Colorado City’s El Capitan Eagles soar at regionals but fall short in Arizona state semifinals

Written by Nick Yamashita
February 22, 2023

ST. GEORGE — The El Capitan Boys Basketball team claimed the Arizona 1A North Canyon Super Regionals Championship title but fell just short in the state tournament, losing in the semifinals Friday night.

The El Capitan Eagles of Colorado City, Ariz. claimed back-to-back regional titles for 1A Division, Colorado City, Ariz., date unspecified | Photo courtesy of El Capitan High School, St. George News

The boys from the border town of Colorado City arrived at the Findlay Toyota Center in Prescott Valley, Arizona, with a 26-2 overall season record as the four seed in the semifinal state game against the top team in the state of North Valley Christian Academy. Their season ended with a 79-71 loss.

“I feel like this was a very successful season that ended barely short of our ultimate goal,” acting Head Coach Nathaniel Burnham said.

The Eagles had gone undefeated in the Canyon Region during the season with an 11-0 record. They only dropped two games before the state tournament, and both were to bigger 2A schools from outside of Arizona.

On Dec. 1, they lost to Needles High School out of California by a score of 40-34, and then on Dec. 20, they lost to Kanab, 78-49. North Valley Christian Academy went on after beating the Eagles to win the state championship over Baboquivari, 56-36.

“Ending with a 26-3 record is a credit to this group of players,” Burnham said. “They gave it their all and fought hard all season long. Our only 1A loss was to the state champs.”

The team consists of students from Centennial Academy as well. The private school was given permission to send their students to participate in athletics for the El Capitan team. Centennial Academy is within a suburb of Colorado City known as Centennial Park. The enrollment between the two schools is approximately 400 students.

The team helped retain the inaugural Battle Border trophy as they beat rival Water Canyon Wildcats by a score of 51-47 at the campus in Hildale.

In the North Canyon Super Regionals, the Eagles defeated the Ash Fork Spartans on Feb. 2 in the first round, 61-19. Second round they continued to shred through the competition, beating the Cougars of Rock Point by 18 points. The final score was 53-35. In the regional championship, they finished off the Williams High Vikings for their trophy in a 57-48 win.

State tournament first and second-round games were played in nearby Fredonia, Arizona.

On Feb. 8, they continued with the momentum from regional play by beating Mogollon Mustangs with a score of 63-51 and then on Feb. 11, claiming victory over the Gregory School, 46-40, sending them to the 2023 AIA State Championship Tournament Semifinals.

The El Capitan Eagles Sr. Guard Nathan Barlow (5) helped the team win back-to-back regional titles, St. Michaels, Ariz., Feb. 4, 2023 | Photo courtesy of El Capitan High School, St. George News

“We couldn’t be any more proud of them,” Burnham said.

Senior Nathan Barlow led the team in scoring for the season, averaging 13.0 points per game, as well as leading the team defensively with 2.4 steals per game. Other season leaders included Senior Aydan Holm who averaged 4.6 assists per game and Senior Ethan Hammon was the leader for rebounds and blocks. Hammon averaged 9.5 rebounds per game and 3.5 blocks per game.

Principal Shauna Hammon showed off the championship banners for the team within their small gym. Hammon said the team has won back-to-back regional titles and probably would have won a third straight if not for the break in sports due to the COVID pandemic.

“I am extremely proud of these boys,” Hammon said. “They have made our school reputation impressive, not only because of their athletic accomplishments, but also their academic reputation and just being really good-hearted kids.”

Burnham said they will be losing a lot of talent, but next year they will be ready to get another regional title and pursue their ultimate goal of a state title.

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Copyright St. George News, SaintGeorgeUtah.com LLC, 2023, all rights reserved.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Nick Yamashita has extensive experience reporting for small town media, covering a variety of subjects and events for The Virgin River Times and The Progress in Southern Nevada. Before a career in journalism, he worked a variety of jobs in criminal justice systems. Yamashita holds a bachelor's degree in criminal justice and a master's degree in interdisciplinary studies from Southern Utah University. He is an award-winning photographer and writer. He has been published in scholarly articles and poetry compilations. In his spare time, he practices and teaches martial arts.

Email: [email protected]
Twitter: @STGnews

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