2A boys basketball Great 8 roundup: Peterson lifts Sanford

PUEBLO — Clayton Peterson wasn’t about to let his team lose.

The Sanford junior scored 15 points — all in the second half — lifting the Indians to a 71-57 victory over Simla in the first round of the Class 2A state tournament at Colorado State University-Pueblo’s Massari Arena.

“I had been struggling and I just wanted to be confident in my shot,” said the 6-foot-1 Peterson, who made five 3-pointers to reach his point total. “My teammates were getting me the ball and this feels great.”

Sanford ran its season record to 24-1. The Indians’ only loss was to Class 3A Alamosa 53-44. Simla dropped to (22-3). The Indians face top-seeded Ignacio (24-0) at 5:30 p.m. Friday in the semifinals.

“I thought we played good defense and as far offense goes I thought we played pretty well,” Sanford coach Rhett Larsen said. “Clayton did shoot well and it feels good to get this win and still be playing for a championship.”

Late in the first half, Sanford held a 22-17 edge, but Simla’s Kade Pyatt drained a 3-pointer from deep in the left corner with 6 seconds on the clock to get the Cubs within 22-20.

The second half was a different story – for Sanford anyway, thanks to Peterson.

Sanford stretched its lead to 34-24 on Peterson’s 3-pointer with 3:52 left in the third. He hit another trey with 2:20 remaining in the third pushing his team ahead 38-26.

Unfortunately for Simla, Peterson didn’t cool down.

Peterson drilled another trey from the top of the key, putting the Indians up 41-28 and he added another to give his squad a 47-33 edge with 6:45 remaining in the game.

Griffen Peterson, Clayton’s cousin, also got in the act with a trey with 3:20 on the clock, giving the Indians their largest lead at 58-42.

Chance Canty had a team-high 21 points for Sanford and Pyatt had 20 points in the loss for Simla.

Ignacio 49, Sedgwick County 33

The Bobcats used a strong second-half to outlast the Cougars.

Holding a slim 27-22 halftime lead, Ignacio turned things up in the second half, especially on defense.

Ignacio outscored Sedgwick 22-11 in the final 16 minutes, including only allowing three points in the final quarter.

Adison Jones had a team-high 14 points for the Bobcats and made two treys. Tyler Woodhams and Chase Dunker had 10 points each in the Cougars’ loss. Dunker had his team’s only points in the fourth quarter on one field goal and one free throw.

Akron 81, Meeker 64

Brady Baer scored 40 points, leading his team to the win over Meeker.

In addition to Baer, who became the all-time leading scorer in Colorado boys prep basketball, Jared Clarkson and Jordan Herder had 15 points each.

Meeker was paced by Joe Newman and Jeremy Musgrave, who had 21 and 20 points.

Lutheran 77, Holyoke 42

From the opening second of the game, the Lions were roaring.

Lutheran sped out a 24-13 lead in the first quarter and never looked back.

The key for Lutheran was balanced scoring. Josh Clausen (19 points), Reilly Carew (15), Devon Holland (13) and Brendan Edgerley (12) fueled the Lions. Tito Fierro (13) and Logan Tharp (10) led Holyoke in the losing effort.