Great 8 Wrap Up

By Matt Langley

www.BasketballColorado.com

3/07/2015

Denver, CO – It was another memorable 5A Great 8 at the Coliseum. Three #1 seeds advanced to the semi-finals in Boulder along with a #6 seed.

Game #1 Legend vs Eaglecrest

After starting out hitting jumpers Legend went cold and Egalecrest rattled off a 13-0 run feuled by it’s defense. Namely it was the Raptors extended half court zone. Legend continued to settle for jumpers shooting 2 of 13 from behind the three point arch in the first half  that led to long rebounds and transition opportunities for the Raptors.   Raptors were able to grab the first half lead behind the Ross brothers. Elijah and Colbey combined for 16 of the Raptors 24 first half points. Meanwhile Jared Small and Monroe Porter combined for 17 of the Titians 21 points.

In the third quarter neither team could gain much of an advantage. Legend was able to gain a two point lead mid way through the third quarter behind big shots from Small and Danny Garrick but Eaglecrest answered with baskets by C. Ross and Blend Avdili to retake the lead.

 

It was the Eagelcrest defense and another cold shooting streak that held the Titians scoreless for the last two minutes of the 3rd quarter and the first four minutes of the fourth quarter. Eaglecrest was able to build 19 point lead as the Ross brothers and company combined for a 25 point fourth quarter. Legend finished 8 of 22 from the three point line and only 3 of 6 from the free throw line.

Game #2 Mountain Vista vs Overland

The game started out how the Golden Eagles hoped it could. Overland was out of sync and Mountain Vista was hanging with the Trailblazers. But then Overland guards Reggie Gibson and Padiet Wang started to hit shots and the Overland bigs controlled the glass. The biggest lift for Overland came from junior Alijah Halliburton.  Halliburton immediately made impact when he entered the game grabbing rebounds, making lay ups and getting after it on the defensive end of the floor. The Golden Eagles were simply unable to to keep up with the Trailblazers. Nothing would fall for Mountain Vista in the first half shooting 5 of 24 from the field. Meanwhile the Trailblazers took full advantage of Mountain Vista turnovers scoring 10 points off turnovers in the second quarter.  Overland held a 31-16 at halftime.

The second half was all Overland.  The Trailblazers hit full stride in the third quarter running their  way to a 21 point quarter by turning defensive rebounds into secondary break opportunities. Mountain Vista was never able to get into any rhythm whatsoever against Overland. Much of that had to do with the presence and size of Overlands forwards DeRon Davis and Ryan Swan.

Game #3 Chaparral vs ThunderRidge

What a difference two weeks can make. Make it a 27 point difference in this case as ThunderRidge defeated Chaparral 52-47. Two weeks before when the Grizzlies visited Chaparral senior big man Zach Pirog was held to just one point by the Wolverines and Chaparral won by 22. Today however Pirog scored was the game’s leading scorer with 21 points. Chaparral tried to overwhelm the ThunderRidge guards which in turn left Pirog wide open or had easy turn and score opportunities which he took full advantage of. Meanwhile Grizzly junior  Austin Mueller was charged with slowing down Chaparral senior wing Chris Moody who torched the Grizzlies for 32 points in their earlier meeting.  Mueller did a fine job keeping Moody to 14 points.  Neither team was able to push their lead past a six point margin. However, Chaparral was unable to string together the critical stops they needed especially in the final 2 minutes of the game.  ThunderRidge took the rubber match 52-47.

Game #4 Denver East vs Regis Jesuit

This game was also a rematch of a game played between the two teams back in January. That contest came down to a Taylor Kallsen fade away jump shot at the buzzer.  This game would not be much different as East, just like in the first game, needed to rally from a big deficit to take the lead then hold off a late charging Regis Jesuit Raider team.

As the game started it did not look good for the Angels. Regis came out and owned the paint. Junior Geoff Kelly was outstanding early keeping the East bigs off the glass collecting seven points and five rebounds in the first quarter. In fact Regis kept Denver East totally off the glass in the first quarter according to the official stats 12-0. But East ended the quarter on a 5-0 run to cut the Raider lead to four points, 16-12.  Denver East senior guard Brian Carey twisted his ankle late in the first quarter and had to get retaped and change shoes.

Carey returned in the second quarter to score eight points to lead an Angel 15 point second quarter. Part of the Angels success was due to the fact that they started rebounding including a massive put back dunk by senior Ben Potts. Regis however struggle from the three point line which allowed East to get out in transition. But Regis was able to answer at the end of the quarter with a 3 pointer by Kallsen.

The Kallsen three pointer gave Regis a one point lead 28-27 at the end of the first half.

Kallsen started the second half with another three pointer to give Regis a 31-27 lead barely into the 3rd quarter. East answer with five straight point off a Jack Buckmleter 3 pointer and a put back by big man Samba Dioum. After the two teams traded baskets, East finished the third quarter on a 6-1 run that gave them a 40-36 lead at the end of the third quarter.

Kallsen started the quarter with another 3 pointer for Regis to cut down the Angel lead. Regis continued to play just a step faster than normal and went 1 of 10 from behind the three point line in the quarter. East used the misses as an opportunity to build a 48-41 lead with 5:00 left in the game. With 2:00 left int he game Kelly ‘s put back cut the Angel lead to one point, 49-48. East however put the ball in Carey’s hands again and he dribbled out nearly a minute of the clock and then after a time out scored on a lay up from the wing to make the score 51-48. Regis was unable to corral any of i’s misses and despite Carey missing a front end of a one and one with 31.0 left, Carey knocked down his free throws with 13.6 left to ice the 53-48 win for East.