Lewis-Palmer Ends Wasson Season 61-54
By Matt Langley
BasketballColorado.com
3/15/2013
Boulder, CO- The Lewis-Palmer Rangers will be the answer to the trivia question: Who defeated the Wasson Thunderbirds in their very last boys’ basketball game? Wasson High School is closing after this school year, and the Thunderbirds had been a on a run for the ages (24-1, 14-0) with a group of kids that have been playing together since the third grade. That run came to an end Friday night in the class 4A semifinals at the Coors Events Center.
The Thunderbirds started off well gaining a six-point lead early in the first quarter. But the Rangers, behind five straight points from Logan Jones as the first quarter came to an end, pulled to within one, 17-16. In a rough 2nd quarter, where it seemed that both teams struggled to score, the Rangers took the lead with 5:19 left when Dylan Tucker scored and was fouled. Tucker missed the free throw, but the Rangers led 23-21. Halftime couldn’t come soon enough for the physically and emotionally drained teams. Lewis-Palmer led at halftime 30-27.
The Rangers jumped out to a 34-27 lead after intermission. As the Rangers tried to put more distance between them, the Thunderbird’s Dominic Garcia single handily kept Wasson in the game. Garcia scored 11 of Wasson’s 19 points in the quarter and tied the score at 36 with 4:20 left in the quarter. The Wasson pressure kept the Rangers from getting into much of an offensive rhythm in the quarter. The Rangers only scored 12 points in the quarter. After Wasson’s D.J. Hanes scored an old fashion three-point play, the Thunderbirds took a 46-42 lead into the 4th quarter.
The Rangers scored four straight points and tied the score at 46 with 6:42. Over the next four minutes, the team traded baskets and leads four times. Chase Stone gave the Rangers the lead for good with 2:18 to play after making a three-pointer from the wing, 53-52. As the Rangers were heating up, the Thunderbirds started to cool off. The shots that were falling in the 3rd quarter now started to fall short or rim out. The Rangers went 8 of 8 from the free throw line in the last 1:53 of the game to seal the win.
Wasson had two players scored in double figures: Hanes, 19 and Garcia, 11. The Rangers were led by Jordan Scott’s 15-points and 10 rebounds while Justin Smith added 13, Tyler Owens scored 11, and Tucker added 10 points.
Lewis-Palmer can win back-to-back State Championships if they can beat Valor Christian Saturday at 6:00 p.m. at the Coors Events Center.
