Merino boys basketball finishes in fourth at Class 2A state tournament
Rams come up short in fourth quarter of tight battle against Simla
March is the best month of the year for upsets, especially when it comes to college basketball, but in the Class 2A boys hoops tournament last week, the high school game took on a similar hue.
No. 2 Merino and No. 1 Simla, both of whom would have been the obvious choice to make it to the championship game, instead both fell to the lower seeds during the Final 4 of the winter sport’s swan song. That left No. 5 Limon and No. 6 Sanford to battle it out in the title game, and it was the Badgers getting a 54-27 win to claim their first boys basketball championship since 1964.
Merino and Simla, instead, fell into the third-place contest, where the Cubs edged the Rams 77-73 during the final countdown. Neither team held much of an advantage during the first three quarters, but the Cubs found just enough energy left to outscore the Rams 22-16 through the final eight minutes.
In the days leading up to their fourth-place finish, the Rams entered the Great 8 riding a strong wave. They had won eight straight, sweeping their opponents through districts and regionals, and only owned three total losses through a large schedule
Their No. 2 seed in the Great 8 of the state tournament set them up for an opening date with No. 7 Denver Christian. They escaped with a 61-52 victory, but Sanford proved far less forgiving. The Mustangs flattened them 58-39, sending them straight into the consolation bracket.
Merino ended its season with a 22-5 record, and owed much of that success to senior Tyler Miller and senior Jaxson Samber, who averaged 18.5 points per game and 11.5 points per game, respectively. They led a contingent of seven seniors on the team, all of whom will now say goodbye as the Rams avert their attention to next season now.