DENVER — Pueblo South had battled back all game. What was yet another comeback in the final seconds of regulation?
The Colts, seeded No. 12, hit a layup at the buzzer to send the game to overtime, and then Maya Austin led them to a 74-62 win over Mesa Ridge in the Class 4A girls basketball semifinals. The win earns Pueblo South a return trip to the championship game, scheduled for 1 p.m. Saturday.
“Seriously,” Pueblo South coach Shannan Lane said of the comebacks as she fought back tears. “We definitely did not step up on the floor and were not ready to go down 9-0, it wasn’t the game plan.
“These girls just fought back and they played so hard,” Lane added. “Each one contributed, they did what I asked them to do, and I’m just so blessed.”
(Dennis Pleuss/Jeffco Athletics)
Austin hit 11 free throws in the overtime period, and finished with a career-high 34 points. Gabi Lucero added 22 points for the Colts, along with 12 rebounds.
Pueblo South rallied from down 9-0 in the first quarter, and down 47-42 in the fourth. After Mesa Ridge went up by five with five minutes to play, the Colts used a 13-3 run to take a 55-50 lead. At that point, 2:44 remained.
But Mesa Ridge kept fighting, cutting the lead to 57-56 with just 1:11 to play. The Grizzlies went up 58-57 on Chloe Welch’s end-to-end layup with 29 seconds left, and Ashley Bowen added a free-throw to make it 59-57.
In that overtime, Pueblo South outscored Mesa Ridge 15-3. Austin had 11 of those points.
Mesa Ridge dashed out to an early 9-0 lead in the first quarter, but Pueblo South battled back to tie the game at 16 with 1:16 to play in the frame. And though the Grizzlies emerged with a 20-18 lead after the first, Pueblo South had erased the huge margin.
The back-and-forth battle continued in the second quarter, with Mesa Ridge taking a 32-30 lead at the break. The game featured nine ties or lead changes to that point.
Both teams shot well in the first half: Mesa Ridge hit 12-of-27 shots (44 percent), and Pueblo South made 14-of-29 (48 percent).
(Dennis Pleuss/Jeffco Athletics)
Each squad was led by their star. Mesa Ridge’s Welch had a double-double at halftime with 13 points and 10 rebounds, and Lucero of Pueblo South led all scorers with 14 points.
Both girls were outstanding all game, along with Austin’s heroics. Welch, a senior, finished with 29 points, 12 rebounds and three assists. She fouled out in overtime.
Bowen had 15 points and nine rebounds for Mesa Ridge.
Our first 5A game, at 7 p.m. is No. 2 seed ThunderRidge vs. No. 6 seed Grandview. The Grizzlies, with only one loss on the season and 25 wins, look to keep their streak going after their last-second win over Doherty has them feeling like this is their time.
T-Ridge faced a lot of size from Doherty and the Spartans started out more physical in the Great 8 match. Coach Ortiz’s timely adjustments from zone to man and the team picking up the overall intensity to match the Spartans eventually did the trick. The Grizzlies will again have their hands full on the inside in the likes of Dayne Prim. We’ll see if they have the answer, again.
(Jeff Tucker/jefferywtucker.zenfolio.com)
Grandview shot the ball best of all the 5A teams in the Great 8 and can thank five 3-pointers from Tyler Unger and Ben Boone as the reason they took control over Chaparral. The Wolves will need that inside/out punch again to match what Dayne Prim does on the inside (14 points, 7 rebounds per game).
Grandview averages about eight points less per game than T-Ridge, and statistically slow down more in the second half than the Grizzlies do so the pace of this game will be interesting.
T-Ridge has used its 2-1-2 zone vs. teams with size this season and we’ll see if they use that to stifle Prim’s inside play but that can leave Unger and Boone with open looks from three point land.
Fun chess match to come…
[divider]
(1) Rock Canyon vs. (5) George Washington
(Marcus Gipson/Jmariahimages.com)
The late game, at 8:30 p.m., some argue could be the state title game if these two powers weren’t on the same side of the bracket — and, oh yes, No. 1 Rock Canyon vs. No. 5 GW is a rematch!
No shortage of senior leadership here with the likes of Jon’il Fugett, Xavier Cooper, Sam Masten, and Tyson Gilbert in the back court for their squads. Our Fever Crew is a big fan of senior guard play down the stretch and this will be a treat to close out the night.
Sam Masten, one of out state’s top players headed to Northern Colorado who was just named the Gatorade player of the year, is the key to the Jaguars attack averaging 22 points per game and leading his team in four of five major statistical categories. But, as soon as you focus on Masten here comes smooth, slashing fellow senior Tyson Gilbert who can get to the rim with either hand as well.
The duo combined for 34 points in Great 8 win vs. Overland who had previously shut teams down.
(Marcus Gipson/Jmariahimages.com)
The Patriots leader and floor general is undoubtedly Jon’il Fugett who we’ve seen has no fear in stepping up to the plate in pressure situations. His ability to use his quickness to beat Kenny Foster with the dribble and then shoot the timely floater over a big man in the Great 8 finish sums up his body control and ability all in one play.
Another key to the Patriots is that all ten players on the roster have the ability to contribute and they will need that depth to knock off No. 1!
Our Fever Crew was at “Round 1” of this rematch in early December and honestly the Patriots looked confused and out-of-sorts early in the season. It was not a good showing by GW in tournament play on Rock Canyon’s home court as the Jaguars won the game easily 75-50. The 23-8 third-quarter advantage was key in stretching out that lead.
GW will be focused and eager to prove they are a different squad than on Dec. 1 and the Jaguars will simply look to continue their steady play and not stray away from what got them here.
We have mentioned the stellar guard play we will all be treated to but this could be decided inside as senior Blake Williams of Rock Canyon will have a task on his hands with Tray Pierce and Mo Diallo in the front court for GW.
The heroics of Matthew Ragsdale, star power of two-sport stud Marcell Barbee, scoring prowess of Luke Johnson, Joel Scott on a mission, and the veteran Nieyem’e Smeyer-Williams court leadership … this Final 4 has a bit of it all!
(2) Lewis-Palmer vs. (6) Pueblo West
(Dan Mohrmann/CHSAANow.com)
On paper we have a pretty balanced battle here. Pueblo West struggled in some of the rivalry games we’ve seen them excel in, in the past while Lewis-Palmer has lost only two games the entire season.
Pueblo West will ride the back of their veteran PG star Smeyer-Williamsm while the difference maker could be in the Rangers’ Joel Scott who, even as a junior, has been described as a man amongst boys in 4A this year.
Scott also has a running mate in Matthew Ragsdale who can heat up behind the arc and is obviously not afraid to step up for the big shot when needed.
[divider]
(1) Pueblo South vs. (5) Longmont
(Charles Hurley/@PuebloRdoSports)
Our top seed Pueblo South and No. 5 seed Longmont both enter this Final 4 as two-loss teams on hot streaks.
Both squads are unbeaten league champs averaging in the 60 point-per-game range. This will be good!
We love great matchups in sports and Pueblo South with their core of players returning to the Coliseum from last year and 4A Football Player of the Year Marcell Barbee would be the great of this matchup. Longmont is the “blue collar” team coming in looking to shock and upset.
Don’t be fooled, though: Longmont has a stud lead man in Luke Johnson who averages 20 points per game who is more than capable of stealing the show!
[divider]
Cancel all plans for Friday and Saturday, folks. There’s only one place to be and that’s the Denver Coliseum for the conclusion of our big school boys hoops.
It will be more than worth the price of admission!
Pueblo South raced out to a 11-2 lead in the first quarter, and also went up 27-19 in the second, before holding off the defending Class 4A champions.
Valor Christian tied the game at various points in the third and fourth quarters, including 48-48 late, but Pueblo South closed the game on an 11-2 run.
What’s more: Pueblo South did that without star Marcell Barbee, who fouled out early in the fourth quarter.
Jeremy Cody led the Colts with 20 points and eight rebounds. Barbee had 16 points, and David Caporicci added 11.
Valor Christian was led by Jeremy Randle’s 15 points, and Roger Rosengarten had 10 for the Eagles.
The win means the Colts will play Longmont in next week’s Final 4.
[divider]
(6) Pueblo West 57, (14) Ponderosa 48
(Anthony Sandstrom/Pueblo West View)
Ponderosa twice pulled within a point of Pueblo West in the fourth quarter, but the Cyclones pulled away late to secure the Great 8 win.
Pueblo West led 39-34 going into the fourth quarter, only to see Ponderosa cut their lead to 44-43 and 46-45 midway through the final frame.
At that point, Pueblo West went on a 10-0 run to make it 56-45 late in the quarter.
Ponderosa had led 17-10 at one point in the first quarter.
[divider]
(5) Longmont 62, (4) Falcon 54
(Adam Dunivan/BoCoPreps.com)
It was a game that featured 10 ties or lead changes in the first half, but Longmont was able to pull away in the second half to move to the Final 4.
The Trojans rallied from down 18-11 to take a 26-24 halftime lead. That lead expanded to 40-34 after the third quarter, and Falcon would not get closer than four points in that final frame.
[divider]
(2) Lewis-Palmer 70, (10) Widefield 67
(Photo: Lewis-Palmer HS)
Widefield trailed by as many as 10 in the third quarter, but pulled to within four heading into the final eight minutes.
Lewis-Palmer regained a seven-point lead, but the Gladiators went on a 8-1 run to tie the game 67-67 with under a minute remaining.
COLORADO SPRINGS — Evergreen girls basketball’s title defense will continue.
The Cougars, seeded No. 6 in the Class 4A state tournament, knocked off No. 3 Air Academy on the road on Friday, 50-36.
Air Academy led 15-10 after the first quarter that included a 7-0 start, but Evergreen rallied to make it 22-21 at halftime. thanks in large part to two 3-pointers from Hannah Kennedy.
“Our team usually steps it up,” Kennedy said. “I wasn’t worried with our first half because I believe and trust in my team to pick it up.”
And the Evergreen girls did exactly that. The Cougars’ defense stepped up, and their offense came out shooting. By the end of the third quarter, they had a lead of six points and continued to add to the scoreboard, and ultimately came out with a win.
Air Academy finishes the year 24-2 and had a great season that included a 21-game winning streak.
Evergreen was led in scoring by Claudia Dillon with 14 points. Kristina Schreiber, Baylee GalanBrowne, and Haley Dillion each added nine points.
“We really prepared for this game and we are just trying to repeat what we did last year,” said Kennedy. “This is just one more step to furthering that goal and making history with a repeat.”
Evergreen will face No. 15 Widefield at the Denver Coliseum on March 2.
[divider]
(8) Mesa Ridge 66, (1) Pueblo West 63
(@MRHSGRIZZLIES/Twitter)
The Grizzlies knocked off the top-ranked Cyclones to move on to the Denver Coliseum next week.
Mesa Ridge trailed 53-43 heading into the fourth quarter, and chipped away at Pueblo West’s lead. Eventually, the Grizzlies tied the game at 61 with two minutes to play.
They closed out the comeback in the final minute to advance to the Final 4.
[divider]
(15) Widefield 50, (10) Golden 49
(@whsgladiators/Twitter)
Aaliyah Ricketts hit the game-winning shot as the Gladiators pulled off the upset in the quarterfinals.
The game was close throughout with the two teams trading the lead, but Widefield built a 48-40 advantage with six minutes to play.
Golden rallied to go ahead 49-48 with less than a minute remaining before Ricketts hit the winning shot.
[divider]
(12) Pueblo South 70, (20) Sierra 39
Gabi Lucero exploded for 40 points, as the Colts rolled into a Final 4 appearance.
Drea Nelson added 11 points for Pueblo South, and Maya Austin had 8.
Pueblo South built a 19-10 lead after the first quarter, and was up 41-22 at halftime.
PUEBLO — In the two regular season meetings between Pueblo South and Pueblo County, the score was close at halftime.
Then the Colts found a way to pull away with the game. The playoff meeting between the two teams followed a similar storyline. South led by five going into the half. And Gabi Lucero provided the spark that let her team pull away.
“Just from what we had learned from them, we knew exactly what we were doing,” Lucero said. “We had a game plan.”
Lucero had picked up her third foul in the second quarter, forcing coach Shannon Lane to pull her off the floor. When Lucero re-entered the game in the fourth quarter, she dominated. She scored 12 of her game-high 19 points in the quarter and put the Colts (15-9 overall) ahead 51-38 going into the fourth.
“The joke on is our team is that we have to get her mad to play,” Lane said. “That’s just how she is.”
It works.
South got off to a bit of a slow start to the game. A press defense forced several County turnovers, but Lane didn’t think her team did a good enough job converting those into points.
(Dan Mohrmann/CHSAANow.com)
That allowed the Hornets (16-9) to keep the game close thanks to baskets from Erin Mauro and points in the paint from Hailee Stamps.
But it was the press defense that really hit County hard in the early stages of the game.
“It set the tone early,” County coach Mark Villegas said. “We had to go to our bench earlier than expected, but I thought our kids adjusted well.
Drea Nelson started the second quarter off with three-straight baskets to give the Colts some breathing room and they were able to hold off a County rally despite Lucero finding her way into foul trouble.
Once the whistle to start the second half blew, it was apparent that the Colts – and Lucero specifically – had woken up.
They looked more like the team that made its way to the 4A state championship game last year.
“They’re demise was a little early,” Villegas said. “They’re a good team and they have four kids who are as good as anybody in the state.”
They’ll have to prove that for as many games as they might have remaining. The Colts will travel north on Tuesday to play Valor Christian, a team they are very familiar with.
South lost to Valor 60-42 earlier in the year, but the Eagles will be without freshman point guard Kendall Wetta, who suffered a season-ending knee injury earlier in the year.
“(Hat’s off) to Jess (Caldwell) for having to deal with her point guard going out. Valor’s not the team that they were before,” Lane said. “I think they’ve lost three of their last couple of games without Kendall.”
Judging from the second half, South could easily be a team peaking at the right time. Tuesday will be an indication if this team is ready to get back to the Denver Coliseum in two weeks.
Rock Canyon (21-2) leads the 5A field, having finished atop the final RPI standings of the regular season. Other high seeds in 5A include No. 2 ThunderRidge, No. 3 Chaparral, No. 4 Denver East, No. 5 George Washington, No. 6 Grandview, No. 7 Doherty and No. 8 Overland.
Defending champion Eaglecrest is seeded No. 16.
In 4A, Pueblo South (21-2) also was No. 1 in the final RPI standings. No. 2 Lewis-Palmer, No. 3 Golden, No. 4 Falcon, No. 5 Longmont, No. 6 Pueblo West, No. 7 Silver Creek and No. 8 Evergreen are also high 4A seeds.
Defending champion Valor Christian is seeded ninth.
Both tournaments begin play on Wednesday, with seeds Nos. 32-48 playing in the first round.
Round 2 games take place on Saturday, with the Sweet 16 set for Feb. 28. The Great 8 is March 3, the Final 4 will be March 8, and championship games are set for March 10.
The Great 8 (5A only), Final 4 and championship games will be played at the Denver Coliseum.
ThunderRidge has moved up to the No. 1 spot in Class 5A in this week’s boys basketball rankings.
The rankings, voted upon by coaches and select media members, are the official polls of the Association. During the regular season, they are released each Monday.
With the regular season set to end on Saturday, these will serve as the final rankings of the regular season.
Chaparral (in 5A) and Peetz (in 1A) have taken over the top sports in their respective boys basketball rankings this week.
The rankings, voted upon by coaches and select media members, are the official polls of the Association. During the regular season, they are released each Monday.
Pueblo South (4A) and Holly (1A) took over the top spots in their respective basketball rankings this week.
The rankings, voted upon by coaches and select media members, are the official polls of the Association. During the regular season, they are released each Monday.
