CLASS 2A BOYS BASKETBALL STATE TOURNAMENT TEAM CAPSULES

CLASS 2A BOYS BASKETBALL STATE TOURNAMENT TEAM CAPSULES

By Anthony Garcia

The Class 2A Boys State Basketball Tournament will be played at Moby Arena on the Campus of Colorado State University in Fort Collins, with the first quarterfinal starting at 10:15am on Thursday. The complete brackets, with game times, are available at milehighprepreport.com or on MileHigh Prep Report on Facebook. The capsules for each team are in bracket order.

Individual statistics quoted below are courtesy of MaxPreps. Teams are listed in bracket order.

#1 Sanford Mustangs (23-1)

• COACH: Brice Crowther

• STATE CHAMPIONSHIPS
  • 1949, 1950, 1977, 1995, 2003, 2014, 2015, 2016

• RECORD AGAINST GREAT 8 QUALIFIERS   3-0
  • WINS:  Sierra Grande (2), Mesa Vista NM (1)
  • LOSSES:  None
• Team Notes: Sanford advanced to the State Tournament going 2-0 at regionals.  Sanford defeated Ridgway 69-26 and Center 39-24.  Sanford has not missed the State Tournament since the 2018-2019 season.  They went 2-1 as the #8 seed last season and finished in 5^th.

• STAT LEADERS

Players	Points per Game	Rebounds per Game	Assists per game	Other Notable Stats
Trason Gartrell Sr.	12.5 ppg	5.4 rpg	1.9 apg	1.9 steals
Colter Canty Sr.	8.1 ppg	2.4 rpg	1.5 apg	1.8 steals
Cahl Larsen Sr.	5.7 ppg	5.1 rpg	0.9 apg	1.0 steals
Travis Canty Sr.	5.6 ppg	2.6 rpg	1.6 apg	1.2 steals
Ben Faucette Sr.	5.1 ppg	2.3 rpg	0.8 apg	1.1 steals
Joshua Fairhurst Sr.	4.4 ppg	2.6 rpg	1.4 apg	1.1 steals

#9 Limon Badgers (16-9)

• COACH: Dirk Pedersen

• STATE CHAMPIONSHIPS
  • 1959, 1961, 1962, 1964, 2024

• RECORD AGAINST GREAT 8 QUALIFIERS   3-4
  • WINS: Byers (2), Stratton (1)
  • LOSSES:  Simla (2), McClave (1), C.S Christian (1)
• Team Notes: Limon advanced to the State Tournament going 2-0 at Regionals.  Limon defeated Holyoke 75 to 31 then upset Merino 59 to 45.  Limon did not make the State Tournament last year falling in the Regionals Finals to Bishop Machebeuf.

• STAT LEADERS

Players	Points per Game	Rebounds per Game	Assists per game	Other Notable Stats
Keagan Mellott Sr.	10.7 ppg	6.7 rpg	1.1 apg	1.1 blocks
Aiden Kollath Sr.	8.9 ppg	4.3 rpg	1.4 apg	1.5 steals
Daniel Forristall	7.9 ppg	7.8 rpg	1.0 apg	1.1 steals
Drey Tacha Sr.	6.5 ppg	5.2 rpg	3.5 apg	1.8 steals
Brooks Scherrer So.	5.1 ppg	1.4 rpg	1.3 apg	1.8 steals
John Bee Sr.	4.8 ppg	4.0 rpg	0.3 apg	1.1 blocks

#13 Plateau Valley Cowboys (16-8)

• COACH: Arjun Gill

• STATE CHAMPIONSHIPS
  • NONE

• RECORD AGAINST GREAT 8 QUALIFIERS   0-2
  • WINS:  None
  • LOSSES:  Nucla (2)
• Team Notes: Plateau Valley advanced to the State Tournament going 2-0 at regionals.  Plateau Valley defeated Trinidad 52 to 34 and Akron 64 to 61 in Double OT.  Plateau Valley made the state tournament last season going 1-2 and finishing in fourth place.

• STAT LEADERS

Players	Points per Game	Rebounds per Game	Assists per game	Other Notable Stats
Colter Ralston Sr.	21.3 ppg	6.0 rpg	3.3 apg	4.4 steals
London Mitchell Jr	16.0 ppg	4.1 rpg	3.2 apg	1.2 steals
Austin Grundy Jr.	9.9 ppg	5.8 rpg	3.5 apg	1.7 blocks
Cash Salazar Jr.	6.2 ppg	4.8 rpg	2.9 apg	4.5 steals
Hunter White Sr.	5.0 ppg	3.7 rpg	1.3 apg	1.2 steals
Riley Junge Sr.	1.6 ppg	4.3 rpg	0.9 apg

#5 Golden View Classical Sentinels (21-4)

• COACH: Cris Chacon

• STATE CHAMPIONSHIPS
  • None

• RECORD AGAINST GREAT 8 QUALIFIERS   0-1
  • WINS: None
  • LOSSES: Windsor Charter (1)
• Team Notes: Golden View Classical advanced to the state tournament going 2-0. Golden View Classical defeated Sedgwick County 56-47 and Front Range Christian 56-29.  Golden View Classical makes back-to-back appearances at the State Tournament.  Last season they went 0-2 at the State Tournament.

• STAT LEADERS

Players	Points per Game	Rebounds per Game	Assists per game	Other Notable Stats
Jacob Walker Sr.	16.8 ppg	5.6 rpg	3.4 apg	1.3 steals
Luke Chronowski Sr.	11.8 ppg	3.6 rpg	4.4 apg	1.4 steals
George Hermanson Sr.	11.7 ppg	7.9 rpg	1.5 apg	1.9 steals
Huck Hale Jr.	7.2 ppg	5.3 rpg	2.6 apg	1.3 steals
Levi Piepergerdes Jr.	4.1 ppg	4.4 rpg	1.2 apg	1.1 steals
Matthew Traudt Sr.	4.0 ppg	2.0 rpg	1.2 apg

#2 Simla Cubs (20-4)

• COACH: David Guy

• STATE CHAMPIONSHIPS
  • 1983, 1987, 2025

• RECORD AGAINST GREAT 8 QUALIFIERS   4-2
  • WINS:  Limon (2), Byers (1), Elbert (1)
  • LOSSES:  Strasburg (1), McClave (1)
• Team Notes: Simla advanced to the State Tournament going 2-0 at regionals. Simla defeated Belleview Christian 74 to 31 and Caprock Academy 66 to 41.  This is the 4^th straight appearance to the State Tournament for the Cubs.  Simla is also the defending State Champions!

• STAT LEADERS

Players	Points per Game	Rebounds per Game	Assists per game	Other Notable Stats
Tatum Kocerha Jr.	23.5 ppg	11.6 rpg	4.3 apg	2.7 blocks
Evan Guy So.	14.7 ppg	2.3 rpg	2.9 apg	1.7 steals
Connor Maranville So.	8.8 ppg	6.8 rpg	0.8 apg	0.8 blocks
Keygon Frihauf Jr.	6.0 ppg	1.9 rpg	2.4 apg	1.1 steals
Logan Rayfield Jr.	5.6 ppg	3.6 rpg	2.0 apg	1.0 steals
Ty Stanko So.	5.0 ppg	6.0 rpg	1.0 apg	1.1 steals

#7 Vail Christian Saints (18-4)

• COACH:  Andrew Neumann

• STATE CHAMPIONSHIPS
  • None

• RECORD AGAINST GREAT 8 QUALIFIERS   1-1
  • WINS: Plateau Valley (1)
  • LOSSES:  Nucla (1)
• Team Notes: Plateau Valley advanced to the State Tournament going 2-0 at regionals.  Plateau Valley defeated Dolores 70 to 53 and Haxtun 56 to 54 to advance.  Vail Christian is making their first trip to the State Tournament in Class 2A.  Vail Christian last time reaching the State Tournament was in the 2013/2014 season.

• STAT LEADERS

Players	Points per Game	Rebounds per Game	Assists per game	Other Notable Stats
Oliver Neumann Jr.	15.9 ppg	4.5 rpg	1.6 apg	1.8 steals
Rayman Romanin Jr.	10.0 ppg	2.4 rpg	3.0 apg	1.9 steals
Wyatt Hansen Jr.	7.4 ppg	2.1 rpg	1.2 apg	0.8 blocks
Brody Sterkel So.	6.6 ppg	4.7 rpg	1.4 apg
Jack O’Shaugnessy Jr.	4.7 ppg	7.1 rpg	1.5 apg	1.5 blocks
Charlie Neumann Sr.	4.6 ppg	4.0 rpg	1.7 apg	1.9 steals

#3 Heritage Christian Eagles (19-6)

• COACH: Kyle Lundy

• STATE CHAMPIONSHIPS
  • None

• RECORD AGAINST GREAT 8 QUALIFIERS   2-4
  • WINS: Flatirons Academy (2)
  • LOSSES: Forge Christian (1), Wiggins (1), Resurrection Christian (1), Byers (1)
• Team Notes: Heritage Christian advanced to the State Tournament going 2-0 at regionals.  Heritage Christian defeated Crested Butte 53 to 27 and Campion Academy 57 to 34.  Heritage Christian did not make it to the State Tournament last year falling in the Regional Finals to Sanford 52 to 50.

• STAT LEADERS

Players	Points per Game	Rebounds per Game	Assists per game	Other Notable Stats
Alec Lundy Sr.	15.0 ppg	8.4 rpg	4.0 apg	2.4 steals
Guede Wade Fr.	12.5 ppg	8.8 rpg	1.2 apg	1.5 blocks
Caleb Trujillo Jr.	12.2 ppg	3.5 rpg	3.0 apg	2.2 steals
Eddie Packard So.	7.8 ppg	2.3 rpg	2.1 apg	2.4 steals
Samuel Hanson Jr.	7.8 ppg	5.1 rpg	2.8 apg	1.0 steals
Isaiah Nevarez So.	7.6 ppg	1.4 rpg	2.1 apg	3.0 steals

#7 Byers Bulldogs (20-5)

• COACH: Jeremy Kerns

• STATE CHAMPIONSHIPS
  • None

• RECORD AGAINST GREAT 8 QUALIFIERS   3-5
  • WINS: Sierra Grande (1), Elbert (1), Heritage Christian
  • LOSSES: Wiggins (1), Simla (1), Stratton (1), Limon (2)
• Team Notes: Byers advanced to the State Tournament going 2-0 at regionals.  Byers defeated Fowler 66 to 30 and Swallows Charter 64 to 36.  Byers made the State Tournament last season going 0-2.

• STAT LEADERS (No Stats)