Colton, CA—It seemed like the season would continue forever, but all good things must end and Colton’s basketball season came to an end on Tuesday night in a 52-47 loss to Verdugo Hills in the first round of the CIF State Tournament.
Colton came into the game as the number eight seed in the Southern bracket for division five. Verdugo Hills was the nine seed.
The two evenly matched squads fought the entire game, going back-and-forth. Verdugo Hills’ largest lead was nine going into the fourth quarter, but Colton fought back to within two before a foul by Gonzalo Oropeza put Verdugo Hills’ Jeffrey Moran on the free throw line to win the game.
After the game, head coach Kendrick Ayres was filled with nothing but pride for his team. “I think now in the moment, it’s real easy to be distracted by the disappointment,” he said. “But it feels amazing when we think about the whole season and what we accomplished this year. We could have played better, but that’s basketball. We went down nine several times, but we were able to fight back, so I was really proud of them for being able to fight.”
Moran led all scorers with 25 points. Colton was led by Isac Sanchez, who scored 12, including six in the final quarter during Colton’s comeback attempt.
Because it was such a hard fought game, both teams were aggressive and a lot of fouls were called. This led to a lot of chippiness on the court, but no violence.
With this loss, Colton’s history-making season comes to an end. For Isaiah Stuart, the loss was an opportunity to reflect on the team’s overall success. “I think we found success in our drive. We hustled the hardest. It feels really good knowing that we made it this far. I’m going to miss my brothers. That’s my rock, that’s my core. It feels good knowing we made history and that we accomplished something.”