DENVER — After having some time to reflect, taking a game-winning charge is better than hitting a game-winning shot in Carter Kreischer’s eyes.
In the closing seconds of the first Class 4A state semifinal game, Nieyeme Smyer-Williams drove to the hoop in an effort to tie the game for Pueblo West. As he got the ball out of his hands for the layup, he made contact with Kreischer.
That was the fifth charge the Rangers took in the game and it gave them a 56-54 win and another chance to win the 4A title.
“I know he’s going to put that shot up and I know I have to be there,” Kreischer said. “I’ve taken that charge a thousand times in my years at LP, so I know I have to get there.”
It was an emotional ending to one of the most intense battles of this basketball postseason. And like in every educational experience, sometimes the hardest lessons come on the biggest stages.
West coach Bobby Tyler had to reiterate that to his boys after the game. The last call of the night sent the rowdy Rangers section into a frenzy and dealt a crushing blow to those in support of the Cyclones.
Sounding like a coach just two years removed from a state championship, Tyler knows that in a two-point game, nothing comes as the result of just one call.
“We didn’t play good enough in the first two quarters to warrant a win, I guess,” Tyler said. “We missed a lot of layups, we missed some free throws down the stretch.”
The action between the two teams really got going in the second quarter.
Matthew Ragsdale, the long range hero who got the Rangers into the Final 4, scored seven of his 12 points in the quarter.
Joel Scott grabbed momentum for Lewis-Palmer with a put back at the buzzer to go to the locker room up 30-25 at the half. Scott continued his run into the second half, scoring the Rangers’ first five points of the half. He finished the game with 17 points and contributed on the defensive side as well, drawing two charges on West in the third quarter alone.
“It all started on the defensive end with those charges,” Scott said. “It keeps us going.”
(Dan Mohrmann/CHSAANow.com)
The Rangers held a 35-31 lead until Billy Bloesser knocked down a 3-pointer from the corner to cut the lead to one.
Lewis-Palmer held a three-point edge in the closing seconds of the third, but Ethan Forrester drilled a 3-pointer at the buzzer to push the lead to 42-26 heading into the final eight minutes.
Quick baskets from Noah Baca and Ragsdale increased the L-P lead which stretched out to 11 at one point. But the Cyclones weren’t going away quietly. They went on a 10-0 run to cut the lead to one.
They were helped out by Scott, who missed some free throws of his own. He went 5-for-15 from the line.
“We missed quite a few free throws near the end,” L-P coach Bill Benton said. “We have to knock down some free throws tomorrow, I know that.”
Ragsdale made 1-of-2 to push that lead to two as the Cyclones had one final chance to tie or win the game. Smyer-Williams went for the tie, but committed the offensive foul with 0.1 seconds left on the clock to all but seal the game for the Rangers.
“I know he was set, I’ll say that,” Benton said.
This marks the second-straight state title game for Lewis-Palmer. The school hasn’t won a boys basketball title since 2013. That drought has a chance to end Saturday when the Rangers face Longmont.
DENVER — Luke Johnson and Marcell Barbee put on quite the show Friday night in the Class 4A boys basketball state semifinals, lighting up the scoreboard and getting the fans at Denver Coliseum on their feet.
When all was said and done though, it was Johnson and his Longmont teammates who put the final exclamation point on the night. The Trojans were on fire from the perimeter all night, knocking down nine 3-pointers on their way to a 71-60 victory over top-seeded Pueblo South.
Longmont punched its ticket to the 4A state title game for the second time in four years, where the Trojans will face Lewis-Palmer at 3 p.m. on Saturday at the Coliseum.
“I think a lot of people were kind of counting on Pueblo South to win. They were the heavy favorites, the No. 1 seed,” Johnson said. “They kind of rolled through the playoffs, and we fought through a lot of games.
“In a close game, we were confident how we would finish.”
Johnson scored 10 of his 22 points during a third-quarter explosion in which Longmont poured in 21 points. The Trojans (25-2) kept it up with 28 more points in the fourth quarter, opening up an 18-point lead at one point.
Jaydon Elkins scored nine of his 11 points in the fourth quarter.
“We’ve always said we’ve been a second-half team all year. We knew what was on the line, we knew what was at stake,” Elkins said. “We hit free throws is a big part, and our defense won this game. We had a lot of energy on the defensive end.”
Barbee, who had 12 points in the third quarter, finished with a game-high 24 points for Pueblo South (24-3), which was attempting to get back to the championship game for the first time since 2009.
“It was a fun battle. He’s a great player,” Johnson said. “It was just a great battle both ways. He was getting his and I was getting mine, but it was really a team effort, which is really cool.”
Longmont fell behind 7-0 in the opening minutes of the game and didn’t connect on a field goal until more than four minutes had gone by. But the Trojans closed the gap with a 9-2 run, and at one point led by four points in the second quarter.
Longmont knocked down five 3-pointers in the first half, but a Jeremy Cody lay-in in the final seconds of the half sent the Colts into the locker room with a 24-22 advantage.
Johnson didn’t take a shot in the first quarter after getting into early foul trouble.
“The second straight game we started down. We’ve been through it before, so we kind of knew what to do,” Johnson said. “The first half we went down two into halftime and talked it over like we usually did. The third quarter we came out really strong.
“I’m really proud of our team. I had two fouls in the first half and a bunch of other guys stepped up.”
Dallas Dye added 10 points for Longmont and Brady Renck scored 10, including a pair of big 3-pointers in the first half. Oakley Dehning scored nine points and added a team-high six rebounds.
Tonay Aragon scored 10 points for the Colts, including a pair of 3-pointers late in the fourth quarter to pull Pueblo South within 10. Lawrence Ramos and Cody combined to score 17 points.
Lewis-Palmer held off Pueblo West 56-54 in the other semifinal. Elkins said the Trojans are well aware of the Rangers’ size advantage, but said it’s been that way all year for Longmont.
It’s the team’s first trip to the championship game since an overtime loss to Air Academy in 2015.
“It’s still hard to believe right now, but at the same time we knew we could do this and we knew we could be here in this final stage,” Elkins said. “Obviously we’re happy, the team is super happy, and I know we’ve just got to be ready for (Saturday).”
GREELEY — The Kim/Branson girls knew they couldn’t get too comfortable.
Playing in the semifinals of the Class 1A basketball tournament on Friday, the No. 2-seeded Mustangs came out swinging against a No. 6 Briggsdale team with state tournament experience.
It’s ultimately what paved the way for their 50-46 victory.
Kim/Branson started to build its lead early as the Falcons continued to struggle with turnovers and missed shots — which left Briggsdale scoreless into the early part of the second quarter.
But those troubles wouldn’t last for long. Eventually, the momentum of the game would shift, and it would come down to whether the Mustangs had created enough of a cushion to remain safe.
“Our coach always encourages us to make sure we come out strong, with the right energy and enthusiasm,” freshman Talara Nittler said. “We wanted to do that for him and it really helped out in the end.”
Nittler was one of the key factors for Kim/Branson fending off Briggsdale’s late comeback bid. She finished the game with 11 points, the majority of which were scored when her team needed it most.
The Falcons were threatening by closing their deficit to as little as 3 and pressuring with a full-court press. Fortunately for the Mustangs, Nittler was able to drop eight points in the final quarter, including a 3-pointer to help remain in front coming down the stretch.
“It helps when you make some (shots). Then you get more comfortable and feel the momentum,” Nittler said. “It was about staying positive and knowing that we could keep it together as a team.”
After a scoreless first quarter, Briggsdale flipped the script to score 27 points in the final frame. Leading the way for the Falcons was senior Jodel Erickson, who put up a game-high 21 points. Her teammate Nikki Anderson also reached double-figures with 10.
Senior Ashley Yergert led Kim/Branson in scoring with 13 points, while senior Joni Brown added 12 and Nittler had 11.
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(1) Kit Carson 43, (4) Fleming 28
The Wildcats showed exactly why they were seeded as the top team in the state tournament with a convincing win over No. 4 Fleming in the second girls semifinal game Friday night.
Kit Carson shot out to an early lead, then continuously grew that advantage the longer the game wore on. By halftime, the Wildcats led 23-12 and went into cruise control.
Defensively, Kit Carson held Fleming to just three points in the second quarter and four in the third.
The Wildcats were led on the other end of the court by freshman Cally Booker-Rady, who topped all scorers with 11 points. Teammate junior Tess Hornung chipped in 10 points of her own, and junior Haley Johnson contributed nine.
Fleming’s top scorer was senior Allison Keisel, who finished the game with 10 points. Fleming will play Briggsdale in the third-place game at 1:30 p.m. Saturday back at Bank of Colorado Arena.
LOVELAND — Clear Creek is putting a new twist on an old adage.
If you go digging for gold, you just might find it.
Making its first ever state tournament appearance, the No. 7 Golddiggers girls’ basketball team advanced to the Class 2A championship game by knocking off No. 3 Wray 60-49 on Friday at the Budweiser Events Center.
Now the upstart program has a chance to dig for gold in the form of a state championship trophy on Saturday, where they’ll face Yuma, the 2016 champion and finalist in five of the past six seasons, at 7 p.m.
“It took years of hard work and dedication to get here,” Clear Creek senior Rachel Lucas said. “We have a solid group of seniors who have been playing together since like sixth grade. We’ve been working hard and pushing each other, and it’s always been the dream to be here.”
Lucas and fellow senior Grace Werlin were the key cogs in the Golddiggers’ hot start on Friday night, combining for 20 points in the first quarter alone. Lucas facilitated the offense for much of the night and finished with 16 points, while Werlin made her mark from deep with five 3-pointers (four of which game in that first quarter).
With that, Clear Creek held a 24-8 advantage after one and a 41-18 lead heading into the break. But then things got flipped upside-down.
Led by Maddie Soehner’s six points, Wray matched its entire first half output in a matter of eight minutes while limiting the Golddiggers to just four points in the third quarter. All of a sudden, it was a ballgame.
“Gotta hand it to Wray, they shut us down offensively in the third,” Clear Creek coach Marc Gorenstein said. “We just needed to play a little bit better defense. I think all tournament (as the No. 7 seed), these girls saw everything as an opportunity to prove themselves. And they did that.”
That call was met in the fourth as Lucas — just two years older than the high school she represents — and the Golddiggers made history.
“Just to think that we’re a part of something much bigger and making history, it’s just great,” Lucas said. “I’m just looking forward to playing with this team one last time.”
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(1) Yuma 39, (5) Limon 28
For the Yuma girls basketball program, getting to the state tournament is just another stepping stone. The only real accomplishment from there is getting to the championship game, and ultimately hoisting that trophy.
Yuma has a chance to do just that after reaching the Class 2A girls title game for the fifth time in six years and first time since 2016 when it won its second state championship in program history.
Juniors Chasey Blach and Cody Robinson, both freshman the last time Yuma played for a title, led the way with 14 and 11 points respectively on Friday.
Robinson, who slowly pumped her fist as time wound down on a 39-28 win over No. 5-seed Limon, was thrilled to take the mantle and carry on the winning tradition after a third-place finish and rare title game absence.
“Making it to state is just what Yuma does, that’s what we’re known for,” Robinson said. “I think just living up to that is what we all want to do. We have so much more experience, and confidence-wise we are so much better than last year. It just feels great, I’m so excited.”
LOVELAND — Nestled along Highway 71 in the southeast corner of the state, the town of Ordway isn’t exactly a metropolis.
There’s a firehouse. There’s a country store. A set of railroad tracks.
And then there’s Crowley County. Friday at the Budweiser Events Center, which has a seating capacity that more than triples the entire population of Ordway, No. 1-seeded Chargers showed enough flash to light up the whole Arkansas Valley.
Crowley County topped No. 5-seed Meeker 63-47 in the Final 4, utilizing a quick start and a fourth-quarter burst to down the energetic Cowboys and advance to the Class 2A boys state basketball championship game for the first time in several decades.
The Chargers’ last (and only) boys’ state hoops crown came in 1968. At 8:30 p.m. on Saturday, they’ll be playing to put their tiny town on the map.
“I just got chills thinking about it,” said coach Brett Rusler, who grew up in the Arkansas Valley prep sports scene just a skip away in Swink. “It’s huge for the community. Playing for a state championship is everything that every kid dreams of. I’m just happy for these players.”
Charger senior Bradley Carnes-Clabey scored on a layup just three seconds into the game, setting the pace for an up-tempo first quarter that saw the No. 1 seed take a 23-11 lead in the first eight minutes.
Meeker started the game 0-for-5 shooting from the field but eventually found a rhythm with a 9-0 run in the first five minutes of the second quarter to bring it to 23-20. The Cowboys eventually cut the lead down to two when Doak Mantle hit his third 3-pointer of the first half, and a low-scoring third quarter set the stage for excitement in the fourth.
Leading 46-39 with under six minutes to play, Charger junior Lane Walter took over. Walter hit back-to-back layups within a span of 30 seconds to help push the Charger lead back to double-digits, where it stayed the rest of the way.
Raymundo Suarez led all scorers with 18 points, four of which game on clutch free-throws in the fourth quarter, while Carnes-Clabey finished with 14 and Walter 10.
For the soft-spoken Walter, a trip to the state championship game sounded great — but there’s still 32 minutes of Charger flash left before the celebrations can begin.
“Everyone is real excited, but we haven’t won nothin’ yet,” Walter said. “This group just sticks together as a team and we overcome a lot. We can play anybody.”
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(2) Yuma 58, (3) Byers 54
There must be something in the water out in Yuma, as both the boys and girls basketball teams advanced to their respective Class 2A state championship games.
In a thriller of a nightcap on Friday, the No. 2 seed Yuma boys held on for a 58-54 win over No. 3 Byers to set up a showdown between the top seeds in the tournament for the title. Yuma meets No. 1 Crowley County Saturday at 8:30 p.m.
At 24-2, Yuma has now doubled its win total from the previous two seasons combined, and it has made its first trip to the state tournament since 2013 a memorable one.
Clad in red and white, Yuma was indeed white-hot to start the game, jumping out to a 9-0 lead off the tip and holding an 18-5 advantage after one.
But Byers refused to go away, closing the gap to 24-23 at half and ultimately overcoming a deficit as large as 10 in the fourth quarter to have a chance to tie the game.
Byers’ Austin Davis — who scored a game-high 34 points — hit a 3-pointer, had a steal-and-score, and made another layup in the span of the final minute-plus to give the Bulldogs a chance late.
But Yuma’s Victor Mendoza, who went 8-for-10 from the free throw line in the final quarter and finished with 18 points on the night, helped to seal the deal.
DENVER — When Grandview needed a second-half spark, Calib McGil was there to light it. The steady-handed sophomore scored six points in the third quarter to tie the game for the Wolves.
From there, Dayne Prim and the others did the rest.
Grandview came away with a 42-39 on Friday night, joining its girls team to compete for a Class 5A state basketball championship. The boys will immediately follow the girls starting at 6:30 p.m. Saturday night. It is the first championship game appearance for the Grandview boys.
“We were trying to wait for (Calib) to get in a rhythm,” Grandview coach Michael Rogers said. “He was kind of floating around in the first half. In the second half he kind of looked around and said ‘I’m going to take matters into my own hands.’”
It turned out to be crucial that he did. Without him in the first half, ThunderRidge was able to control the game on the offensive side.
(Dan Mohrmann/CHSAANow.com)
Senior Kaison Hammonds did all he could in the first half to put the Grizzlies on top. He scored 10 points in the first 16 minutes, shooting 57 percent from the field. But unlike Friday’s weather in Denver, Hammonds went cold.
“I told them they needed to be closer,” Rogers said. “I didn’t want to hear I had my hand up. That’s not good enough.”
He made just one of his next six shots, allowing the Wolves to make a run and even the score after the third quarter.
And the momentum stuck around in the fourth. Grandview jumped out to a 42-34 lead, highlighted by a McGil dunk that sent the Grandview student sections into a frenzy.
While McGil lit the overall fuse for the Wolves, it was Rogers that had to light one in the sophomore. And when the two teams went into the locker rooms at halftime, that seemed like a good chance for the coach to wake up the player.
“Coach Rogers really got into me at halftime to get me to play better,” McGil said. “I appreciate him for that.”
When it was all said and done, McGil led the Wolves 10 points.
The Grizzlies tried frantically to find their shooting touch from the first half. They cut the lead to three on a 3-pointer from Robby Hess, which turned out to be his only points of the game.
The Wolves couldn’t seem to knock down any free throws down the stretch however, and got one last chance in the closing seconds of the game.
Hammonds got the ball at the top of the key and was able to get the potential game-tying shot off. But like everything else in the second half, the shot off the mark and it was Grandview who had something to celebrate after a tumultuous week.
“We’re just happy to be in the moment,” McGil said. “We just want to soak it and play our game, one game at a time.”
Grandview will meet the winner of Rock Canyon and George Washington with tip-off tentatively scheduled at 8:30 p.m.
