PUEBLO – Hard-nose in-your-face defense is trademark the Sanford boys basketball team.
The Indians didn’t disappoint Friday night.
Thanks a suffocating defense and Clayton Peterson’s 17 points Sanford came away with a 65-54 victory over Ignacio in a Class 2A semifinal game at Colorado State University-Pueblo’s Massari Arena.
“We take pride in defense and it takes a great team effort when you have a bunch of good players to defend who have size and all that,” Sanford coach Rhett Larsen said. “I was real proud of our team the way they played (defense).”
The Indians improved to 26-0 and will have the opportunity to capture back-to-back state championships when they meet top-seeded Resurrection Christian (25-0) at 7 p.m. Saturday.
A year ago, Sanford finished the season with 26-1 record and claimed the school’s sixth state boys basketball title by beating Akron 58-53.
“We just take one game at a time, and now we only have one game left,” Larsen said. “We are going to coach it the same way and just have the kids come ready to play.”
The Indians clearly were up to Ignacio’s challenge.
Peterson scored 15 of his points on five 3-pointers and he didn’t work alone. Miles Caldon (16 points), Adam Romero (13) and Griffen Peterson (11) all chipped in in Sanford’s balanced-scoring attack.
“It’s important and crucial for us to be able to spread the ball around and have everybody who can shoot it,” Larsen said. “I thought we have good contributions from all our guys (Friday night).”
Sanford built a 33-21 halftime lead and that advantage was too much for Ignacio (22-3) to overcome. Wyatt Hayes paced the Bobcats with 17 points on the strength of five treys. Ignacio’s Adison Jones had 14 points.
No. 1 Resurrection Christian 71, No. 4 Simla 60
With a chance at history possibly slipping way, Resurrection Christian’s Tanner Ervin took matters into his own hands.
The sophomore guard scored 10 of his 22 points in the third quarter, propelling the Cougars to the win over Simla in the other semifinal game.
Resurrection (25-0) moves to play defending state champion Sanford (26-0) at 7 p.m. today. The Cougars are trying to make history by winning the school’s first boys state basketball title. A year ago, Sanford finished the season with 26-1 record and claimed the school’s sixth state boys basketball title by beating Akron 58-53. Simla’s record dropped to 23-3.
“We were trying to do too many things too quick and when we started reversing the ball and making their big guys come out and guard a little bit, it just changed the whole game,” Resurrection coach Bruce Dick said.
Holding on to a slim 34-33 halftime lead, the Cougars 22-5 third-quarter spurt spelled doom for Simla. Ervin had two treys in the barrage.
“Coach got on us at halftime for not swinging the ball enough and I was just swinging the ball and coming off good screens that were set by our bigs,” the 5-foot-8 Ervin said. “They were doing all of it. I just spotting up and shooting the shot.”
In addition to Ervin, Koby Bishop (18 points) and Luke Fick (11 points) also scored in double-figures for the Cougars. Cody Norris and Noah Scott each had 14 points in the loss for Simla.