ERIE >> Growth of a program is measured in inches rather than miles, but on Tuesday night on its home court, No. 32 Erie boys basketball took a significant step forward in its 63-47 loss to No. 33 Cherokee Trail in a play-in game for the Class 6A state tournament.

Jeff Parriott’s second year at the helm of the program is starting to yield the results he and his staff set out for at the start.

“We had to learn how to compete, and we’re still learning how to compete,” Parriott said. “I thought tonight, we played really hard. We had two stretches where we went dry offensively, and they hit some shots during that stretch. It’s hard to describe playing hard and being competitive, but you know it when you see it — ball pressure, competing for loose balls, 50-50 plays.”

While the Tigers had to adapt to the speed of Class 6A — up from their last, 4A state tournament appearance in 2022 — junior transfer and shooting guard Garrett Owen embodied the learning curve more than most. Owen joined the program from 1A Belleview Christian and was the mainstay for Erie’s offense against the Cougars.

He ended his night with 15 points, as sophomore shooting guard Patrick Hahn chipped in another 12.

“Our coaching staff helped me a lot to get into (the speed of 6A),” Owen said. “And then my dad, he pushes me every single day to train harder. I play club on one of the best club teams in the state, Hard 2 Guard, and we play on the Puma circuit. I play against kids like this all summer, so I knew I was ready for it.”

Cherokee Trail came out firing, but what elevated its game over Erie was its aggression on the glass. The Cougars led by as much as 11, at 19-8, in the first quarter before a spurt from the Tigers drew them within 26-20 by the time the halftime buzzer sounded.

“They got a lot of second-chance opportunities, so we could have been better on that, getting them off the glass,” Owen said.

That’s when things started to get interesting. Erie came out of the break with a chip on its shoulder and threw together a 6-2 run. Despite its best efforts, through free throws and layups galore, it couldn’t surpass Cherokee Trail. The Tigers never came closer than two points, and led only in the opening minutes of the contest.

Erie’s season ended with a 12-12 record as Cherokee Traill moves into the official first round of the 6A state tournament against No. 1 Rangeview. Parriott believes that his team will be ready for whatever comes to pass next season.

“This is a game that we had to kind of mature into in terms of development,” he said. “From two years ago to today, there’s a tremendous amount of growth in our program. We’re not where we want to be. We’ve still got a long way to go, but we’ve made a lot of progress. You have to get here before you learn how to win here.”