(Stephen Priest/CHSAANow.com)
AURORA — With two of the best coaches in the state matching wits for the second time this season, Wednesday’s Eaglecrest vs. Denver East matchup in the Class 5A Sweet 16 was full of intrigue.
Ultimately, the No. 1-seeded Raptors came away victorious for the second time this year as they earned a 56-46 win over No. 5 Denver East
The gameplan for the Angels from the tip was clear: Deny Eaglecrest star Colbey Ross the ball at all costs and make things tough on him when he had the rock in his hands. But what East coach Rudy Carey wasn’t banking on was a supporting cast for the Raptors that stepped up and made the necessary plays to force East to back off of Ross.
“We have a bunch of guys that can step up,” Eaglecrest coach John Olander said after the Sweet 16 win. “That’s the good thing about Colbey, who is arguably the best guard in the state: he doesn’t have to shoot the ball 20 or 30 times for us to win. They did a good job of taking him out, but he’s finding open people and we have guys who are confident shooting the basketball.”
Although Ross, a senior, had 18 points to lead the Raptors, his teammates were the main factor behind an effective offensive attack. Out of the 11 players that logged minutes on Wednesday for Eaglecrest, all but two players scored. Sophomore guard Victor Garnes and junior forward Joshua Walton both chipped in seven points of their own to relieve the offensive pressure from Ross.
“Coach Carey is a great coach, I knew he was going to come out with a great defense and they were going to double-team me and not let me catch the ball,” Ross said. “My guys just stepped up, I have confidence in them and they have confidence in me.”
Just before half, the Raptors found themselves up nine in a low scoring affair, 23-14. However, in the final three minutes behind the streaky shooting of senior Jack Buckmelter (14 points), East hit a 7-0 scoring run with Buckmelter scoring six of the seven points.
To begin the third, Olander wanted his team to pick up the pace and for the most part they did as they created a 13-point separation from the Angles midway through the period.
“It’s great having a guy like Terry Taylor, who’s a Hall-of-Fame coach that won a state title at Rangeview, on your staff. He takes notes for me and brings them down at half and tells me, ‘You’ve got to run,'” Olander said.
“They were playing good defense, they were all over Colbey so we figured if we could get the pace going, we might be able to get Colbey some easy shots,” Olander added, “but our guys really settled in during the second half.”
Denver East found a way to claw back into the game as the Angels were only down 47-43 with two minutes remaining. Conversely, the inconsistent shooting plagued them when they needed a bucket most down the stretch to stay alive.
It came down to the foul game and at that point the game practically sealed itself as Ross and fellow senior Elijah Wilson nailed clutch free throws.
With the win, the Raptors advance to the Great 8 to take on No. 2-seeded Regis Jesuit (22-3 overall) on Saturday at the Denver Coliseum.
“We’ve got to be able to stop their dribble penetration, because they shoot it really well,” Olander described when asked about how his team can win against Regis. “If you let them penetrate, have to help and then they kick out and get open threes, you’re going to be in trouble. We also have to get on the glass. So if we stop the penetration and don’t have to help, we can limit shots if we defend hard.”