Overland makes first appearance in boys hoops title game since 1990
BOULDER — For the Overland Trailblazers, size conquers all — and when you have more than one big man capable of stepping up in big moments, good things tend to happen.
That was the case in a hotly-contested, and above all, physical Final 4 affair in Boulder Friday night, as Overland defeated the Denver East Angels 72-52 to advance to the Class 5A boys basketball championship game Saturday.
Things started off with a bang, with the guards on both sides finding space hard to come by down low. The refs were letting both teams play, and everyone was entering the lane at their own risk, including celebrated senior point guards Austin Conway and Brian Carey, who were matched up against one another for most of the night.
“Both of them shot the ball pretty bad tonight,” said Overland head coach Danny Fisher. “I know Austin was pretty focused defensively, and I thought he missed some opportunities at the rim because he was playing so hard on defense. To see those two go at each other though was fun.”
With neither team gaining much ground after one quarter, Denver East hung on to a narrow 13-11 lead.
Even with the relative lack of whistles, Overland looked like they’d be in trouble when star center De’Ron Davis picked up three fouls early in the second quarter and was forced to sit the last three minutes of the first quarter and most of the second.
With Davis unavailable because of foul trouble and Conway struggling to find his rhythm (he went 1-9 from the field in the first half), senior forward Ryan Swan stepped up and then some, going off for seven points in the second to help pump Overland’s lead to 35-27 at halftime.
“We’ve been waiting for Ryan to kind of have a statement game for a long time because we knew we’d have to deal with some adversity like foul trouble, and he just didn’t blink,” said Fisher. “He stretched the floor, he made threes, he got steals, he got dunks, and he just played big in the paint. His versatility is what kept us steady when the big trouble got in foul trouble.”
“Coach is always telling us we’re good without him,” added Swan, who finished with 17 points and eight rebounds. “We just have to believe in ourselves, and we did. We went out and just got the job done.”
After not only surviving but thriving for much of the first half absent Davis, Overland got the big-man back for the third, and the six-foot-nine senior put his time on the court to good use, scoring six points and adding five rebounds plus two blocked shots in the quarter.
On the night Davis finished the night with 16 points and 17 rebounds to go along with 5 blocks.
“In the Centennial League, they double so hard, he’s looking for the double team even when it’s not there,” said Fisher. “His timing was off just a little bit, but this was a much better offensive game for him.”
Without zero daylight down low thanks to the work of Overland’s big-men, Denver East junior guard Jack Buckmelter shouldered the scoring load for the Angels. Buckmelter drained a pair of threes in the third, and finished the night with 15 points. Thanks largely to his work, the Angels were still hanging around at the end of three, down 55-46.
But Overland’s lead quickly expanded in the fourth. Conway finally got going, turning Angels’ turnovers into six fast break points in the final frame, and form there Overland only had to coast to what deceptively looked like a blowout victory.
Despite the slow start, Conway finished with 10 points, but it really was Overland’s big men that turned the tide Friday. They’ll be forced to pick on somebody their own size Saturday as they try and win their first Boy’s Basketball Championship in school history. They’ll be facing off against the ThunderRidge Grizzlies and six-foot-ten center Zach Pirog.
When considering tomorrow night’s matchup, Fisher ended the night with a preview basketball fans around the state are sure to echo:
“Oh man,” said Fisher. “Can’t ask for more than that.”
Tip-off is set for 8:30 p.m. at the CU Event Center in Boulder.
