No. 4 Chatfield boys hoops alone atop 5A Jeffco after win versus Arvada West
ARVADA — Chatfield officially took charge of the boys basketball Class 5A Jeffco League on Wednesday night.
A 78-48 road victory over Arvada West left the Chargers (10-1, 3-0 in league) the lone undefeated Jeffco team in conference play. The rest of the league is going to have to chase down the defending conference champions from here on out.
“You always want to be in the driver’s seat,” Chatfield coach Stephen Schimpeler said after the 30-point win. “You want to be able to control your own destiny. It feels good.”
Chatfield vaulted up the CHSAANow.com 5A boys hoops poll this week to No. 4 after a dominating effort against Lakewood last Saturday.
Lakewood provided more evidence that the Chargers are a threat to contend for a 5A state title after the Tigers (8-3, 2-1) bounced back with a 22-point victory over No. 3 Denver East on Monday night this week.
“It feels good,” Chatfield junior Liam Mann said about taking a 1-game lead over the rest of the league field. “We’ve worked hard for it all season, but it’s not over. We’ve got to keep playing and doing the little things.”
A-West (5-7, 2-1) came in against Chatfield with a pair of impressive victories to start its 5A Jeffco schedule. The Wildcats scored double-digit wins over Bear Creek and Dakota Ridge last week.
However, the Chargers’ pressure defense and attacking the basket offensively put the game out of reach early. Chatfield went on an 18-0 run in the first half that led to an impressive 47-15 halftime lead.
Mann (16 points) and senior Titus Reed (20 points) led the offensive attack inside. Mann had a dozen points combined in the first and fourth quarters, while Reed dominated the second and third quarters scoring all of his 20 points.
“That was definitely the key,” Mann said attacking the inside against the Wildcats. “We knew they were undersized and we could take them there. This game we really pounded it down low. That is what led to such a big win.”
Senior Lucas St. Germain made the Chargers lone 3-pointer late in the first quarter as Chatfield was content with driving the paint possession-after-possession.
“Coming into it I thought they are going to shoot a lot of 3s, but they just outmanned us underneath,” A-West senior Lukas Maly said. “They knew what they could get and went for it every single time. They didn’t need to shoot the 3.”
Maly was a bright spot offensively for A-West. The senior scored a game-high 27 points in the loss. The sharp-shooting guard sank a trio of 3-pointers in the span of just more than a minute midway through the third quarter.
“We had some breakdowns defensively. We lost our focus a little bit and it happens,” Schimpeler said. “Give Arvada West credit for coming back.”
Seniors Joe Miks (12 points), Mike Vrabel (11 points) and Alex Beckley (10 points) all finished in double-digits to keep a balanced scoring attack for the red-hot Chargers.
Chatfield not only extended its current winning streak to nine games — tied for longest winning streak in 5A with Cherry Creek — but pushed its 5A Jeffco League winning streak to 19 games dating back to the 2014-15 season.
“It feels really good. We deserve it,” Reed said. “We are getting recognized and we like that.”
The Chargers head back home to host Ralston Valley at 7 p.m. Friday.
A-West gets its shot against Lakewood on the Tigers’ home court at 2 p.m. Saturday.
“We’ve got a young team. It will come around,” Maly said. “It’s honestly kind of good they beat us that bad because we’ll learn from it. We’ll come back Saturday with a better mentality of playing stronger.”
