Alamosa boys basketball advanced to the 3A championship game by beating Manual. (Danielle Ennis/CHSAANow.com)
DENVER — The improbable Cinderella run ended tonight for the Manual Thunderbolts with a 62-53 loss to Alamosa in the Class 3A Final 4.
But the 62-53 win wasn’t an easy one for the Mean Moose, and the Thunderbolts sure didn’t disappoint. The matchup was visibly uneven from the get-go, a small starting line matched with a strong one from Alamosa. But where the Thunderbolts lacked in size, they made up for in energy.
Fueled by junior Ryan Bruchacher, Alamosa began with a 9-2 run that looked to predict the entirety of the game. But Manual kept crawling back, and by the end of the first quarter only trailed by five.
The Thunderbolts played the entire second quarter in a press, executing on the their defensive stops and bringing the halftime score to 26-24.
In the third quarter, Manual took its first lead of the game at 33-32, making the electric crowd even more alive.
With three lead changes throughout the quarter, the Thunderbolts, a No. 21 seed, didn’t seem so small anymore. They fought for every board and went strong to the hoop.
The fourth quarter seemed to be anyone’s game until Manual’s star freshman Jadedon Bradley fouled out, only to be followed by a a technical while walking off the court. He tallied ten for his team before his minutes came to an unexpected end. Alamosa added four points on the foul shots, and in a sudden shift, took their biggest lead at 13.
Though Manual fought until the last minute, Alamosa pulled off the victory 62-53.
“These boys weren’t even basketball players before this season. They grew up on the court, ” said Manual coach Anson Ramiro. “We are only graduating one senior, so we will be back.”
Junior Sufyan Elkanen led the Thunderbolts with 17 points, while leading scorer Brubacher and sophomore forward Angelo Ramirez each scored 15 for the Mean Moose.
The Thunderbolts hope to be able to take the 3A trophy all 224 miles home Saturday night following the championship game.
In the second and final game of the night, No. 11 Colorado Springs Christian took an early lead, leaving the No. 2 Lutheran Lions trailing by ten at the end of the first quarter.
But Lutheran quickly picked up its game and went on a 9-0 run in the final two minutes of the half to head to the locker room only down by one.
Lutheran had the momentum at the start of the second half with two threes in a row from senior Josh Bjorgum to take a 24-21 lead.
But the last quarter started as tight at the three previous, and this time the 26-25 lead was in the hands of Colorado Springs Christian. Both teams went to the basket each possession down the court, but Colorado Springs took the four point lead, the biggest of the second half.
A three from Lutheran senior Alonzo Smith put his Lions back within one, followed by a Colorado Springs Christian inbound turnover.
After a timeout, Lutheran had 33 seconds to come up with tying or winning shot, but a buzzer heave from Bjorgum fell short, sending No. 11 seed Colorado Springs celebrating for a title run Saturday night.
The Colorado Springs Christian Lions will take on Alamosa at 7 p.m. at the Denver Coliseum.