Kendra Parra (24) of Del Norte stops short leaving Taylor Larson (25) flying. Parra and the Tigers would take the 2A District 1 championship on Saturday night. (photo courtesy of Aaron Parrill)

ALAMOSA — This weekend Adams State University played host to the final day of valley basketball’s 1A and 2A district tournaments. Antonito’s girls were the first to be crowned taking a victory over Sangre de Cristo 44-34 for the 1A district championship. Also in 1A, Creede’s boys defeated Sierra Grande by a score of 55-51 to claim their district title. Del Norte and Sanford swept the championship games for 2A. Del Norte’s girls would take one championship and Sanford’s boys the other by scores of 43-37, and 52-42 respectively.

The first of the championship games to be played was Antonito against Sangre de Cristo for the girls’ 1A district title. The Trojans and T-Birds would meet twice during the regular season splitting the two games. The third meeting would decide the district champion. Both teams warmed up in the first combining for 17 points. It was Antonito that came on first with a rally led by Yasmeen Diego. Diego would score 7 in the second quarter and Antonito took a 23-15 lead into the midway point.  

Sangre’s Jessica Slane was slowed from her usual production hitting three from the field and three free throws for nine points. Usual sure shot from the free throw line Kylee Christensen was also off for the T-Birds, only netting 3 of her 8 freebies. In their absence Avery Palmgren stepped up hitting three baskets in the second half. Added to her five penalty shots Palmgren led Sangre with 11 points.
Antonito’s Erykah Tallman stayed busy in the second half and would cap her night with a team leading 15 points to lift the Trojans to a championship win.

 Creede and Sierra Grande’s boys were next in Plachy hall playing for the boys’ district title. In the two prior meetings between the rivals they would split. Saturday night Creede would take the upper hand immediately with a 10-8 first quarter. Arthur Rodriguez and the Panthers would strike back in the second quarter outscoring Creede 18-12, of those 14 belonged to Rodriguez. Rodriguez scored 30 points before his night was through. Sierra Grande would own a 26-22 lead at the half.

The Panthers had posed a question, Creede had the answer in the third. Isaac Borchers would net 5 points in the third spearheading a 19-point charge to take the lead back. Borchers led the Miners with 18 points on the night. The Panthers were doomed in the fourth when trailing by one Rodriguez fouled out with two minutes to go. Creede would go on to win.

Del Norte and Sanford would meet in both the boys and girls’ district championships. First up were the girls. In their solo matchup it was Del Norte with a win by a score of 43-40. The Tigers looked to repeat history and were successful. The two teams played a tight game until the fourth quarter. The first quarter shown a tied score and the half revealed a 2-point advantage for Del Norte.

Tiger Kendra Parra collected 10 points in the first half. Parra would score 17 more in the second half for a dominating performance leading the Tigers with 27 points. In the fourth is where Del Norte separated themselves turning a 2-point lead into a 6-point win. For Sanford it was Mackenzie Peterson leading the team with 11 points.

The final event of the night was the Del Norte boys meeting Sanford’s boys. This would be the third meeting between the two teams for the 2018 season. The first two yielded a split. Del Norte didn’t gain an auspicious start on Saturday night as head coach Mike Glover technical fouled out of the game three-and-a-half minutes into the game. An 18-point start for the Indians began to put the Tigers in an early grave. Kylan Anderson of Sanford came up big with 11 first quarter points.

Sanford would close their night on a positive note with two scorers breaking double digits. Anderson and Zach Sittler tied for the team lead with 13 points each. Del Norte didn’t begin their upswing in the first half as Niclo Cisneros also fouled out of the game.By the half Sanford owned a comfortable 33-21. Del Norte would find some rhythm in the third and doubled the Indians up with a 12-6 third quarter to close the gap to 6 points.

They could not keep pace however and Sanford would add another district title to their already impressive resume. For a compete listing of regional match-ups spanning 1-3A check the Courier Sports Bulletin and CHSAAnow.com.