(Dan Mohrmann/CHSAANow.com)

COLORADO SPRINGS — For three years, Cheyenne Mountain coach Elgin Fitzgerald was used to hearing the tongue lashings coming from the coach on the opposing bench. He had been the victim of them a time or two.

But Wednesday night, those tongue lashings were directed at players that Fitzgerald was hoping would be slowed down by his own roster. Fitzgerald and Sierra coach Terry Dunn go back a ways to their days at Dartmouth. Fitzgerald the player, Dunn the head coach.

After play calls, emotional runs and two overtimes Fitzgerald walked away with a win over his old mentor. No. 11 Cheyenne Mountain gutted out its toughest win of the year, beating No. 27 Sierra 64-63 in the Class 4A Sweet 16.

“Outside of Lewis-Palmer, we haven’t played a team all year that gets in your face and makes it hard on you,” Fitzgerald said. “We knew that going in and we turned the ball over. We had been in closer games, but we had a lead.”

He also has Javonte Johnson who comes in handy whether the Indians (20-5 overall) are winning, tied or behind.

(Dan Mohrmann/CHSAANow.com)

Imani Grigsby scored his only field goal of the fourth quarter to pull the Stallions (14-12) even with Cheyenne Mountain. The Sierra crowd howled with approval until Johnson caught the ball in the corner and calmly launched a 3-point shot that seemingly shifted momentum right back to the Indians.

“A little bit,” Johnson said. “One play doesn’t make a game.”

Especially one that needs an extra eight minutes to be decided. Johnson scored a game-high 27 points, including a stretch of seven consecutive points off free throws in the second quarter.

It became a back and forth battle between he and Sierra guard Eddie Whitmore. The senior for the Stallions also scored 27 points and was the only Sierra player to have a productive day from the free throw line. The Stallions were 9-for-19 overall from the charity stripe, a brutal stat when leaving with a one-point loss.

“It’s just a matter of whether you want to go home or you don’t,” Dunn said. “We had opportunities.”

And they battled. Down three late, Whitmore hit a free throw to cut the lead to two. A missed free throw from Brad Helton gave the Stallions life and Ramsey Whitaker found Isaiah Wilburn cutting to the basket in the closing seconds of regulation to tie the game and send it to overtime.

Aaand were tied with 2 seconds left. #copreps pic.twitter.com/nFmk7AgPKK

— Daniel Mohrmann (@DanMohrmann) February 28, 2019

Cheyenne Mountain countered with a late basket of their own in that overtime period. A Nicholas Bassett missed shot was tipped in by Jaedn Harrison which sent the crowd once again into a frenzy.

“It’s awesome,” Bassett said. “Often times we pack the games and after last Saturday against Widefield, we had this atmosphere recently. It makes it a lot more fun.”

The only two points Cheyenne Mountain scored in the second overtime were on a pair of free throws from Johnson. Whitmore had two opportunities of his own but missed the front end. A flurry of shots at the end could fall for the Stallions and it was Cheyenne Mountain advancing to the Great 8 where it will host No. 14 Pueblo East.

Cheyenne Mountain beat Pueblo East by 15 points back on Dec. 14.

(Dan Mohrmann/CHSAANow.com)

PARKER — Bryce Matthews had 17 points, Kobe Sanders had 16, and top-seeded Chaparral moved to the Class 5A boys basketball Great 8 with an 82-57 win over Mullen on Wednesday.

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AURORA — Grandview boys basketball, the defending champion, beat Rock Canyon 42-38 in the Class 5A Sweet 16 on Wednesday.

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BOULDER — No. 24 Cherry Creek boys basketball knocked off No. 8 Fairview in the Class 5A Sweet 16, 76-67. Julian Hammond III, a sophomore, led the Bruins with 25 points.

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(Courtesy photo)

Sometimes an age gap is overrated. That certainly appears to be the case for the boys basketball team at DSST: Stapleton.

The Knights are the No. 8 seed in the Class 3A state tournament. They begin play on Friday when they host No. 25 Pagosa Springs. They aren’t just looking for a single win, however. They have every intention of making it to the University of Denver for the 3A Great 8 next weekend.

“That’s what we’ve been focusing on,” coach Soco Sandoval said. “Now we take it one game at time so we’ll focus on who we have first and take care of our business there.”

A look through teams on the 3A bracket and there will often be veteran coaches associated with the teams. Especially some of the top teams in the field.

Bill Brandsma has been the coach at Lutheran for four years now. Sandoval was sitting in high school classrooms when Brandsma took over. He was barely able to drive himself to school; the same school that he now coaches.

At 21-years-old, Sandoval isn’t letting his youth or limited experience stop him from succeeding. His team has played well this year with three of its four losses coming to teams more than capable of making a run in the 3A tournament.

“Coming right out of playing and going right into coaching, I can see what we did wrong,” Sandoval said. “I see programs like the Faith Christians and the Colorado Springs Christians and see what they’ve done over the last couple of years and try to apply that to our team.”

His ability to relate to his players because of his proximity in age to them has been a benefit in his mind.

It helps that he has a standout senior in Andray Thomas Jr. Thomas — a freshman when Sandoval was a senior for the Knights — averages 17 points and 10 rebounds per game. And with an average of three assists, Sandoval has helped his leader understand that selflessness is a big factor when it comes to winning basketball games.

“He respects my position as his coach right now,” Sandoval said. “He’s a team player and leading the team in a lot of the stats but he’ll do anything it takes to help the team win even if it’s sacrificing some plays to get everyone else on the team going.”

The Knights (17-4 overall) have another double-digit scorer in Sherwin Askenazi who adds 13 points a game to the offensive output. Beyond that, he has three other players who average over six a game.

Not too far removed from high school ball himself, when Sandoval tells his guys that they have to operate as a team in order to achieve the success they have this year, he feels they take it heart.

“They respond well,” he said. “When we’re watching film, I emphasize and show them when we’re not playing well as a team and the result of that. I show them that difference and they see it.”

His first year as the coach, Sandoval wasn’t sure how he would be received by his team. After starting the year with a 68-36 loss to Lutheran, he simply put his boys to work. A three-game losing streak had the Knights at 4-4 heading into the winter break.

They haven’t lost since.

“That last game against the break was against Faith Christian and we ended up losing by one point,” Sandoval said. “We had a tremendous game where we competed and I think they used that as motivation.”

This weekend will be a big step forward for both his basketball program and his standing as a head coach. In early March, coaches often point to playoff experience as a big factor in young players learning and developing.

While Sandoval feels the same way for his guys, he can’t also help but think that each game his team gets to play between now and the end of the season will also help him become a better coach and a better mentor to future players.

“As a coach, I need to know what to do in certain situations,” he said. “I need to know my personnel and if someone’s in foul trouble, I have to preserve them if I need to. As a player I never had to worry about that as much. My coach always had that down and kept his composure pretty well. From the coaching perspective, I just need to make sure I have those things down.”

(Courtesy photo)

A roundup of Jeffco prep highlights from February with Dennis Pleuss, Jeffco Public Schools’ Communication Specialist. This month’s edition features action from the girls swimming state championships where Ralston Valley, Chatfield and Evergreen ascended to the podium. We were on hand when Evergreen girls basketball, along with Columbine and Wheat Ridge boys basketball teams clinched conference titles. Then there was the National Letter of Intent Signing Day on Feb. 6 where the number of Jeffco student-athletes from the Class of 2019 who have signed grew to more than 150.

Littleton has hired Zeric Martinez to be its next football coach, athletic director Chris Enzminger announced on Tuesday.

Martinez comes to Littleton from Mountain Vista, where he was an assistant. He has also recently been an assistant at Valor Christian, where he was part of two state title teams.

Before that, he was the the coach at Sheridan in 2012 and 2013, going 5-13.

“We are excited for the next chapter of Lions football under Coach Z’s leadership,” Engzminger said.

Littleton, which plays in Class 3A, is coming off an 0-10 season in 2018. Since 2016, the Lions are 2-28. It’s a program Martinez will seek to turn around as he takes over.

Follow all of this season’s coaching changes in our tracker.

Regis Jesuit’s Fran Belibi threw down a one-handed dunk in the second half of the Raiders’ 71-15 win over Denver East on Tuesday night.

(Dan Mohrmann/CHSAANow.com)

US AIR FORCE ACADEMY — Air Academy wasn’t exactly shooting the ball with laser-like precision. But when the Kadets badly needed something to fall through the cylinder, it did.

The top seed in the Class 4A girls basketball tournament weathered a more than admirable effort from No. 17 Sierra to get a 48-44 win on Wednesday.

The Kadets (25-0 overall) advance to the 4A Great 8 where they’ll meet No. 8 Berthoud. The winner of that game will move on to next week’s Final 4 at the Denver Coliseum.

The Stallions came into Wednesday’s contest feeling like they perform better on the road. It looked like they were going to take the lead into the fourth quarter but a big 3-pointer from Liza Louthan gave Air Academy a 32-30 edge and every ounce of momentum.

“It was big,” coach Phil Rokio said. “We struggled (from 3-point range). I think we were 1-for-12 in the first half. Even in the second half I think we only hit two. Normally we’re a better shooting team than that.”

With a big sigh of relief, Rokio appeared to be satisfying – at least for Wednesday – that the shots that went in were timely.

Louthan again connected on a three-point play in the fourth quarter, this one coming off a layup and free throw that once again gave the Kadets a lead and sent the student section into a craze.

“We just had to keep our composure,” Louthan said. “That’s what’s really big in this playoff season in being composed and focused and intentional with everything we do on the court.”

The Stallions (17-9) knew they were capable of delivering a big blow to the Kadets, it just didn’t end up being the knockout punch they were looking for. They had already gone through two Pikes Peak Athletic Conference teams in Cheyenne Mountain and Sand Creek to reach the Sweet 16, so they felt like they could come away with the upset of the week.

“We felt like we were coming to win this,” coach Joe Williams said. “We felt in our hearts we could come in here – we’re better as a road team.”

(Dan Mohrmann/CHSAANow.com)

But it wasn’t meant to be. D’nae Wilson led Sierra with 12 points on the night and Rokio was quick to praise his defense for holding her below her average.

“Our goal was to slow her down,” Rokio said. “I think we did that tonight.”

Only four players scored for Air Academy all game. Louthan scored 12 while Zoe Sims had 14. Kylee Blacksten led with 18 which included a stretch of seven straight crucial points in the third quarter. The Stallions were up by eight at that point so closing the gap to one in a win or go home game became a high priority.

“I feel like we started moving the ball around more instead of trying to play at their pace,” Blacksten said. “We started our ball play and it started rolling how we’re used to playing, not how they play.”

The Kadets advanced to the Great 8 the No. 3 seed in the tournament in last year’s tournament. But they ran into Evergreen, the eventual 4A state champion. They’re hoping that a tight game against a tough team will help them prepare for the next round and avoid a premature exit from this year’s bracket.

“I’d always like to have that cushion,” Blacksten said. “But these game are always better. They always push us to better and they push us past what we think we’re able to do.”

(Dan Mohrmann/CHSAANow.com)

THORNTON — Experience paid dividends for Horizon on Tuesday night.

The No. 7-seeded Hawks leaned on their eight seniors to earn a fourth-straight trip to the Great 8 of Class 5A girls basketball state tournament. Horizon never trailed against No. 10 Ralston Valley on the way to a 58-40 victory.

Horizon senior Aly Jimenez, right, scored a game-high 18 points Tuesday night in the Hawks’ 58-40 playoff victory over Ralston Valley. (Dennis Pleuss/Jeffco Athletics)

“It feels awesome,” Horizon senior Sam Deems said of a fourth consecutive trip to state quarterfinals at the Denver Coliseum. “We’ve just got to get over another hump. I’m not losing in the Great 8 again. Regis better watch out. Underdogs are the best story. Here we come.”

The state quarterfinal test won’t be an easy task for Horizon (21-4 record). Last year’s state runner-up and No. 2 seed Regis Jesuit is next up for the Hawks. The Raiders defeated Denver East by a 72-15 margin Tuesday night in their Sweet 16 game.

Regis (22-3) went on a 47-0 run during the dominating performance against the No. 15 Denver East.

“For us we have nothing to lose,” Horizon senior Aly Jimenez said of facing the Raiders for the third straight year in the state quarterfinals. “We aren’t going to think about those last two years. We have eight seniors, it would be our last game if we lose and we don’t want that.”

Deems and Jimenez played huge roles as both played their final game at “The Nest”. The seniors combined for 35 points to lead the way for the Hawks. Deem poured in 17 points through three quarters and Jimenez put the game away with a 10-point third quarter.

The biggest play came in the final seconds of the third quarter. Ralston Valley (18-7) had made a little run and threatened to cut the Hawks’ lead under double-digit points to start the fourth quarter. However, Jimenez stole the ball near mid-court and raced down the court for an uncontested layup at the buzzer to extend Horizon’s lead to 46-31 heading to the final quarter.

Horizon senior Arielle Wisne (25) makes a move in the post during the fourth quarter Tuesday night. (Dennis Pleuss/Jeffco Athletics)

“You always need those big plays to get you back on track,” Jimenez said of her steal and layup to end the third quarter. “I took a risk. I just had to go for it. I think that gave us some momentum going into the fourth.”

Ralston Valley sophomores Sydney Bevington (17 points) and Brooklyn Seymour (12 points) tried to keep the Mustangs in the game. Ralston Valley was attempting to advance to its fifth straight Great 8 appearance, but couldn’t keep up with the high-flying Hawks.

“Ralston Valley is a young and up-and-coming team. They are going to be really dangerous next year,” Horizon coach Dan Doehler said. “But they only returned two players with Sweet 16 winning experience and I returned nine players. We’ve been here and done that.”

Longtime Ralston Valley coach Jeff Gomer was pleased with the progress of his young team this season.

“I like this team,” Gomer said. “I think this team has grown more over the span of a season more than any I’ve ever coached. They’ve come a long way.”

Horizon would like to extend its season a little bit longer heading into Friday’s state quarterfinal game against Regis. Doehler doesn’t mind having another shot against the Raiders.

“Third time is the charm,” Doehler said. “They are in our bracket again and we want it that way. We felt like we had them on the ropes last year being up on them at halftime. We kind of ran out of gas. We have unfinished business and we are so excited to match up against one of the best teams in the state.”

Ralston Valley sophomore Brooklyn Seymour (14) drives on Horizon senior Sam Deem during the first half Tuesday night. Horizon took the victory to advance to its fourth straight Great 8, while the loss ended Ralston Valley’s Great 8 appearance string at four years. (Dennis Pleuss/Jeffco Athletics)