Aurora Central Completes Comeback to Defeat Denver South For Title 71-68
A three pointer by Aurora Central Trojans senior Jory Burleson capped a 22-9 run late in the third quarter that erased a 13 point Denver South halftime lead at the Fairview Festival Championship Friday night at Fairview High School. Setting up an exciting fourth quarter. The game was a tale of two halves, with Denver South controlling much of the first half and Aurora Central controlling the second.
The first quarter was evenly played with each team going on mini runs and making stops when they needed to. Denver South had six different people score in the quarter with Jamison Jendrusch leading the way with four points. Aurora Central senior guards Ladarius Thomas and Elijah Coleman led the way for the Trojans in the first quarter each making tough jump shots. Even though Aurora Central led at the end of the quarter 18-17 it appeared that the Denver South zone was going to be an issue for the Trojans.
The second quarter belonged to the Rebels. Denver South senior wing Chudier Bile forced his will upon the Trojans, scoring 13 points in the quarter off of hard takes to the basket and converting and 1 opportunities. While Bile was getting to work , the Trojans simply struggled to score. The Trojans did not want to attack the 2-3 zone of Denver South and chose to take outside shots that did not go in and the Rebels rebounded. The one Trojan that could get the ball in the basket was Thomas who scored 8 of the 12 Aurora Central points in the quarter. The Rebels built a 15 point lead with less than a minute left in the quarter.
With just the slightest adjustment made at half time, both Thomas and Coleman started to attack the zone in the third quarter. Which lead to a 24 point quarter for the Trojans. Coleman scored 11 points while Thomas added 10. As cold as the Trojans were in the second quarter, the Rebels may have been colder and they lacked the rebounding intensity that they had early in the game. Bile continued to lead the way for the Rebels but a switch in the Trojans defense kept him to just four points in the quarter. The Trojans had tied the game at 54 at the end of the quarter.
The fourth quarter began with the Rebels building a six point lead with help of seniors Khahlil Banks and Jendrusch. But the Trojans answered with a 10-1 run and had regained the lead 64-60 with 3:38 left in the game. Not long after Bile fouled out for the Rebels. The Trojans built a 67-60 lead with 2:05 left in the game after two made free throws by Thomas. Jendrusch and Henry Tucker Cargile answered for Denver South with a four point spurt that cut the Trojan lead to three with just over a minute left to play. South had multiple chances and and grabbed a number of rebounds over the last minute to cut into the lead more but their shots would not fall and the Trojans made just enough free throws to keep the lead at three. South had one last shot from half court that was online but bounced off the rim after two missed Trojan free throws with 1.6 left.
Double Figure Scorers
Denver South – Bile 21, Cargile 10, Nelson 10
Aurora Central – Thomas 30 and Coleman 24
