(Dan Mohrmann/CHSAANow.com)
MONUMENT — Prior to Wednesday’s Class 4A top 10 showdown between Sand Creek and Lewis-Palmer, Rangers coach Bill Benton couldn’t help but point out that the Scorpions had two distinct advantages.
They were No. 25 and No. 4 on the roster.
Almost prophetically, it was D’Shawn Schwartz and Jeffrey Gary – the two players Benton referenced – who carried Sand Creek to a 74-66 win.
The Sand Creek dynamic duo was firing on all cylinders early and often. The Scorpions (9-1 overall, 1-0 Pikes Peak Athletic Conference) jumped out to a 6-2 lead as Schwartz and Gary each knocked down a 3-pointer on their first shots of the game.
They would combine to connect on eight more before the night was over.
“With two kids that can knock it down like that, it spreads the floor,” Sand Creek coach Rob Hawkins said. “We run our entire offense through those two guys. The biggest thing is we were able to get the ball to other guys.”
Devon Young added 10 for the Scorpions, getting most of them on easy shots under the basketball when the Lewis-Palmer defense collapsed on Schwartz who led the game with 33 points.
But it was the focus on what Sand Creek was going to defensively that took the Rangers (4-3, 0-1) away from what they do best as a team. Benton spoke with regret after the game, acknowledging that worrying about what the other team’s style rather than concentrating on what his guys do well ending up hurting.
“Over the last week, I changed part of my focus and I think our guys were hurt by it,” Benton said. “We are a defensive-minded team and we spent a lot of the last couple days focusing what (Sand Creek) was going to do to us defensively. Scoring 66 points, we weren’t struggling on the offensive end.”
Sand Creek came into the game with rhythm on offense partially because they had already seen game action since the end of the holiday break. They beat Palmer 87-53 on Monday night, the first day completion was allowed.
Schwartz exploded for 43 points in that win, just setting the tone for what he needed to do to knock off the defending PPAC champions.
“It helped us prepare,” Schwartz said. “We had a good game, we could get some rest get a little bit of practice and get some shots up.”
The Rangers are a very different team from what they were a year ago. They lost key seniors from a team that ran the table in league, but were able to get solid production from Joel Scott and Billy Cook.
Cook led the team with 21 points and Scott added 13.
“Joel had a heck of a game,” Schwartz said. “I didn’t expect him to come out blazing like he did. I knew even though they graduated a lot of players that they’d be tough. Their coaching is great.”
The most important thing for Benton as a coach is to make sure his boys learn from defeat. The last time Lewis-Palmer lost a PPAC game was back on Feb. 18, 2015 to eventual state champion Air Academy.
“We have our goals in our team room,” Cook said. “This loss, we have to learn from it, but it’s not going to affect any of those long term goals. Coach said it’s a good loss as long as we learn from it.”
And for the Scorpions, opening league play with a win over the defending champion is a good message to send.
“I was good with this,” Hawkins said. “It was nerve-racking. They beat some good teams. They were good. I knew they were going to be tough.”