Boys Basketball Team Just Misses Chance at Postseason Action
Trevor Phipps
The high school winter sports seasons recently concluded on a high, victorious note, with the boys and girls wrestling teams sporting grapplers placing in the top six statewide.
And enough can’t be said about the resurgence of the boys’ b-ball team, which just fell short of post-season playoff action, but not by much.
The Panthers basketball team really turned things around this year, sitting close to a playoff spot until the season’s bitter end. In fact, they shocked a number of skeptics
Unfortunately, with a few key losses in league match towards the end of the season, the boys just missed out on a chance to play in the state championship tournament. The hockey and girls basketball teams, meanwhile, struggled with tough schedules and they too are now done for the ’24-’25 school year.
But the good news is as the winter sports season wraps up, spring teams have already launched into action. The Woodland Park High School baseball, girls soccer and track and field teams have already started playing games and competitions.
Here are a few highlights from the ’24-’25 winter sports season.
High School Boys Basketball
When the playoff brackets officially came out for Colorado high school basketball, the Woodland Park Panther team sat close by awaiting the results as they were right on the cusp of experiencing playoff action. But when the results came out, the Panthers just missed the top 32 in Class 4A basketball and did not get a chance to play in the state championship tournament.
Teams in the Panthers’ league fared pretty well with The Vanguard School winning the Tri-Peaks league and earning a 10th-place seed in the 3A playoff bracket. Locally, Manitou Springs also had a good enough season to snag the 18th-place seed in the Class 4A playoff bracket.
In fact, the Panthers finished their season ranked 37th across the state in 4A. Therefore, the team’s 8-14 overall record and 5-8 league record (9th place finish in their 4A/3A Tri-Peaks League) proved not to be good enough for a state championship run.
The boys stayed strong until the end of the season, picking up some key league wins to keep them in the running. But their Achilles’ heel emerged when they lost three league matches to finish their regular season. This put the cap on their ’24-’25 hoops season.
Unfortunately, the Panthers will be losing some key senior players to graduation this spring. Senior Joseph Johnson had a great season after racking up a total of 129 points, 101 rebounds, 23 assists and 31 steals. Johnson led the team with 1.6 steals per game and placed second in several other statistical categories.
Senior Marcus Schoenberger came in second on the team with 1.2 assists per game. Schoenberger also scored 26 points and picked up 24 total rebounds.
Luckily, there were some underclassmen that put up good stats and will be on the team next year. Freshmen Zach Summeril led the team with 13 points per game, a 50 percent field goal percentage, 6.7 rebounds per game and 286 total points.
Sophomore Micaiah Mckinney led the team with 27 assists, and he made the top three in several categories. Junior Lincoln Sanchez led the team with a 34 percent three-point field goal percentage. And sophomore Cody Becker got the most blocks on the team with 19.
Girls Basketball
The Lady Panthers this year tried hard, but they proved to be unevenly matched against their opponents. The team lost all 22 games they played and finished in 13th place in their 4A/3A Tri-Peaks League.
On the upside, the team is only slated to lose four seniors from their roster due to graduation. Senior Toni Ciccarelli led the team with five points per game, a total of 99 points and 39 steals. Senior Reagan Graff led the team with a 27 percent three-point field goal percentage and came in third with 2.6 points per game.
Freshmen Cora Vandermeer led the team with 5.5 rebounds per game, 0.9 blocks per game and 17 total blocks. Freshmen Olivia Phillips led the team with 105 rebounds. Hopefully, the returning stars can help trigger some improvements next season.
Ice Hockey
The Panther hockey stars also had a rough season as they weren’t able to pick up any wins out of their 14-game season. The team finished in sixth place in their 4A South League.
The team was young this year with only one senior on the team. Senior Weston Seabolt will be the only one on the team leaving for graduation this school year.
The team’s juniors Aidan Graham, Sterling Gum, Jeremy Kirschner and Nya Major will be returning next year to lead the team.
