NE Colorado dominates at state basketball

    Holyoke and its neighboring towns made themselves known in both the girls and boys state basketball tournaments Thursday-Saturday, March 9-11.
    It was a phenomenal showing from the northeast corner, especially from the 2A classification as all three girls and boys teams moving on from District 2 made it through regionals to play in the state tournament at Loveland’s Budweiser Events Center.
    Holyoke boys went on to take state with a close 44-41 showdown with Sedgwick County. Through the season, Holyoke had faced Sedgwick County three times, defeating the team once in overtime and losing twice — with one of those losses in the District 2 championship.
    In the Saturday state tournament finals for 2A boys, Holyoke, Sedgwick County and Akron finished first, second and fifth respectively. 2A girls from District 2 finished second (Wray), third (Yuma) and fifth (Haxtun) in the state.
    Holyoke boys claimed the state title after three tight and hard-fought games over the weekend. A 43-38 victory over Fowler Thursday and an intense 64-63 overtime win over Paonia Friday culminated in once again facing the rival Sedgwick County Cougars in Saturday’s state championship. The Dragons narrowly defeated the Cougars 44-41 to bring home the state championship trophy.
  

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