CSCS guard Ross Parker (15) looks to pass the ball into the post during the Lions’ win over Mesa Ridge Thursday night. (Dan Mohrmann/CHSAANow)
COLORADO SPRINGS — A lopsided third quarter proved to be the difference Thursday as Class 3A’s No. 1-ranked Colorado Springs Christian dismantled Mesa Ridge 60-39.
The Grizzlies — a young team with high ambitions — came into CSCS with hopes that an early season win over a powerhouse like the Lions could work wonders for them later in the year. But much like a loss to Pueblo Central earlier this year, Mesa Ridge just couldn’t put together a complete game.
“We set our whole schedule up to make these kids mature,” Mesa Ridge coach Paul Mileto said. “We’re pretty young so we want to mature quick and we have a lot of respect for CSCS.”
Both teams had difficulty establishing an offensive rhythm early. The game started on a good note for the Lions as Ross Parker knocked down an early three-pointer, but that was anything other than a sign of what was to come.
Almost halfway through the first quarter, the two teams had scored a combined eight points. The Lions were able to open it up somewhat, building a 14-8 lead.
Their top offensive threats in Justin Engesser and Sam Howard had only accounted for a combined four points in that span. It was with the steady hand of point guard Chris Hildenbrand that the Lions were able to bide the their time until Engesser and Howard settled in.
But even Hildenbrand thought the team’s play didn’t meet expectations early in the game.
“I think our mental emotion wasn’t there in the beginning; we were a little nervous since it was our first home game,” Hildenbrand said. “(The slow start) is on me because we try to play our game and slow it down. We wanted to make sure we were focused and could play our game.”
Engesser would settle in a bit in the second quarter where he lead all scorers with seven points to finish with nine in the first half. But the Lions continued to struggle to build and maintain a lead. Grizzlies guard Pryce Adams led his team with six points in the first half, but was the victim of a botched call that would contribute to the team’s second half undoing.
Adams was whistled for a foul on Howard, but was standing on the other side of key where the foul occurred. In trying to call the foul on Humphrey Gabriel, the officials called the number of a player that wasn’t even on the floor before assigning the foul on Adams.
“That kind of hurt us and I sat him (at the start of the second half),” Mileto said. “I had to decide if I needed him later in the game and I didn’t want to take a chance in him getting (his fourth) foul early.”
With Adams on the bench, the Lions took advantage. They outscored the Grizzlies by 16 points in the third quarter, giving them a 47-28 lead going into the final eight minutes. The Lions played ball-control offense in the fourth quarter and walked away with the 60-39 win. After scoring two points in the first quarter, Engesser led all scorers with 19 points. Hildenbrand added 14 and Howard finished with 13.
“We’ve had some games where we’ve been up big at halftime and come out in the third quarter and we don’t play hard enough,” Lions coach Mark Engesser said. “It was a three-point game and we needed to come out and focus in the third quarter and the guys did just that.”