The boys basketball Class 5A Great 8 was played at the Denver Coliseum on Saturday. Chaparral, Fossil Ridge, Denver East, and ThunderRidge advanced to the Final Four, which will be played next Friday back at the Coliseum.
(4) Denver East 68, (5) Douglas County 57
The Denver East boys basketball team is playing some inspired basketball at the right time.
On Saturday night in the Class 5A Great 8 and the Denver Coliseum, the fourth-seeded Angels caught fire in the first half and held off a second-half charge by No. 5 Douglas County to win 68-57 and punch their tickets to the Final Four next Friday.
A stories program with 11 total titles to its name – but not winning one since 2014 – this year’s group appears to be a little extra motivated to put the Angels back on top for the first time in seven years.
“We worked our butts off getting here,” Denver East’s D’Aundre Samuels said. “But we’ve just gotta keep working and keep grinding. We’re going this for our coach and we played well tonight. But we’re not done and we gotta keep going.”
Following an electric first half, the Angels led 36-26 at halftime. That’s when Douglas County found a rhythm and made a run of its own, tying the game with 1 minute, 30 seconds left in the third quarter with 3-pointer from AJ Jackson.
Denver East, however, finished the quarter up four, aided by a 3-pointer from Austin Mohr at the buzzer after his initial shot was blocked right back to him. Pulling back ahead in the fourth quarter, the Angels pushed their lead back to double digits with four minutes left and closed out the game with a late flurry of breakaway dunks.
“Defense wins games, so you’ve just gotta keep going hard,” Samuels said. “These guys are my brothers and I love playing with them.”
Denver East’s Zy’Quis Davis led all scorers with 22 points. Samuels added 15 for the Angels, Aguir Dawam scored 12 and Mohr added 10.
For Douglas County, Ty Nettles had a team-high 17 points and Jaeton Hackley scored 14.
(3) Chaparral 65, (6) Eaglecrest 60
Down 14 points in the second half to an Eaglecrest team that seemed like it almost couldn’t miss, the Chaparral boys basketball team found a way to turn the tide of their Class 5A Great 8 contest by just playing.
The Wolverines methodically dug out of the double-digit hole by using their entire cast of characters and came through on virtually every possession in crunch time on their way to a thrilling come-from-behind 65-60 victory over the Raptors at Denver Coliseum.
Third-seeded Chaparral’s 22-4 advantage in the fourth quarter put it back in the Final Four for the first time since 2019 when it played for the state championship and earned it a semifinal matchup with second-seeded Fossil Ridge on March 11.
“Those guys had confidence, I honestly did absolutely nothing,” Chaparral coach Nate Rohnert said. “They just kept playing and believing. When you do that and you have some talented guys, anything can happen.”
Eaglecrest, the Centennial League champion, entered the game on a 14-game winning streak and came out of the gate in impressive fashion.
Freshman LaDavian King and senior Mostapha Elmoutaouakkil were dialed in from the perimeter in the first two quarters and finished with a combined 25 points in the opening half as the Raptors (20-5) went into the break up 34-28.
Eaglecrest’s advantage grew to 14 points midway through the third and remained 13 going into the final quarter, but Chaparral got back into the game by playing free and loose and making life more difficult for the Raptors defensively.
“We just said that we are going to have to close out harder on all the shooters,” senior Luke Miller said. “They are really good shooters. You can’t stop them from shooting, you just have to make it harder.”
The Wolverines boxed out and made everything difficult for the Eaglecrest offense, which shockingly managed just two baskets from Jayden Washington in the entire final eight minutes.
Meanwhile, no matter who shot the ball for Chaparral seemed to miss.
Williams scored 12 of his game-high 30 points in the final quarter — which he opened with a 3-pointer — while reserve Bennett Pegues had six of his 11.
The Wolverines also benefited from a lopsided advantage in terms of fouls and ended up shooting 12 free throws in the final quarter (to five in the entire game for Eaglecrest) and made nine of them.
“Usually when Coach lets us play, that’s when we play good,” Pegues said. “We’re not restricted and we’re comfortable. We all trust each other.”
Chaparral’s first lead since midway through the first quarter came on Miller’s drive for a layup with just over three minutes left at 59-58 and the Wolverines boosted it with points from Pegues, Joel Speckman II (11 points) and Gavin Carter to close it out.
King finished with 20 points for Eaglecrest, while Washington ended up with 16 and Elmoutaouakkil finished just 3-for-11 from 3-point range as part of 15-point game.
Rohnert is looking forward to the upcoming practices as Chaparral prepares for the tough challenge of facing Fossil Ridge, which is on a 20-game winning streak after its big Great 8 win over No. 26 Legacy.
“There’s something special about this team, so I’m just glad I get to be around these guys for another week,” Rohnert said.
The Wolverines lost to the SaberCats 67-63 earlier in the year, but believe the fantastic finish against Eaglecrest will pay dividends and help them earn a chance to get the win they need to play for the state championship.
“It’s going to be all blood, sweat and tears at practice this week,” Miller said. “We definitely have momentum and confidence from this and being used to this court is going to be huge for us.”
(2) Fossil Ridge 80, (26) Legacy 54
It was like deja vu but at a different venue Saturday afternoon.
Red-hot Fossil Ridge beat Legacy by 32 points during the regular season and came close to matching that margin in the rematch at the Denver Coliseum with a commanding 80-54 Class 5A Great 8 victory.
Coach Matt Johannsen’s second-seeded SaberCats kept their foot on the pedal and made sure they weren’t the latest victim of the upstart Lightning — who had dispatched No. 7 Horizon and No. 10 Regis Jesuit in their last two games — and earned the program’s first Final Four appearance since 2014.
“What we preach to the kids is it’s basketball,” Johannsen said. “It doesn’t matter who we are playing or where we are playing. It could be on the blacktop outside or at the Coliseum, it doesn’t matter. A shot goes up, you still have to block out, right? You still have to play good defense. They’ve bought into that.”
“I’ve had a lot of teams that were like whatever, let me do my thing. But this team is special because they buy into that stuff. When you get everybody moving in the right direction, it’s amazing what you can accomplish.”
What Fossil Ridge has accomplished so far is impressive.
Going into its March 11 semifinal against the winner of the later quarterfinal between No. 6 Eaglecrest and No. 3 Chaparral, the SaberCats have won 20 games in a row and are undefeated since the calendar turned to 2022, while their only loss of the season came to defending state champion and top-ranked ThunderRidge prior to winter break.
Fossil Ridge’s average margin of victory this season has been 21 points and it improved on that with the contributions of four players in double figures. Domenic Leone finished with 18 points, Tyler Brown 17, Brock Mishak 15 and Nick Randall 14.
All four scored at least seven points in the opening half as the SaberCats came out swinging right away.
“We knew we had to take care of business and we knew that if we did what we do best, we’d get the results we wanted,” Brown said.
Two Brown 3-pointers helped Fossil Ridge push out to an 11-4 lead with 4:45 left in the opening quarter. Included in the opening burst was six points from Leone, who averages 6.6 points per game for the season, but has poured in 17.7 points per game in the postseason.
A healthy 23-11 lead grew to 35-18 on a 9-0 run in the second quarter and 44-22 on the break when Brown got in alone for a late putback.
“Legacy is a good team, they are here for a reason, but I thought our defense did a really good job of setting the tone in the first half,” Johannsen said.
The Sabercats continued to pour it on at the start of the third quarter by scoring 13 of the first 15 points to grow the lead to 57-24. Legacy responded with a 13-0 run as it tried to recapture some of the magic that had made it the remaining Cinderella of the postseason.
Jack Debell finished with 16 points and Ethan Wise 10 for the Lightning.
Fossil Ridge was not to be discouraged, however, as it came out of a time out with six straight to reassert control.
From there it was downhill to the semifinals for the SaberCats, who celebrated in a more reserved fashion than a team that had accomplished something that hadn’t been done for awhile given they have bigger goals ahead.
“It feels amazing to be here and be going to the Final Four,” Brown said. “I think we’ll be ready for whatever is next.”
(1) ThunderRidge 78, (9) Rock Canyon 51
The defending 5A boys basketball champion ThunderRidge Grizzlies put together their best 2022 postseason performance thus far, cruising to a 78-51 Great Eight victory over No. 9 Rock Canyon Saturday evening inside the Denver Coliseum.
After winning by just six over No. 33 Heritage, and fending off an upset minded No. 16 Air Academy squad by nine, the Grizzlies left no doubt in the quarterfinals, as they led virtually wire to wire by double digits.
“I think we played a little more relaxed today,” head coach Joe Ortiz stated. “We’ve been pretty tight so far. Carrying the pressure all year I think has kind of gotten to us. Today’s game felt good, felt comfortable, and the kids felt relaxed. It’s the playoffs, it’s about survival and we just have to try and advance.”
Leading the offensive charge for ThunderRidge was Zach Keller, who finished with 17 points on a perfect 7-of-7 from the floor, while adding 10 rebounds for a double-double. Jackson Brennen also poured in 17 points, while Andrew Crawford added 15. For Rock Canyon, Gavin Hershberger led all scorers with 20 points, while Chris Schlesinger was also in double figures with 12.
As a team, ThunderRidge shot 61.9 percent from the field and 45.5 percent from long range, while limiting the Jaguars to just 32.7 percent shooting. The Grizzlies controlled down low, out-rebounding 40-23 and out-scoring 26-8 in the paint.
The two teams traded buckets early before ThunderRidge controlled the rest of the first quarter, using a 14-3 run to take a 21-10 lead after the first eight minutes.
Rock Canyon scored the first four points of the second quarter and held the Grizzlies scoreless in the first four minutes to make it 21-14. ThunderRidge then scored 12 of the next 15 to make it a 33-17 tally into the half.
ThunderRidge used a combination of swarming defense and efficient offense to gain their halftime lead. They held the Jaguars to 20.8 percent shooting, while themselves going 57.1 percent from the field led by a four-for-four effort from Keller.
The defensive battle continued in the second half, with the teams trading free throws, and the first field goal not coming until a thunderous Keller dunk at the six minute mark to make it 36-18. ThunderRidge kept it around the same margin down the stretch of the third quarter, taking a 50-28 lead into the final stanza.
In the fourth, ThunderRidge put the game on cruise control, holding steady for the 27 point victory.
The Grizzlies advance to take on the No. 4 Denver East Angels in next week’s Final Four.
“At this point it’s four number ones, the four top teams from each quadrant,” Ortiz added. “I don’t feel the target on our back anymore, I think the further you get the less that feels like the case. Tonight, I get to relax, tomorrow, I’ll play with my grandsons, and Monday we’ll focus in on East.”