The Thunderbirds, a Bayfield-Ignacio area eighth-grade boys' basketball team, followed a tough tourney outing in the Martin Luther King tournament in Salt Lake City to win the Mean Moose tournament in Alamosa on Feb. 22.

The Thunderbirds played in the Martin Luther King Tournament with 10 eighth-grade teams competing. The Thunderbirds went 1-2 in the tournament, playing against the 12th-ranked team in the West Coast called UBC. The boys enjoyed the heightened competition and a great Sunday dinner!

On Feb. 22, Hayden Farmer, Keyon Prior, Turner Kennedy, Matt McSweeney, Clay Siebel, Keegan Owens, Marcus Flint, and Landon Kennedy travelled to Alamosa to compete in the Mean Moose Classic. Their first game was against the Alamosa One team, and the Thunderbirds won 52-36. Kennedy led the team with 23 points. Farmer added nine points and a team-high eight rebounds and four block shots. Prior chipped in seven points while McSweeney, Siebel, Flint and Owens had six, three, three, and two points respectively.

Their second game was against the Alamosa Two team and the Thunderbirds won 51-38.

The third game was a rematch with Alamosa One in the semifinals and the Thunderbirds triumphed again 58-38.

The championship game was against the Sanford Indians. The Sanford High School boys' basketball team were state champions in 2014 and are currently ranked first in 2A basketball. The Thunderbirds won 52-38.

Both Prior and Kennedy had 10 points each, while Farmer had nine points. McSweeney added six points. Kennedy and Siebel had five points each, and Flint and Owens had four and three points respectively.