(Stephen Priest/CHSAANow.com)
PARKER — Who says senior leadership is a requirement when looking to advance in the Class 5A state basketball tournament?
The 8th-seeded Chaparral Wolverines (8-15 overall) played host to No. 9 Broomfield (16-7) Wednesday night and the Wolverines defeated the Eagles 66-60 through relentless hustle and clutch playmaking down the stretch.
With three freshman anchoring the Chaparral starting five, it was unclear just how this young Wolverines team would respond in the postseason.
In the end, they responded.
“We really rely on our freshman a lot. It’s big task asking 14- and 15-year-olds to step up, but they’ve been stepping up all season,” Wolverine senior Dominic Coleman said. “They played great tonight.”
Broomfield came into the contest with nine upperclassmen out of the 12 total players on their roster, six of those nine being seniors. Despite the disadvantage when it comes to veteran presence, Wolverine coach Tellus Truesdale didn’t let that faze his team one bit.
“Our kids play hard and that’s the main thing that we preach,” Truesdale said. “It doesn’t matter who we play and our freshman have been (playing hard) all year long.
“I don’t think we played our best game, but we played good enough. When it comes tournament time, to survive and advance, you’ll take the win any way you can get it.”
There’s no denying Broomfield made plays throughout the contest, but the plays that needed to be made in crucial moments weren’t, resulting in a frustrating night for coach Terrence Dunn and his team. But credit must be given to the Wolverines, as they were the reason for such a disappointing effort.
Even though the game remained close throughout its entirety, Chaparral had control from the opening tip as they won on early and often on the boards, hustled for loose balls and second chances offensively, while also disrupting the Eagles’ offense all night with their length and size on the perimeter.
Broomfield managed to keep with in arms reach throughout the duration of the game, thanks to junior Sam Foster and senior Jack Burgesser, who both put up 17 points apiece. Then again, the 6-foot-6 Burgesser seemed to be the only lethal threat to the Wolverines in the game as they had no answer for the pick-and-pop action where he delivered the majority of his points behind the arc.
In the final three-and-a-half minutes of the fourth quarter, Broomfield found a way to cut the deficit to three. After back-and-forth turnovers between both teams, Chaparral needed to get a stop defensively as they game struck the two-minute point.
That’s when the senior Coleman, who had a game-high 21 points, took over.
Coleman disrupted a pick-and-roll sequence between Foster and Burgesser, getting his hand on the ball, ultimately freeing him up for a one-on-one transition chance versus the Broomfield big. He created contact as he went up for the contested layup, sinking the shot and the ensuing free throw, sealing the game for the Wolverines.
Up next Chaparral will take on one of the best teams in the state, one that held the CHSAANow.com 5A top ranking for much of the season, in Rangeview. But neither coaches, nor players are shying away from upcoming battle.
“I know that they’re a tough matchup for us, they play really well together,” Truesdale said. “We know we’re going to have our hands full and we’re going to have to take care of the basketball, share the ball, and play better defensively.”