Ross Raises #2 Raptors Over #4 Angels
When the Eaglecrest Raptors face off with the Denver East Angels there is always potential for a great performance. Colbey Ross had that great performance as Eaglecrest defeated the visiting Angels 69-56, Monday night at the Nest in front of a playoff type crowd.
Both Eaglecrest and East looked a bit uncomfortable in the first quarter. Some of that was due to the officials quick whistles, over concern over folded shorts, and the delay of game technical. The other part was the over abundance of turnovers both teams had committed. At one point during the first quarter there was more total turnovers than there was was total points. Both teams where playing zone defenses most of the night and were using there quick hands to cause deflections. Scoring was hard to come in the first quarter as the Angels had a 6-5 lead with 2;15 left in the quarter. The Angels for the most part controlled the rebounding in the first quarter but were unable to convert on the offensive end. East built a four point lead after senior forward Daytone Jennings scored to make it 12-8 with 1:08 left. But an Angel touched the ball after previous delay of game warning, eating a technical foul and Ross a chance to sink two free throws.
Ross’s two free throws cut the Angle lead to two points but the East bench earned another technical between quarters giving Eaglecrest yet another opportunity to tie the score. Sophomore guard Victor Garnes went one of two from the line and then Jalaughn Jackson sank a three pointer to give Eaglecrest it’s first lead of the game. But it would be short lived as the teams traded baskets over the next three minutes of play. East grabbed a seven point lead , 23-16, with three minutes left after another Jennings basket but that is when Colbey Ross started to assert himself. Ross had played most of the game without the ball in his hands, serving as a decoy,at points, which probably had some thing to do with the high amount of turnovers the Raptors had. Ross sparked a 12 -2 run that earned the Raptors a 28-25 lead with 32 seconds left. But Deron Harrell answered for the Angels with two free throws which was quickly answered by Ross with a slick pass to Abanezer Alemnehas for a layup. East’s senior guard Jack Buckmelter hit two free throws in the finals moments to pull the Angels to with in one, 30-29.
Eaglecrest brought the defense in the third quarter and the Angels seemed staggered. Eagles started the quarter out a 9-0 run off a combination of East turnovers and the play of junior forward Ikenna Ozor in the paint. The only Angel that scored a field goal was Harrell. Harrell was aggressive and made tough shots and free throws on his way to scoring 8 of East’s 11 points in the quarter which single handily kept the Raptors from building anything larger than an 11 point lead in the quarter. Ross closed out the quarter with this shot which was later changed to a three pointer to give Eaglecrest a 47-40 lead at the end of the third quarter.
As the fourth quarter with Eaglecrest up 47-40 senior Raptor guard Jalaughn Jackson scored to push the Eaglecrest lead to nine points. That seemed to wake up the Angels a bit as Jennings scored seven straight points for East to cut the lead to 51-47. However, Ross calmed the Raptors with a 9-2 run of his own over the next three and half minutes of play. Eaglecrest showed restraint when attacking the basket and making sure that it was a high quality shot in the final minutes. Ross had his hands on the ball nearly every possession down the stretch and accounted for 12 of his teams 22 points in the final quarter. East couldn’t match Ross’ production down the stretch as Eaglecrest turned the Angels over and out rebounded them. While Ross had a great scoring performance it was truly a team effort on defense and rebounding the negated the size advantage of the Angels that got the Raptors the win.
Eaglecrest Scorers
Denver East Scorers
