Longmont’s Tox Mugunga, right, challenges the shot of Adam Thistlewood on Saturday night. (Dennis Pleuss/Jeffco Athletics)
GOLDEN — The Oscar for Best Supporting Cast had to go to Golden’s trio of juniors Joe Madsen, Jack Moore and Riley Stoner on Saturday night.
Junior Adam Thistlewood and senior Kayden Sund scored all 19 points in the first half for the Demons in the Class 4A boys basketball second-round game against Longmont. There was a realization in Golden’s locker room at halftime that Thistlewood and Sund couldn’t carry the entire offensive load in the second half if the Demons wanted to move on to the Sweet 16.
“We needed someone to step up and that’s exactly what they did,” Sund said of the second-half performance of Madsen, Moore and Stoner.
Golden came away with a 53-43 victory over Longmont to advance to next week’s round of 16.
Madsen got things going in the third quarter as the Demons went to a one-high and one-low post offense. Sund and Thistlewood both found Madsen down low for easy layups to give Golden a little bit of separation in the third quarter.
Golden’s Kayden Sund led the Demons with 15 points against Longmont. (Dennis Pleuss/Jeffco Athletics)
“We went to our one-high, one-low post and that solved it all for us,” said Madsen, who finished with 10 points. “We got some defensive stops and some blocks on defense. That really helped.”
Madsen had a span in the fourth quarter where he had a pair of buckets, a steal and two blocks on the defensive end.
“You always look at those momentum changing things,” Golden coach John Anderson said of Madsen’s play in the fourth quarter. “That definitely brought the whole energy and building up. Joe was flying around and he can do that when he isn’t in foul trouble.”
Stoner finished with six points, all on drives to the basket. Moore hit a pair of second-half 3-pointers. Madsen, Stoner and Moore poured in 22 points in the second half after being shutout in the opening half.
“We know most teams are going to focus on Adam and Kayden,” Madsen said. “We have to get other people involved.”
Sund, Golden’s lone senior, led the Demons with 16 points. The 6-foot-5 forward found his range from long distance with four 3-pointer on the night. His final 3-pointer midway through the fourth quarter, followed up by a jumper seconds later, pushed the Demons to their biggest lead of the night at a dozen points.
Golden’s Adam Thistlewood goes up for a shot Saturday night. (Dennis Pleuss/Jeffco Athletics)
“My shot hasn’t been falling great this year from outside the arc,” Sund said. “It felt good tonight.”
Thistlewood finished with 15 points.
The young Longmont squad was led by sharp-shooting junior guard Luke Johnson (16 points) and the Trojans’ lone senior Tol Mugunga (13 points). Longmont finished its season with a 13-12 record.
Golden and Longmont met in the back on Dec. 7 in a non-league game before winter break. Sund has a huge game with 22 points — going 7-for-10 from the field — in the Demons’ 49-39 victory over the Trojans.
Despite entering the state tournament on a 2-game losing streak, Golden (17-7 record) was confident coming in as the No. 12 seed for the state tournament.
“I really feel the way we are playing right now in these past few games we are hitting our peak right now,” Sund said.
The Demons lost to league rivals No. 13 Evergreen and No. 3 D’Evelyn, in double-overtime, before tipping off Saturday night.
Home-court advantage in the playoffs hasn’t been so kind for Golden in recent years. The Demons lost to Vista Ridge as the higher seed last year in the Sweet 16. In 2015, Golden dropped a state quarterfinal game against Air Academy on the Demons’ home court. In 2014, it was a second-round loss to Greeley Central at Denver South when the Demons were a higher seed.
“It’s been in the back of my mind the whole time,” Madsen said of Golden’s issue on its home court in the playoffs. “We can’t lose here again.”
Golden moves on to hit the road to face Holy Family in the Sweet 16 on Wednesday, March 1. The No. 5-seeded Tigers took care of Falcon on Saturday night and will go into Wednesday’s game on an 11-game winning streak.
“Holy Family is going to play a good pressure defense,” Anderson said. “We’ll have to play really well to have a chance.”
Longmont junior Luke Johnson, middle, attempts to split Golden’s Kayden Sund, left, and Jack Moore. (Dennis Pleuss/Jeffco Athletics)