5A boys basketball semifinals: ThunderRidge, Fossil Ridge to play for title
By Brad Cochi/CHSAANow.com
Photo: Brad Cochi/CHSAANow
The Class 5A boys basketball Final Four was played on Friday night at the Denver Coliseum. ThunderRidge and Fossil Ridge both won their respective games and advanced to the state championship game.
Friday’s Class 5A Final Four matchup between the ThunderRidge and Denver East boys basketball teams more than lived up to its potential for a stunning display of high-level basketball and an epic finish.
At the Denver Coliseum, defending champion and top-seeded ThunderRidge and white-hot No. 5 Denver East treated the playoff crowd to a back-and-forth thriller. Eventually, ThunderRidge took a late lead and locked down on defense during a critical final possession to come away with a 55-54 victory.
The Grizzlies are back in the title game.
“Our resolve all season has been just amazing,” ThunderRidge’s Andrew Crawford said. “We’ve just got to go back to the lab and focus on the next game and get composed. This was a great win, but we’ve got to focus on the next one.”
Friday’s first half was back and forth and close throughout, and ThunderRidge’s Joey Billelo hit a 3-pointer at the buzzer to send the game into halftime tied at 30-30. The Angels (24-3) began to distance themselves a bit in the third quarter and led by four points to start the fourth.
The Grizzlies (25-2) fought their way back and Zach Keller, who picked up his third foul early in the third quarter and had to wait on the bench through much of the frame, hit a 3-pointer to give the Grizzlies the lead with five minutes left in the game. The lead continued to change hands in the final five minutes until Keller tipped in a rebound to give the Grizzlies a one-point lead with 30 seconds left.
On their final possession, the Angels couldn’t get anything going against the Grizzlies’ defense and a long 3-point attempt came up well short of the rim.
“That was just survival,” ThunderRidge head coach Joe Ortiz said. “They came out gunning, they got hot and they got on us. When we hit that three at the end of the half, we tied it up but it still felt like we were behind. Plus, we were in foul trouble and we were protecting guys. They separated but we did a good job of changing the game, changing the tempo and creating some turnovers, and we hit some big shots. Rohan (Binu)’s three in the corner was a momentum swing. Then obviously, Zach had some big plays.”
Friday’s game was tied 10 times and neither team led by more than eight at any point.
Keller led all scorers with 19 points. Crawford scored 15 points and Billelo finished with 10.
For Denver East, D’Aundre Samuels led the Angels with 18 points. Aguir Dawam and Zy’Quis Davis each scored 12.
Scheduled for 7 p.m. back at the Coliseum, Saturday’s title game will mark the eighth time ThunderRidge has played for a boys basketball championship. The Grizzlies will face the winner of the later semifinal between No. 2 Fossil Ridge and No. 3 Chaparral.
Denver East last won a state title in 2014.
The Fossil Ridge boys basketball team has waited since 2014 for another shot at its first state championship and will finally get it on Saturday.
In the Class 5A Final Four on Friday night at the Denver Coliseum, the Sabercats (26-1) won 65-56 over the Chaparral Wolverines (21-5) to secure a berth in the championship game at 7 p.m. on Saturday. After the game, Sabercats head coach Matt Johannsen said having an opportunity to walk away with a trophy at the end of what has felt like a special season would mean the world to the team and the school.
“There’s nothing like it. This is a great feeling,” Johannsen said. “Tomorrow is no joke though. ThunderRidge is really good, so we’re going to have to play better than we did today. But I like our chances.”
When Fossil Ridge last played in a championship game in 2014, the Sabercats lost to Denver East. To get over the championship hump, they’ll have to overcome a top-seeded ThunderRidge team that beat them 81-68 during the regular season back on Dec. 11.
“That’s out the window,” Johannsen said. “They’re a better team than they were back then and I would hope we are too. We’re just going to have to line up and play.”
Against Chaparral, Johannsen said the Sabercats started slow and played timid and unsure in the first half. Still they trailed just 28-23 to start the second.
In the third quarter, Fossil Ridge outscored Chaparral, 19-10, and continued to pull away until they Sabercats had closed out the game.
“We weren’t doing what we do in the first half,” Johannsen said. “We were kind of forgetting about what we do. We just had to play our basketball and we did that. We got better shots, we defended better and that was the difference.”
Fossil Ridge’s Nick Randall led all scorers with 25 points. Teammates Brock Mishak, Domenic Leone and Colin Hayes each finished with 12 points.
Luke Williams led Chaparral with 21 points, while Joel Speckman and Bennet Pegues each added 10.
