Evergreen junior Bridger Tenney (10) has the ball knocked away by Erie junior Alex Mathis on Thursday night. The Cougars still won, 61-50. (Dennis Pleuss/Jeffco Athletics)
LAKEWOOD — Opponents are going to be in for some long nights if Evergreen’s 6-foot-6 senior Michael Dillon can step back and drain NBA-range 3-pointers consistently this season.
That was the case Thursday in the opening round of the Paul Davis Classic boys basketball tournament at Green Mountain High School. Dillon scored a game-high 18 points to help guide Evergreen (2-1 record) to a 61-50 victory over Erie (1-1).
“I look to shoot,” Dillon said of his NBA range 3-pointer he made with 4:17 left in the fourth quarter that pushed the Cougars’ lead to 61-35. “If teams aren’t guarding me I feel confident enough, and I think coach (Scott Haebe) feels confident enough, for me to shoot it.”
Evergreen senior Rhys Sayler (15) drives to the basket against Erie. (Dennis Pleuss/Jeffco Athletics)
Dillon, who is averaging more than 17 points per game early this season, finished with a pair of 3-pointers. Junior Chase Rogers got on track a little bit with his shooting. The Cougars’ guard had a season-high 13 points, including a trio of 3-pointers.
Rogers scored eight points in a span of two minutes in the third quarter that pushed the Cougars’ lead to more than 20 points. He did have a bit of a scare when he went down hard after jumping for a loose ball, but Rogers was OK after being checked out by a trainer.
“I still could have hit some more wide-open shots I had,” Rogers said. “I’ve just got to get into the gym and work on it more and more. I felt like I got my groove back a little bit.”
Haebe is hoping to Rogers develops into even a greater offensive threat this season. While Rogers’ 3-point shooting is a great weapon Haebe wants him to broaden his game a little more.
Evergreen junior Chase Rogers gets off a pass in traffic Thursday night. (Dennis Pleuss/Jeffco Athletics)
“Chase is a great shooter, but he can do other things as well,” Haebe said. “He can penetrate and hit the pull-up jumper. That’s what we are working on.”
Junior Bridger Tenney (14 points) and senior Rhys Sayler (10 points) both had solid games to advance the Cougars into the tournament’s semifinal 6:30 p.m. Friday back at Green Mountain High School. Evergreen faces Central of Grand Junction in the semifinal. The Warriors hung on to defeat Battle Mountain 65-53 in the third of four games Thursday night at Green Mountain High School.
One of the only disappointments for Evergreen was the 15-0 run Erie had to close out the game. Haebe turned to his bench to finish out the game, but the Tigers closed Evergreen’s lead to 61-48 with 1:35 left in the fourth quarter. Erie junior Jadon Lucero and sophomore Ethyn Tyson, 14 points each in the loss, led the late rally.
Haebe was forced to put his starts back in to make sure the game didn’t get away.
“I was a little disappointed with those guys. They are much better than that,” Haebe said. “They came in and it just didn’t go well to begin with. It snowballed and they lost their heads a little bit. They’ll be OK.”
The Cougars will get a lift with 6-foot-6 senior Reese Wilson returns soon from injury.
“When big Reese gets back we’ve got six guys that can knock down shots and are threats on the offensive end,” Haebe said. “We’ve just got to keep working on our team chemistry on the defensive end of that.”
Evergreen remains on the road until after winter break with games at Rifle, Battle Mountain and Conifer to get ready for the competitive Class 4A Jeffco League. The Cougars open conference play at D’Evelyn on Jan. 5.
“It’s very important to get ready for that,” Rogers said of preparing for the Class 4A Jeffco League season. “We have a pretty good out-of-league schedule to get ready for it.”
Evergreen senior Michael Dillon (34) looks to get a shot over Erie junior Jeffrey Farineau during the first half Thursday. (Dennis Pleuss/Jeffco Athletics)