ThunderRidge boys hoops earns 5A title shot with win over Eaglecrest
BOULDER — ThunderRidge had no time to celebrate Friday night at the Coors Events Center.
Despite a 57-47 victory over Eaglecrest in the Class 5A state basketball semifinal to send the Grizzlies into the championship game for the first time since 2008, ThunderRidge coach Joe Ortiz was already thinking about Saturday night’s 8:30 p.m. title game back in Boulder.
“It feels great, but you don’t get to enjoy this. You really don’t celebrate the semis,” said Ortiz who guided the Grizzlies to back-to-back 5A state titles in 2002 and 2003. “You have 24 hours to get ready for the final. The coaches will meet after this game and then in the morning. We’ll meet with our players at 10 a.m. and do the best we can to get ready.”
ThunderRidge (24-3) came out prepared in the opening minutes against Eaglecrest (21-6). The Grizzlies jumped out to an early 10-0 lead in the opening quarter. Senior Zach Pirog did his damage on the inside and three different Grizzlies (Noah Szilagyi, Clay Verk and Nick Varto) connected on 3-pointers in the first quarter.
“They would get it into me and if Eaglecrest double down our shooters … would get the kick out and bang the shots down,” said Pirog, who scored poured in 22 points. “We had trust in them and they had trust in me.”
ThunderRidge’s lead was a much as 13 points in the first half, but Eaglecrest closed the gap to 29-22 at halftime thanks to a strong 10-0 run. ThunderRidge went scoreless for more than five minutes in the second quarter, but Szilagyi hit his third 3-pointer in the first half with 26 seconds before halftime to end the Raptors’ 10-0 run.
The Grizzlies were 6-for-9 from 3-point range in the opening half. ThunderRidge finished 8-for-13 from long distance for the game.
Eaglecrest used its tenacious trapping defense to slow down ThunderRidge in the second quarter. Sophomore Colbey Ross scored 10 points for the Raptors in the first half to keep Eaglecrest within striking distance. Ross finished with a game-high 26 points.
The Raptors went on an 11-0 run in the third quarter to trim ThunderRidge’s lead to 39-35. However, junior Austin Mueller made his lone basket at a critical time. His 3-pointer at the buzzer to end the third quarter stopped Eaglecrest’s run and allowed the Grizzlies a little more breathing room with a 42-35 lead entering the fourth quarter.
“The great thing is the kids found a way to deal with the adversity in that third quarter,” Ortiz said. “That 3-pointer at the end of the third quarter was huge.”
Szilagyi hit his fourth 3-pointer of the game early in the quarter and Pirog went to work inside to push ThunderRidge’s lead to double-digits. The Grizzlies’ defense was impressive holding Eaglecrest to just over 30 percent from the field for the game, including 2-for-19 from 3-point range.
“It was our defense as always,” Pirog said. “We took away their best players in Elijah Ross and Blend Avdili. We got that done. That was our job.”
The other Ross brother had just three points before fouling out late in the fourth quarter. Avdili was held to 10 points.
It was ThunderRidge’s seventh Final 4 appearance, but first since 2009. ThunderRidge had to settle for runner-up trophies in 2004, 2005 and 2008.
“This is great, but we’ve got to win tomorrow,” Pirog said of getting back to the championship game.
The Grizzlies came into the state tournament a little shaky. ThunderRidge dropped back-to-back Continental League games to Chaparral and Mountain Vista to finish the regular season. Despite the late-season losses, the Grizzlies still grabbed a No. 1 seed.
“I would say for sure they helped us,” Pirog said of the two losses before the start of the postseason. “We were kind of riding high and those brought us down to Earth. Now we are back. We are back for sure.”
Eaglecrest raised the 5A state trophy in 2013 defeating Denver East 63-44 in the championship game. Elijah Ross and Avdili both saw action in the title game as sophomore two years ago.
