throws, again Haxtun responded with another two points. This cycle continued until the Bulldogs were able to score in succession to narrow the Haxtun lead to 52-to-45 with two minutes remaining. But the seven point lead allowed Haxtun to start to run out the clock, forcing Peetz to foul. With both teams in the double bonus at this point, Haxtun was able to sink enough of their free throws to keep pace and then pull away from Peetz as time expired. Haxtun took the victory 62-to-50, and advance to the State Tournament, while Peetz's season ended with the loss. Senior Bryson Long, in his final game with the Bulldogs, came up big with 22 points and a stellar defensive performance. Junior Cooper White had 15 points for the Bulldogs in the loss.