1A boys basketball: Leggitt’s clutch 3-pointers lead Creede over Cornerstone Christian
GREELEY — Finn Leggitt only scored six points in the second half of No. 1 Creede’s 55-46 win over No. 8 Cornerstone Christian, but they were easily the most timely six points of the game.
The Miners held a slim 27-25 lead at halftime, and missed key opportunities to make the game a little more comfortable at the break. That was the emphasis of the talk at halftime.
“A lot of backdoors and start making layups,” Leggitt said. “We didn’t do so well and had to work on that.”
Burying a couple of long shots helps too. Leggitt connected on two 3-pointers to highlight a 12-1 run that Creede opened the second half with. What was a back and forth battle for the better part of 16 minutes had turned into a game where the top seed in the Class 1A state tournament had control.
“We knew they were going to play rough and come out here and player their game,” Leggitt said.
The Bulldogs attacked the basket often, drawing fouls and making their way to the free throw line. Seven of their 25 first-half points came from the charity stripe.
And where Leggitt warmed up at just the right time for the Miners, Cornerstone Christian went cold. Christian Lambertson’s 3-pointer in the third was the only field goal the Bulldogs made in the quarter.
Ethan Carlson scored eight of his game-high 19 points in the fourth. The man-to-man pressure from Cornerstone Christian threw Creede off for a bit, but they were able to adjust enough to come away with the win.
“In our district, we see a lot of zone presses and not a lot of man,” Leggitt said. “We had a hard time adjusting, but we’ll go over it and we’ll fix it.”
The Miners will face Peetz in the 1A Final 4 on Friday.
(6) South Baca 75, (3) Heritage Christian 59
Micah Crane scored 25 and Thomas Manuel added 21 as South Baca grabbed the 1A tournament’s early upset.
Levi Kilian scored 16 for the Eagles, half of which came in the fourth quarter. But the Patriots outscored Heritage Christian 23-17 in the final eight minutes to move on to Friday’s Final 4.
(2) Front Range Baptist 65, Genoa-Hugo/Karval 31
Deric Woods scored 22 and Adam Poole added 16 as Front Range Baptist rolled into the 1A semifinals.
Ben Miller led Genoa-Hugo/Karval with 11 points.
The Pirates had their best offensive output in the third quarter, but the deficit to the Falcons proved to be too much ground to make up.
With the win, Front Range Baptist will face No. 6 South Baca, who beat No. 3 Heritage Christian Thursday morning.
(5) Peetz 64, (4) Sangre de Cristo 29
Peetz is headed to the Final 4 after an impressive win over Sangre de Cristo. The Bulldogs jumped out to a 18-10 lead after the first quarter and extended it to 29-15 at the half.
Logan Sircy led Peetz with 19 points while Jake Slane was scoring leader for the Thunderbirds, totaling 11.
The Bulldogs will face top-seeded Creede in the semifinals on Friday.
