Grandview Wins Double Overtime Thriller Over Cherokee Trail
By Matt Langley
Langleyscouting.blogspot.com
1/16/13
Aurora, CO- The Grandview Wolves overcame a slow start in the first quarter to beat their Centennial League rival Cherokee Trail Cougars in double overtime Wednesday night at Grandview High School 84-77.
The Cougars raced out to a 12-3 lead with 4:00 minutes left in the first quarter led by senior Kennedy Littleton’s five points. However, Grandview switched to a zone defense causing wide passing lanes allowing the Wolves to attack the Cougar’s poorly thrown passes. Wolves senior Tanner Gentry corralled one of the five Cougar turnovers in the last 3:00 minutes of the quarter at half court and drove to the basket for a dunk that woke up the Wolves and their fans. Grandview went on to score 10 unanswered points to close the quarter with the lead, 13-12.
In the second quarter there were multiple lead changes and ties with neither team taking a lead larger than 3 points in the quarter. Grandview junior Akram Imam was solid in the post for Grandview in the 2nd quarter altering shots on defense, collecting multiple rebounds, and scoring 8 points in the quarter for the Wolves. Meanwhile Cherokee Trail’s Drick Bernstine was just getting heated up for the Cougars scoring 6 points in the quarter. Imam hit a shot from the paint with 5 seconds left in the quarter giving the Wolves a 28-26 lead going into halftime.
Cougars started of the 3rd quarter with back-to-back 3 pointers from senior RJ Perry taking a quick 4 point lead. However, Grandview answered with 5 straight points of their own to retake the lead. Wolves Senior Eric Garcia scored 8 points in the quarter to help Grandview extend their lead to 9 points by the end of the quarter 50-41. Cherokee Trail was plagued by multiple turnovers and missed lay-ups in the quarter managing 15 points to Grandview’s 22.
The fourth quarter started looking as if the Wolves were about to put away the Cougars with a 3-pointer to start off the quarter which drove the Grandview student section into a frenzy. That is when the Cougars started to make their comeback: 4 points from Tyler Larkin sandwiched with another Perry 3-pointer cut the Wolves lead to 53-48 with 5:55 remaining in regulation. After a Gentry free throw that grew the lead to 6 for the Wolves, Cherokee Trail’s Bernstine took over the game even though he received a technical foul for taunting after a monstrous dunk. He scored 9 points in the next 3:00 to help the Cougars take the lead 59-58 with 2:42 remaining. Bernstine made two more free throws to extend the lead to 61-58 with 1:57 reaming. During the final two minutes, the Wolves turned to their senior point guard Garcia. He drove the lane and found a cutting Braden Cosby-Lee to cut the lead to 60-61 with 40.7 seconds remaining. The Cougars were melting time off the clock, and after a Bernstine miss, the Cougars secured the rebound and called time out. Once the ball was thrown into play, the Wolves had to foul Cougar senior Anthony Murray who had missed two free throws moments earlier. With the home crowd making as much noise as it had all night, Murray calmly sank both free throws to give the cougars a 3 point lead 63-60 with 23.5 seconds remaining in regulation. Garcia was able to answer calmly taking time of the clock while sizing up the Cougar defense. With 13 seconds left Garcia rose above a Cougar defender and drained a 3-pointer from the top of the key to tie the game at 63-63 to send the game into overtime.
Turnovers were the issue in the first overtime for both teams only allowing each team to score 4 points in the quarter. Bernstein scored all 4 points in the quarter for the Cougars, while the Wolves got all of their points from the free throw line: 2 from Garcia and 2 from junior Devon Brown. Bernstine missed a 16 foot shot at the buzzer to send the game to the second overtime, 67-67.
In the second overtime, the Wolves took a 3 point lead with a bucket from Imam and a free throw from Brown. Cougar senior Jay Nelson would score cutting the lead to 1 point for the Wolves, and then Bernstine made two free throws after being fouled getting a rebound after Murray stole the ball and missed a layup giving the Cougars their first lead in either overtime. Then with 1:52 left in the game, Gentry passed the ball to Imam in the post, who then passed it back to the cutting Gentry who made the layup and was fouled. Gentry completed the old fashioned three point play to give the Wolves the lead 73-71. Gentry then stole the next possession from the Cougars and drove to the basket making a layup to give the Wolves a 75-71 lead. Bernstine made a 3 pointer from the top of the key to cut the Wolves lead to 79-76 with 30 seconds left, but Garcia was fouled on the next play. After making the first free throw, he missed his second, but Wolves senior Blake Weeks was there for the rebound and scored the put back to seal the win for the Wolves. Brown added two more free throws for icing on the win, 84-77.
The Wolves had four players in double figures: Garcia scored 27 points and was 9-10 from the free throw line, Imam scored 20 points while controlling the paint most of the night for the Wolves, Gentry added 17 including five points in the second overtime, and Cosby-Lee added 10 points. Cherokee Trail was led by Bernstine’s 31 points and eight rebounds. Perry added 11 points and Nelson 10 chipped in 10 points for the Cougars. The Centennial league boasts some of the top teams in the state and whoever comes out the champion this year will have earned it.