Arapahoe’s Brendan Till launches a shot against Mountain Vista. More photos. (Kevin Keyser/KeyserImages.com)
CENTENNIAL — They kept pouring in. Midway through the first quarter, into the second. Even after halftime. Everyone, it seemed, wanted to be at Arapahoe High School on Saturday afternoon.
It was the first athletic event at the school since the tragic on-campus shooting on Dec. 13. The community came out in force — students, alumni, faculty, administrators past and present, parents, neighbors — to see their Warriors take on Mountain Vista in boys basketball.
“It was good. It’s the right step back to normalcy,” said Arapahoe senior Brandon Till. “It’s good to be back in our house.”
These Warriors hadn’t played or practiced in their gym since Dec. 12. Instead, workouts were held at nearby Lifetime Fitness.
“Think of that. That’s really hard,” Arapahoe coach Dan Synder said. “Lifetime could not have been more wonderful and gracious, and we really appreciate it, but it’s not the same. We were on a court with two hoops instead of six hoops, so as far as running a practice and stations and stuff like that, you can’t do it.”
“It’s a zoo in there,” Till said of practicing at Lifetime. “You’ve got kids walking around, yoga classes going on in the background.
“Playing back in front of all our fans — we had a great showing — and with our own hoops, our own rims, our own locker room — it’s just good to be back.”
By the time everyone filed out of the gym and into the delicate snowfall waiting outside Saturday afternoon, Arapahoe had emerged with a 63-55 win. It was emotional, and simply returning to the gym was important. It was also a big win from a basketball standpoint.
For starters, both teams entered unbeaten and ranked in the top-10 of the latest CHSAANow.com 5A poll. But more importantly, No. 5 Mountain Vista (8-1) was “definitely the best team we’ve played so far,” Snyder said.
More photos. (Kevin Keyser/KeyserImages.com)
The Golden Eagles came into the game averaging a state-best 85.1 points and 22.1 assists. They feature a fast-paced offense and a high-pressure defense, which averages a 5A-best 15.4 steals.
In the first quarter, that defensive pressure overwhelmed No. 7 Arapahoe (7-0) as the Warriors turned the ball over seven times.
“They’re a great team, aggressive defensively, and that caused us to panic a little,” Till said.
Yet, Arapahoe trailed just 14-13 after that quarter, then stormed out to a 26-16 lead with 3:14 to go in the half. But Mountain Vista closed the second quarter on a 10-0 run, including a layup with 3 seconds left, to go into the break tied at 26. The tie remained following a frantic third quarter, with the teams locked at 44.
Then, as the fourth quarter opened, Till took over. He scored nine of Arapahoe’s first 11 points in the frame as the Warriors went up 55-51. Till finished with 26 points, including 10 in the final quarter.
“He’s quite a good scorer, as you can see,” Snyder said. “He can score in a lot of different ways. He’s a really good shooter, but he … sees the court really well. And that allows him to go to the right spot at the right time, so it’s more than just a good shooter. Tremendous game out of him.”
Senior Corbin Atwell followed Till’s spurt with perhaps the game’s most important points. Atop the key, Atwell drove to his left to beat his man and continued past two others before laying it in. He was fouled, and the ensuing free-throw made it 58-51.
More photos. (Kevin Keyser/KeyserImages.com)
Two-and-a-half minutes remained, but Mountain Vista wasn’t able to recover.
“Maybe this sends a message that we’ve got to get better,” Golden Eagles coach Bob Wood said. “They beat us, and kind of took the air out.”
Atwell finished with 16 points. The Warriors’ James Dalrymple and Ethan Brunhofer each added eight. Brunhofer scored all of his in the second half.
Graham Smith led Mountain Vista with 17 points. Ray Beresford had 11.
When the buzzer sounded, Arapahoe faithful stormed the court to celebrate. The joy was contagious.
“I’m proud of our kids because of their resiliency,” Snyder said. “I made the comment (while practicing at Lifetime), I said, ‘Look, we’re fortunate to be able to practice anywhere. So we’re not going to complain about the circumstances.’ Yeah, it was less-than-ideal.
“We’re really happy to be back in our building, and we just talked about that,” he continued. “Sports is such a positive thing, and so that was neat. We have wonderful student support, kids who really are terrific.”
More photos. Arapahoe’s players rush to celebrate their win over Mountain Vista on Saturday. (Kevin Keyser/KeyserImages.com)