Montbello Overwhelms Longmont Late

The Montbello Warriors defeated the visiting Longmont Trojans Saturday afternoon 61-55. The Trojans had been undefeated and ranked #2 in class 4A and were without senior guard Eli Sullivan who was on a football visit. It looked like the Trojans had the Warriors number early using various zones defenses and maintaining a 5-8 point lead through most of the game. However the Warriors over took the Trojans in the last minute of the third quarter and held on for the victory.

As the game began the Warriors struggled against Longmont’s zone defense. Sloppy Warrior passes were picked off and the Trojans were off an running. While Longmont’s defense was clicking the Warriors  defense was not. Montbello allowed Trojans to cut through the lane for baskets and three 3-pointers including Justinian Jessups buzzer beating 3-pointer at the end of the quarter. The Trojans lead 17-9 at the end of the first quarter.

Longmont finally pushed the lead to double digits in the second quarter after back-to-back baskets by senior Kolton Bachman. But then something clicked for Montbello, the passes were crisp, making the Longmont zone shift creating scoring opportunities. The Warriors went on a 10-2 run fueled by senior Sekou Cisse and junior Aaris Bonds. Cisse converted at the rim and free-throw line and Bonds added a 3-pointer and putback.  But the Jessup finish below for Longmont ended the run. Longmont held a 32-29 lead at half-time despite the 20 point quarter by Montbello.

As the third quarter began the Trojans continued to play mainly in it’s zone defense.  The Warriors started to figure it out and go the ball inside for easy finishes.  The Warriors also brought the pressure on the defensive end, extending out to past half court and using their own athleticism and length to turn Longmont over. But, Jessup was able to handle the pressure and score 10 of the Trojans points in the quarter. While the Montbello defense was containing Longmont, they struggled against the zone and didn’t finish as well as they could have at the rim and were held to eight points through the first seven minutes of the quarter. Then Longmont lost focus and made costly errors in the last minute to allow Montbello to score 8 points and take the lead.

Montbello kept the pressure on Longmont in the final quarter and kept the ball out of Jessups hands. Freshman guard Jo Nelson hit a 3-pointer to start the quarter for the Warriors giving them four point cushion. Jessup picked up his fourth foul with 5:40 left in the game, which did not allow him to as aggressive as he had been on the defensive end of the floor. Bachman hit two lay ups for the Trojans in the midst of an eight point run by the Warriors  Melek Bar and junior Russell Wilkerson  and gave the Warriors a 54-48 lead with 1:35 left in the game.   Wilkerson had a great game around the rim and on the back side of the the Warriors zone offense. The Warriors Nelson was fouled by Jessup with 49 seconds left  which hurt Longmont two fold: Jessup was out of the game and Nelson sank both free throws for a 58-51 lead. This put back by Cisse sealed the game for the Warriors. Cisse was critical on the boards for the Warriors the entire game.

Double Digit Scorers

Montbello

Cisse 15

Wilkerson 15

Longmont

Jessup 19

Bachman 14