(Katie Pickrell/CHSAANow.com)
DENVER – Every time Manitou Springs senior Lucas Rodholm hit a big shot Thursday night – and there were plenty of them – Sterling’s boys basketball team hand an answer.
The Tigers never allowed the second-seeded Mustangs the opportunity to close gap down the stretch of the Class 3A state quarterfinal game at the University of Denver’s Hamilton Gymnasium. Instead, it was No. 10 Sterling that punched its ticket into Friday’s Final 4 after a 58-50 victory.
“It’s a great feeling. Our school hasn’t been to the final four since I think they won (4A in 2011),” Sterling senior Riley Schaefer said. “We’ve worked so hard. I’m just glad we got this – I think we deserve it.”
The Tigers (20-5) face two-time defending state champion Colorado Springs Christian at 8:30 p.m. on Friday. Top-seeded Kent Denver draws Faith Christian in the other semifinal.
“It will be a huge challenge. The (Justin) Engesser kid is really, really good and they’re really well-coached,” Tigers coach Mike Holloway said. “We’ll come back and hope to play our best game of the season, because that’s certainly what it will take.”
Rodholm scored a game-high 30 points for Manitou Springs (22-3). He did most of his damage in the second half, but Sterling responded each time. Schaefer hit a pair of big 3-pointers in the third quarter, and sophomore Carter Keil also had a big half.
“I think when we hits some 3s, they really had to get out on us,” Schaefer said. “It helped us – we could give a pump-fake and we could get by them and get people open.”
Keil and Bodie Hume combined for 30 points to pace Sterling.
(1) Kent Denver 56, (9) Basalt 54
The top-seeded Sun Devils trailed by 10 points headed into the fourth quarter, but Kent Denver rallied behind a number of big shots to hold off Basalt’s upset bid.
Coby Gold scored nine of his 21 points in the fourth quarter. Rory Buck put the Sun Devils (22-3) up by one with 1:44 to go, and Kent went 5-for-8 from the free-throw line down the stretch to put it away.
Michael Glen scored a game-high 31 points for the Longhorns (21-4), but the team struggled to find its shot in the fourth quarter. It was the team’s first Great 8 appearance since 1989.
(3) Colorado Springs Christian 57, (6) DSST-Stapleton 53
The Lions overcame a rough first quarter that saw Denver School of Science & Technology-Stapleton score 24 points.
No. 3 Colorado Springs Christian (23-2) trailed by 13 at one point in the first half before going on a 40-23 run to close out the game. The two-time defending state champions got a clutch 27-point effort from Justin Engesser, who was 10-of-15 shooting on the day. Noah Hopkins added 12 points and Zach Wisner had 11 points and nine rebounds.
The Knights (21-4) had six players finish with at least seven points, led by Andray Thomas’ 12. Blake Pullen added 11 points, but DSST-Stapleton shot just 37.5 percent from the floor in the second half while the Lions were 12-of-18.
(13) Faith Christian 76, (12) Alamosa 59
The Eagles continued their impressive run into the semifinals, scoring 54 points in the second half to take down 12th-seeded Alamosa.
Faith Christian (17-8) was coming off a victory over previously undefeated Resurrection Christian. The Eagles trailed by four points after the first quarter Thursday before taking control of the game.
Jonah Gardner shot 11-of-15 from the field for a game-high 35 points, and Benjamin Hawkins added 14.
Noah Romero and Ryan Brubacher scored 13 points each to lead Alamosa (20-4). Brubacher only played a little more than 11 minutes after sustaining an injury early.