Peetz boys hoops to host own regional
Very little has gone wrong for Peetz boys basketball this season, and the regional tournament will be no different.
Earlier this week, The Bulldogs got the No. 7 seed for the first stage of the state tournament, meaning they’ll be one of eight teams in Class 1A to host their own regional. Four teams will compete in one location at each regional, and the regional champion will advance to the final stage of the postseason — the Great 8.
They achieved that honor through a 17-4 record dating back to December as well as an outright win in last week’s district tournament. Following a firstround bye at districts, the top-seeded Bulldogs pummeled No. 4 Fleming 6432, then had to face off with No. 3 Briggsdale.
The Falcons proved much more difficult to ground, but Peetz still came out with a 69-60 win. Now, they’ll get to test their talents against No. 26 Centennial in the first round of regionals, then move on to play the winner of No. 10 Eads and No. 23 Genoa-hugo/karval.
The Bulldogs will enter the contest with strong gameplay all around, namely in their scoring (59.7 points per game), their ball-sharing (15.3 assists per game) and their takeaways (10.1 steals per game). No two players have exemplified that more than senior Noah Naegele and sophomore Rhyder Bayne, who are averaging 15 points per game and 12.9 points per game, respectively.
Centennial, on the other hand, houses a 10-8 record with 47.4 points per game, 11.3 assists per game and 15.7 steals per game. The Bulldogs will have to focus on shutting down Devon Vigil (16.4 points per game) and Martin Navarro (11.8 points per game), who make up a large chunk of the Rams’ offense.
The Bulldogs’ quest for a state title begins at 4 p.m. on Friday.