The Boulder High Boys Basketball team came into the 2024-25 season with something to prove. After they missed the state playoffs by one seed the previous year and graduated six seniors, the Panthers found themselves in a new conference, with brand new opponents and a new starting five. Heading into last season, Coach Matthew Smith said that while it would be hard to replace all of their graduated players, he was confident in everybody in the program to step up. Of the graduating class, Smith said, “Although all big losses, just wait until you see the group coming up. They are just different. Big things ahead for this year’s team.” Smith was spot-on. The Panthers went 11-1 in conference, winning the Rocky Mountain League title (the first Boulder High Basketball league championship in nine years), and Cole Morrow, ‘25, broke the BHS single-season scoring record.
Despite last year’s successes, Boulder is coming into this season under regarded again. Out of their 1562 points last season, less than a third came from players returning to the team this year. Lake Smith, ‘26, the Panthers’ top scoring returner, scored 376 points in the 2024-2025 season, but besides him, no other returner scored more than 30 points last year.
But the Panthers feel confident they can rise to the occasion again. After losing their two leading scorers in Morrow and Lewis Racine, ‘25, Boulder will look to Wyatt Stamm, ‘26, Kamil Boniakowski, ‘26, and Pierce Dayton, ‘26, to fill their void. All three are three-year Varsity players, and Smith (the player) says that the gains in physicality that each have made over the offseason will be critical to the Panthers success this winter. Boulder has six other seniors on the squad that bring much needed leadership and experience to a team that lacks significant returners.
Stamm calls this year’s squad “passionate, shifty and electric.” He credits Boulder’s performance last season to the strong team chemistry, as does Boniakowski and another Varsity returner, Drew Hyde, ‘26. The team’s motto is “1-FIVE,” which stems from a quote by renowned Duke basketball coach Mike Kryzyzewski. Kryzyzewski once said, “To me, teamwork is the beauty of (basketball), where you have five acting as one. You become selfless.” Coach Smith has instilled that mentality in his players which is a big reason for their success.
This offseason, the team travelled to Alabama, where they played in games at Auburn and the University of Alabama. They’ve been practicing all fall and winter in preparation for their first game of the season against Green Mountain on December 4th. While the “school down south” is no longer in the same league as Boulder, Fairview remains the most important game of the year for the Panthers. The boys haven’t beaten the Knights since the 2018-19 season, losing to them by three points or fewer three times over that seven year span.
Hyde says that Coach Smith has brought a “competitive but welcoming” culture to the program, and he and the team’s ten seniors are ready to dominate the Rocky Mountain League once again. Despite losing much of last year’s scoring, the chemistry on the team has only improved over the offseason, and the Panthers are geared up to have their best season in years.
