Photos: Beresford leads Mountain Vista boys basketball to Great 8

HIGHLANDS RANCH — Ray Beresford scored the first nine points of the game to lead Mountain Vista, on a game-high 27 points, to the Class 5A Great 8 after a 60-57 win over Montbello on Wednesday.

“I thought we came out and played pretty well to start the game,” Golden Eagles coach Bob Wood said after the game. “We let them get us into a halfcourt game and slow the tempo down and they are a little bit better at that than we are.”

At the half Mountain Vista only led 27-26, but the Golden Eagles took control of the game with an 18-8 advantage in the third quarter.

The Warriors then mounted a comeback in the fourth quarter, even closing to 58-57 with less than a minute to play, but a shot at the buzzer to send the game to overtime fell short.

With 7.6 seconds left in the game, Isaac Phillips hits two free throws to give Vista a three-point lead, and Mountain Vista forced a tough 3-point shot for the Warriors that came up short.

Said Montbello coach Ron Bush: “If we could have had the same intensity to start the game as we did in the fourth quarter, it would have been a different outcome. We could not figure out Beresford tonight. He is a tough kid and did an excellent job tonight.”

Find a complete roundup of all Sweet 16 games here.