Four CO Teams Remain Undefeated at Tark Classic
12/18/2016
Ten teams from Colorado including the #1 ranked George Washington Patriots escaped the bitter cold and snow to partake in the Tarkanian Classic in Las Vegas, Nevada. For many Colorado players having games in Las Vegas isn’t new. Most have played in many of these same gyms during the biggest club circuit stop of the summer. Of the ten Colorado teams spread across the five divisions, four teams: George Washington, Fort Collins, Grandview, and ThunderRidge remain undefeated in the City of Lights and look to continue the trend on Monday when play resumes.
Platinum Bracket
The Platinum bracket of the Tark Classis is by far the toughest of all the bracket. Top 100 players and national powerhouse teams litter this bracket. Two Colorado teams are in this bracket Denver East and Valor Christian.
Denver East is 1-1 so far in the Platinum bracket. East suffered their first loss of the season with a 36 point loss to Bishop Gorman. Even if East had the state’s top shooting guard Daylen Kountz and senior Jamison Washington, it would have been a tall order to take out the nationally ranked Gaels. East did bounce back against Windemere and took a five-point victory.
Monday East will take on Bingham, Utah a defending state champ and considered by some better than Lone Peak. Sophomore Kwane Marble has been the most consistent performer for the Angles.
Valor Christian lost its first round game to a Roosevelt, CA by 10. Roosevelt is a very talented team. The Eagles bounced back and defeated a Cathedral Catholic from California. Next up for Valor is Clark from Las Vegas. A very athletic team that can score and went toe to toe with Chino Hills and the Ball brothers.
Eastbay
ThunderRidge is the only Colorado team in this bracket and is undefeated. The Grizzlies easily handled a Bountiful, Utah team and then took out a nice Faith Lutheran team from Las Vegas. On Monday ThunderRigde will take on a very solid Las Vegas High team at the Orleans Arena. Junior guard Kaison Hammonds play has gotten him some attention from national scour Eric Bossi.
Nike
Chaparral is 1-1 in the Nike bracket. The Wolverines steamrolled their first opponent and then struggled against the 2-3 zone of Salem Hills, Utah. Chaparral plays Monday against Seton Catholic.
The Lincoln Lancers showed flashes in their first game but eventually fell. Umar Jalloh and Ty Foster are playing very well in Las Vegas. Lincoln defeated Western from Las Vegas fairly easily and plays Monday against another Las Vegas area team, Cheyenne.
Orleans
#1 George Washington and Eaglecrest were on a collision course for the Orleans Arena on Monday, but Lone Peak decided to change those plans. After GW blitz Timpeview, Eaglecrest faced Lone Peak. The typically stingy Raptor defense lost track of Lone Peak shooters leaving them open for unchallenged three-pointers. The Raptors were unable to keep up with the shooting barrage and fell behind 15 points by halftime. At the beginning of the 2nd half, Colbey Ross led an Eaglescrest comeback to cut the Lone Peak lead to 5, but the Raptors couldn’t sustain the rally. Lone Peak took the victory to face GW at the Orleans Arena on Monday.
The Fugett brothers have kept up their excellent early season play and have been getting attention from national scout Christian Popoola.
Eaglecrest 1-1 faces Timpview on Monday. Meanwhile, Colbey Ross is having a great tournament 19 PPG 7 APG and 6 RPG.
Overland is the third Colorado team in the bracket. The Trailblazers are 1-1 with their only loss coming to American Fork, Utah by three points. Overland defeated St. Mary’s from Arizona in their second game of the tournament. Overland faces Redemption Christian out of New York on Monday.
Gatorade
Grandview and Fort Collins are undefeated so far in Las Vegas. The Lambkins of Fort Collins have won their first two games by an average of 19 ppg. Senior guard Iseri Palacio is having an excellent tournament averaging just over 15 PPG and six APG. Fort Collins plays Monday against a typically tough North Catholic team from Pennsylvania.
Grandview has been obliterating the competition in Las Vegas. Wolves have won each of their games by 40 and 36 points respectively. Seniors Lechaun Duhart and Gage Primm are having a big weekend in Las Vegas.
If Grandview can defeat Leuzinger from California, which will be no small task, it could set up an all Colorado final if Ft. Collins beats North Catholic.
