By Alex Kuhn
Sports Editor
Huskies make history with three-peat
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Matt Davidson
The Burlington Huskies pose for their three-peat championship March 5 after defeating Upton 58-49, backrow left to right: Manager Dillon Riley, assistant coach Justin Preator, state keeper Jacob Cook, (black shirt) manager Hunter Allen-Manager, (behind) state keeper Jaydin Dehl, Dallin Davidson, Austin Nicholson, Derec Davidson, Dontae Garza, Torey Wardell, Matthew Rasmussen, Dallin Christiansen, head coach Matt Davidson and assistant coach Scott Winters. Front row left to right: Tallon Wiles, Kyle Broederlow, Jared Peterson, Nathan Carrizales and Isaac Stanworth.
BURLINGTON- The Burlington boys basketball team won the 1A state basketball championship for the third year in a row March 5 in Casper.
This is the 9th championship for the program and the first three-peat in school history and when you factor in the school's storied basketball history, this is quite the feat.
The Burlington Huskies finished the regular season with a 21-4 record overall and an 8-0 record in conference play. Of Burlington's four losses, three of them came against 2A opponents, Greybull, Rocky Mountain and Wyoming Indian. Their last defeat was on Jan. 21 against Rocky Mountain, since that game they've run off 15 straight victories.
The perfect conference record earned the team the No. 1 seed at the 1A West Regional Tournament in Lander.
For their first regional game Burlington was matched up against Farson-Eden, they won 63-52 moving on to the semifinal round. In the semifinal game they defeated Little Snake River 52-38 and in the regional championship the Huskies defeated St. Stephens 59-52.
At the state tournament in Casper, Burlington opened up against Hannah-Elk Mountain-Medicine Bow (H.E.M.) winning 52-29. The semifinal game the Huskies fought tooth and nail against Kaycee winning by the slimmest of margins against Kaycee 46-45. In the title game the Huskies matched up against the only 1A team to beat them in the 2015-2016 season, the Upton Bobcats. Burlington had their revenge in the game that mattered most, winning 58-49 and completing the first three-peat in school history.
The Huskies had three players named to the 1A Northwest All-Conference team, Nathan Carrizales, Jared Peterson and Matthew Rasmussen, with Peterson the only All-State selection.
Head coach Matt Davidson favorite aspect of this team was, "Their unselfishness and willingness to do what's necessary for the team succeed, it was fun to watch."
He also mentioned "how this team wanted to form their own identity, they took their lumps early and continued to improve as a team."
The team graduates three seniors and coach Davidson believes the younger players will step up, work on their game in the summer and fill the voids left by the seniors.
