Dragons earn 3rd in district tournament

Holyoke boys basketball, seeded No. 4 in the 2A District 2 tournament, won two games and lost one last week to earn third place.

Last Friday at Northeastern Junior College in Sterling, the Dragons took No. 1 Yuma to overtime and narrowly lost 70-66. The Dragons clinched third after defeating Sedgwick County 40-36 the following evening, and the prior Tuesday, Feb. 22, they defeated Akron 65-45 on the home court.

Holyoke now enters the regional tournament at No. 14. They will play No. 19 Byers in Sanford at 6:30 p.m. on Friday, March 4. Holyoke defeated Byers 61-22 in their first meeting of the season last December.

The winner of the March 4 game will play the winner of No. 3 Sanford and No. 30 Telluride at 2:30 p.m. on Saturday, March 5, for the regional championship.

The regional tournament consists of the top three teams of the eight districts plus eight wild cards based on RPI.

In other regional action from District 2 teams this Friday, No. 1 Yuma will play No. 32 Dawson School, No. 10 Wray will play No. 23 Plateau Valley and No. 24 Wiggins will play No. 9 Denver Christian.

Coach Colbey Stumpf said the goal is for the Dragons to keep playing their game and doing what they’ve done all season. He noted that the Dragons like to play fast but need to find a happy medium, anticipating that the altitude will require some adjustments.

Holyoke beats SedgCo for 3rd time to take 3rd place

The Dragons made it a clean sweep of Sedgwick County this season after their victory over the Cougars last Saturday.

“They do a good job slowing down the game,” Stumpf said of Sedgwick County, noting how this third game was closer than the prior two, which Holyoke won 65-41 and 62-41. “We like to play faster, so we had some adversity there.” He added that it was good for the Dragons to get a different look and see adversity like that as they head into regionals.

The game was close and low-scoring throughout, with both teams scoring under 10 points in each of the first three quarters. After being tied 15-15 at halftime, the Dragons held the Cougars to only five third-quarter points while putting up eight of their own to lead 23-20.

In a back-and-forth final quarter, the Dragons led by as many as six before their lead narrowed to 37-36 with under 10 seconds left. Holyoke was able to stay on top for the 40-36 win and secure the regional berth.

Wyatt Sprague led Dragon scorers with 14 points on five 2-pointers and four free throws. Cash Weber was also in double digits with 11.

Miles Sprague led total rebounds with 11. Ethan Johnson led in steals and assists with three apiece.

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