Chatfield senior Darius Reiter glides to the basketball for a layup during the second half Thursday night. Reiter scored a team-high 28 points for the Chargers in their second league victory of the season. (Dennis Pleuss)
LITTLETON — It was a mixed bag for Chatfield senior Darius Reiter in the opening minutes Thursday night.
Reiter scored the Chargers’ first seven points of the Class 5A Jeffco League game against Lakewood in the first few minutes, but with 4:38 left in the first quarter he picked up his second foul. Even with Reiter being a spectator for the remainder of the first quarter, Chatfield (6-2, 2-0 in league) kept things on track. And the Chargers scored a 77-67 home victory heading into the holiday break.
“It wasn’t necessarily the flow I wanted, but it came out well,” said Reiter, who finished with a team-high 28 points. “I was able to get some stuff going.”
Chatfield coach Stephen Schimpeler was encouraged with how his team responded with some adversity in the opening half.
“That whole first half we were in foul trouble. I really liked how we handled the situation,” Schimpeler said. “It’s important that your bench performs because there are times you are going to need them.”
Sophomore Riley Welch led Chatfield’s bench players with 14 points. Starters Alec Wray (14 points) and Andrew St. Germain (11 points) also had strong games in the Chargers’ fourth straight win.
Reiter did plenty of damage at the free-throw line, making 12-of-13 shots from the charity stripe. The second conference game for both teams turned into a physical affair with a total of 56 fouls being called.
Lakewood (4-4, 0-2) only led once in the game at 2-0. Chatfield extended its lead to as much as 21 points late in the third quarter, but the Tigers turned it on offensively in the fourth quarter, scoring 31 points to make a game of it.
Chatfield sophomore Riley Welch, left, and Lakewood freshman Kolton Peterson scramble after a loose ball Thursday night at Chatfield High School. Welch and Peterson both had strong games coming off the bench for their teams. Welch had 14 points, while Peterson threw in 16 points. (Dennis Pleuss)
“We had the opportunity to shoot instead of handing it to Chatfield,” Lakewood coach Daryl Johnson said of the fourth quarter. “We actually got shots up instead of turning it over.”
Lakewood senior Evan O’Dorisio led all scorers with 32 points. Senior Irhad Kozic found his shooting touch with a pair of 3-pointers in the fourth quarter and freshman Kolton Peterson came off the bench to score 16 points for the Tigers.
“It’s a matter of execution and trust,” Johnson said after the Tigers’ second straight league defeat. “We’ve got to weave our strengths together. We’ll get it together.”
Lakewood will get back into action after winter break with a 2 p.m. game Saturday, Jan. 4, when it hosts Ralston Valley.
Chatfield has a long road ahead to defend its conference championship it grabbed with an undefeated 16-0 mark last season. Each of the nine 5A Jeffco teams faces their league foes twice (home and away) during the conference schedule.
“We aren’t necessarily aiming for that, but we know it’s there and we want to repeat it,” Reiter said of Chatfield attempting to match last year’s undefeated run in the conference.
Schimpeler stated that he believes the 5A Jeffco league is “getting better” and it will be no easy task in repeating as league champs.
“It’s going to be really hard this year when everyone is gunning for you being league champs and you are Chatfield,” Schimpeler said. “We told these guys it’s going to be tougher this year than last year. I think that was evident tonight.”
After playing eight games in 17 days since the start of the basketball season, Chatfield will get back to action after the holidays by hosting Pomona at 1:30 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 4.
Chatfield sophomore Riley Welch, right, drives toward the basketball against Lakewood senior James Hofmann on Thursday night at Chatfield High School. Welch threw in 14 points off the bench for the Chargers in a 77-67 victory. (Dennis Pleuss)
Lakewood senior Guy Young, left, is able to get a hand in the face of Chatfield senior Grant Haines during the first half Thursday at Chatfield High School. The Chargers won the Class 5A Jeffco League game 77-67 to head into winter break with a 6-2 record. (Dennis Pleuss)