A look at Sanford boys basketball’s record 74-game winning streak
Streaks are what make sports so fun. Ask Joe DiMaggio. Or the 2002 Oakland A’s. Just this year in the NBA, Russell Westbrook went on a crazy streak of seven games with a triple-double.
There’s drama, intrigue and history all tied to streaks in sports no matter how far it reaches.
That’s why the Sanford boys basketball team might just be the best (and underrated) stories of the last few seasons for Colorado high school sports.
The Indians broke a 20-year-old record by winning 74 games in row. They beat the Swallows Charter Academy in the first game of the season to set the mark.
“You don’t think about record until it gets close to within your view,” Sanford coach Rhett Larsen. “Thinking back, after we had the first undefeated season (2014-15), you realize how many games you have total. Then as the next season goes along, and you go undefeated again, you know you have a streak.”
Unfortunately it wouldn’t grow past 74, as Sanford fell to La Junta 39-33 less than a week later.
The streak was over, but the Indians accomplished something that no other team in state history had been able to do. But in the process, it wasn’t something that the players were ultimately aiming for.
“I don’t think that they dwelled on that at all, honestly,” Larsen said. “I don’t think that’s what their objective was. I think that it was just a matter of, with those kids coming through, focusing hard like every team does. We were just fortunate to be in that situation.”
It’s easy to look at that number and just take it for what it is. But what about everything that comes with it?
It’s easy to simply take the streak and run with the story, but taking a deeper look at the details makes this 74-game run all the more impressive.
Jan. 17, 2014 – Win No. 1. Sanford beat Custer 59-33 to start its run at history.
“It doesn’t cross your mind,” Larsen said. “It didn’t cross my mind at the initial starting point. It just kind of happened.”
Dom Collier was still a Denver East Angel and not quite a Colorado Buffalo. Peyton Manning was two days away from leading the Denver Broncos to their first Super Bowl appearance in 15 years. In that time, the Indians scored …
- 4,924 points during the streak, which amounts to …
- 66.5 points per game. So offensively, the numbers were good even if they weren’t record-breaking themselves. It leaves the question of exactly how much defense played a role over this run. In 74 games, there were …
- 2,678 total points allowed by the Indians, which amounts to …
- 36.1 points allowed per game. Over the course of their winning streak, the Indians allowed less than 10 points a quarter. As a result, Sanford’s average margin of victory was …
- 30.4 points per game. Does that mean that the Indians were that dominant? In the course of their winning streak there …
- 16 games that they won by a margin of 10 points or less. But of all those, only …
- 1 went to overtime. That was the 2015 Class 2A state championship game in which they beat Resurrection Christian 47-44. But that was only one of …
- 3 state championships won by the Indians in during their winning streak.
“They’re the climax of it all as far as that goes,” Larsen said of the titles. “It’s what all the teams really wanted and shot for. They approached each season and every game with an individual focus.”
Of all the numbers listed above, the only one that matters in this story is the 74 games that the Indians won consecutively.
It was never a dream. It was never a goal. It was just the result of the Sanford Indians showing up ready to play 74 times in a row.
And as a result, they turned in winners that will now hold one of the most historic marks in all of Colorado high school basketball.
