CREEDE—The Miners kicked off their second consecutive trip to the State 1A Basketball Tournament with an inspirational Pep Rally honoring both the boys basketball team and the state-bound Knowledge Bowl team. The team then boarded the bus and was escorted through town by the police and fire departments with sirens blaring.

The Miners entered the tournament as the number one seed and faced the number eight Cornerstone Christian Academy Bulldogs. Cornerstone Christian sported a 15-7 record and earned entry to the state tournament with a 74-60 upset win over De Beque. The quarterfinal game was a closely contested affair in the first half, with Creede taking a two-point lead in the first quarter and maintained the same margin to lead 27-25 at halftime.

The Miners came out strong in the third stanza and used a 12-1 run to take command of the game. Finn Leggitt buried two clutch three-pointers to fuel the Miner run. The Miner defense held Cornerstone to only six third-quarter points, giving them a 42-31 lead entering the final quarter. CCA mounted their most potent offensive effort of the game, scoring 15 points in the fourth quarter, but it wasn’t enough as Creede held on for a 55-46 win, punching their ticket to the final four.

Isaac Borchers matched Finn with 14 points and Colter Simon and Marcos Romero added 10 points apiece to pace the Miner scoring. “Focused defense was the key to this win,” said coach Bob Koets. “Their two scoring aces were averaging 30 points per game and had combined for 40 in their win over De Beque. Our defense held them to only 13 combined points tonight!”

Creede vs. Peetz

In what proved to be the best game of the tournament, Creede faced off against the Peetz Bulldogs, who had lost only a single game by a one point all season.

The night before, Peetz had dismantled Sangre de Cristo 64-29 so there was no doubt that these Bulldogs were a force to be reckoned with. The Miners struggled with the potent Peetz offense early, trailing 17-20 after one quarter and 30-38 at halftime. The Miners battled back strong in the third and closed the gap to two points, only to see another Peetz burst widen the lead to eight points once again.

Undaunted, Creede mounted a comeback of their own and tied the score at 51-51 early in the fourth. For the rest of the quarter, these two heavyweights traded punches and Creede was able to take a four-point lead, but when the buzzer sounded at the end of the fourth quarter, the score was knotted at 60-60.

The game stayed close in the overtime period, and Peetz called timeout with eight seconds to play and the score tied yet again at 67-67. Creede’s defense keyed on Peetz guard Logan Sircy, who had been controlling their offense for the entire game. Sircy did receive the ball and looked to be driving for a final attempt with Creede guarding him with renewed intensity. But the focus proved to be too much, as Sircy found the Bulldog’s 6’7” post man open in the lane, feeding him for the winning basket as time expired.

“Your boys played their hearts out,” said Peetz coach Sean Fehringer. “They played a GREAT game! Do NOT let them hang their heads!”

Indeed, there is little doubt that the Miners team, coaches and supporters were proud of this outstanding team effort and were holding their heads high following the game. “Thank you again for the amazing support our fans have given us this year,” said Coach Koets. “We heard that Kip’s was packed with screaming Miner fans watching the live stream of our game, and we could feel that energy all the way to Greeley!”

More than one person was heard to say, “This was the TRUE Championship Game!” The fact that Peetz never trailed South Baca in winning the 1A Championship 51-44 the following night lends credence to that assertion!

Isaac Borchers had his best game of the season, scoring a career-high 33 points and 15 rebounds for his 12th double-double of the season. Casper Freedle also added another double-double with 16 points and 10 rebounds.

Creede vs. Front Range Baptist

After the emotionally draining overtime loss to Peetz, the Miners seemed flat in the final three quarters of the third and fourth place game against the Front Range Baptist Falcons, the only other team that was returning to the tournament for the second year. 

Creede trailed at the end of the first quarter by only a single point but the Falcons won going away, 78-52.

 Isaac Borchers had another strong game and finished his amazing career with 23 points, 17 rebounds and eight assists.

“It has been a great honor to coach this amazing group of young men for the past two seasons,” said Coach Koets. “I knew the day would come when Isaac Borchers, Finn Leggitt and Dev King played their last game in a Miner uniform, but it still breaks my heart. Their ability and leadership will be sorely missed.”

The Miners finish the season with a record of 21-5, their best record since 2006. Creede’s fourth place finish in the state tournament is the highest in several decades. It is, indeed, a great day to be a Miner!