More photos. (Matt Mathewes/MVPSportsPics.com)
GOLDEN – It seemed like his team’s fate was just about sealed when Justin Bassey stepped to the free-throw line Friday night.
Faith Christian’s boys basketball team led Colorado Academy by four points with 10.8 seconds remaining in the Class 3A state semifinals when Bassey was fouled. Instead of giving up hope though, Bassey and his teammates executed the gameplan exactly as it was intended.
By twice intentionally missing the second of his free throws, the junior ended up with six attempts in the closing seconds. His last two attempts he knocked down to tie the game, and the Mustangs went to the foul line 17 more times in overtime as Colorado Academy stunned the top-seeded Eagles 73-67 at Lockridge Arena on the Colorado School of Mines campus.
Colorado Academy (20-6) advanced to the 3A state title game for the second consecutive year and will take on Colorado Springs Christian at 7 p.m. on Saturday with a championship at stake.
“It’s unbelievable. The way that game ended and playing against one of our biggest rivals … I think we were just stunned, almost in awe,” said Bassey, who finished with a game-high 27 points. “I’m still awestruck by how this game ended. I don’t think it’s really sunk in that we’re going to the finals again.”
The Mustangs trailed their Metro League rival by nine points in the third quarter before working their way back into it. Still, after Faith Christian went up 56-52 with 10.8 seconds remaining, things looked bleak. But Bassey missed the second of his attempts from the line, and the tip went out of bounds to Colorado Academy.
Bassey was fouled again, and once more missed the second of his attempts. He grabbed the rebound himself and was fouled for a third time.
“Our plan was to make the first, miss the second,” Bassey said. “It was just a really great job in foresight by our coaches. I attribute it all to the guys who wanted the ball so much. We knew what we had to do and we got out there and executed it.”
Faith Christian (23-3) had gone to overtime Thursday night against Jefferson Academy, and the Mustangs took advantage. With the Eagles in foul trouble, Colorado Academy went 11-of-17 from the line in OT. Christian Hyatt scored 11 of his 18 points in the extra session.
“We felt like we had a lot of momentum, coming off those free throws and knowing the fact they had just played an overtime game the night before,” Bassey said. “We felt we had really strong momentum going into overtime and a lot of energy. Our bench did a really good job of hyping everyone up.”
Peter Vukovich-Simonson and Will Creedon added 10 points each for Colorado Academy. Spencer Bazz paced Faith Christian with 16 points and Chance Bazz added 15, including four 3-pointers in the third quarter alone.
(2) Colorado Springs Christian 40, (3) Lutheran 31
More photos. (Matt Mathewes/MVPSportsPics.com)
A year ago, Colorado Springs Christian came just one game away from playing for a state championship.
Denied that opportunity, the Lions set out to make things right.
Backed by a defensive effort that limited Lutheran to a season-low 31 points, Colorado Springs Christian pulled away down the stretch Friday night. The Lions advanced to the 3A state title game for the first time since 2008.
“All the guys just worked their tails off for this moment,” CSCS sophomore Justin Engesser said. “All season, we just had that vision in our eyes just to go for it. We did tonight.”
Colorado Springs Christian (25-1) lost to eventual state champion Holy Family in the 2014 state semifinals. The team hasn’t made it to the final game of the season since falling to Faith Christian in 2008.
“We’re a competitive bunch. We want to win,” Lions junior Sam Howard said. “That left a bad taste in our mouths. We got embarrassed last year. We only lost by eight, but it was embarrassing … but I think we’ve learned from it.”
Howard scored a game-high 16 points Friday, including all eight of his team’s points in the third quarter. Lutheran trailed by only one after James Willis opened the fourth with a bucket, but Lutheran went just 1-of-16 the rest of the way.
Lutheran (21-5) averaged 64.2 points a game this season and its previous low was 49 points. The CSCS coaching staff told the team if it could hold Lutheran below that number, the chances of winning were good.
“It was all our defense. I think they only scored four points in that last quarter,” Engesser said. “We shut them down and we got loose balls and ended up making big free throws.”
Brandon Crocker led Lutheran with 13 points and Brendan Edgerley added 12.