After three years of being held out of the Class 4A state basketball playoffs, the Summit High School boys basketball team has returned to the state tournament with the team’s five seniors helping to lead the team.

The Tigers earned the No. 26 seed in the 32-team tournament and was paired against No. 7 Denver School of Science and Technology: Montview High School in the first round. With a record of 21-2, the Tigers knew they had their work cut out for them heading into the game on Wednesday, Feb. 21, but they started the game with the right energy and drive to record a win.

Summit matched the Montview Knights scoring and intensity in order to go into the second quarter tied at 11-11. In the second quarter, Montview started attacking, going on a run that lasted the majority of the eight-minute quarter and putting distance between the two teams.

Trailing 36-20 going into the second half, the Tigers attempted to muster a response but failed to outscore the Knights by a significant margin. Despite scoring 40 points in the second half, Summit was eliminated from the playoffs by Montview, losing 77-60.

Montview will now prepare to host No. 10 Aspen High School on Saturday, Feb. 24.

Summit will graduate Emilio Jain, Hank Chabot, Matthew Valdez, Max Nakos and Jonaz Rios. The Tigers conclude the season with an overall record of 12-12, the best record the program has seen since the 2006-07 season when the team went 15-10.