No. 6 Pueblo West boys basketball weathers the Thunder to advance to 4A Sweet 16
PUEBLO WEST — When Pueblo West has been successful in the postseason as of late, a key reason has been its ability to make free throws in the fourth quarter.
If that method isn’t broken, the Cyclones see no reason to fix it. They connected on 11 free throws in the final eight minutes to beat Discovery Canyon 72-63 in the second round of the Class 4A boys state basketball tournament.
“This is our senior year,” Nieyeme Smyer-Williams said. “We want to do whatever we can to win.”
The Thunder embraced the opportunity to travel to the Pueblo area once again and come away with a win over a former state champion. They did just that on Wednesday when stunned many with a 75-49 win over Pueblo East.
So as far as the challenge of taking on West was concerned, Paul Campbell’s boys were more than up to the task.
“Their coach told me that they haven’t had a full squad all year until they had beaten East,” Pueblo South coach Bobby Tyler said. “You can tell that’s a pretty good playoff team. If anybody is going to try and convince me that they were No. 33 or whatever they are, I’ll call you a liar because that’s a pretty good ball club.”
In reality, the Thunder sat at No. 38 and jumped out an early 7-0 lead, putting the Cyclones back on their heels to start the game. But West eventually settled down and it was Billy Bloesser and Pierre Taylor who led the scoring charge in the first, putting the Cyclones up 15-13.
They extended the lead slightly before halftime, but slow second half starts have been an issue for West at times this year.
“We said in the huddle that we can’t come out slow,” Smyer-Williams said. “We just had to play defense, take care of the ball and just do what we do.”
And they did just that. Smyer-Williams hit a 3-pointer and Jacob Wilkinson scored from the block on the next possession to grab the early momentum. Wilkinson added two more field goals, including one from 3-point range to give the Cyclones a 51-39 lead after three quarters.
The Thunder continued to battle back, though. Daryn Whisman did everything in his power to pull his team even, scoring 10 of his team-high 17 points in the fourth quarter. A dunk and a 3-pointer from Caleb Blackburn helped Discovery Canyon inch closer and closer.
But every time, the Cyclones found an answer.
“(There were) a couple of key turnovers late in the fourth quarter,” Discovery Canyon coach Paul Campbell said. “We missed some shots at that point. I have to take my hats off to Pueblo West.”
The Cyclones did what they needed to in the fourth quarter.
Especially knocking down their free throws. Smyer-Williams hit on three of four, pushing his game-high point total to 23. Taylor hit five of seven. He finished with 19. If the Cyclones are able to control the pace of the game and do what they’ve done in the past – hit free throws in the fourth quarter – they’ll have a shot at their second 4A title in three years.
The next step will be to take on Mesa Ridge, who traveled to Glenwood Springs and came away with an upset win.
The Grizzlies will travel to Pueblo West on Wednesday.
