2021 1A Boys Basketball Championship: Upton Vs. Saratoga [VIDEO]

Upton has made steady progress with their basketball program over the past few years and certainly has opened some eyes along the way. The Bobcats finally scaled the mountain with a 69-54 win over Saratoga on Thursday in Casper to win the 1A title and secure the first basketball championship in school history.

Saratoga was the defending 1A champion and this team was loaded with talent but they could not withstand a huge surge by Upton in the 2nd and 3rd quarters of play. The Cats outscored the Panthers 17-9 in quarter #2 and 24-12 in quarter #3. Luca Brooks was sensational for Upton in this game. He could create his own shot and was productive shooting and driving to the basket. Brooks finished with 30 points and went 9-11 from the free-throw line. Upton is a good shooting team and hit 9, 3 pointers in the game out of 23 attempts. Jess Claycomb had 15 points and hit a trio of three's with Dawson Smith chipping in 11. More than anything else, the Bobcats were totally productive at the free-throw line, going 20-29.

Saratoga was led by Teegan Love with 21 points on 9-20 from the field. Gavin Bartlett and Noah Rimmer each had 13 but the Panthers were just 3-19 from the 3 point line. Upton started playing basketball in 1932 and finally won a state title and went 21-1 this season. Saratoga finished at 19-3 and they played in a very tough group this season in the southern part of the state.

We have some of the video from Thursday night's game at the Ford Center in Casper! Enjoy.