Palmer and Air Academy to play for Paul Davis Classic title

LAKEWOOD — A pair of Colorado Springs boys hoops programs will face-off Saturday afternoon in the Paul Davis Classic championship game.

Palmer and Air Academy both grabbed semifinal victories Friday night at the annual boys basketball tournament hosted by Green Mountain High School in honor of the Rams’ former coach Paul Davis. The Terrors and Kadets — No. 5 in the Class 5A CHSAANow.com pre-season rankings — will play at 5 p.m. Saturday for the tournament title.

Air Academy jumped out to a quick early lead on (5A) No. 9 Thomas Jefferson. The Kadets finished with a 68-52 victory to punch their ticket to the 1st-place game. Air Academy made the Davis Classic championship last season, but lost to Green Mountain 66-65.

Green Mountain (1-1 record) was attempting to get back to the title game, but Palmer had other ideas. The Rams took an early 11-2 lead in the first four minutes, but the Terrors responded by grabbing the lead by the end of the first quarter and pushing their lead to double-digit points by halftime.

Junior Austin Beeson carried the Rams offensively with a game-high 26 points, including four 3-pointers. Green Mountain cut Palmer’s lead to 3 points in the final minutes, but sophomore Emmanuel Gonzales and junior Walker Asp combined to go 4-for-4 from the free-throw line to keep the Rams at bay.

Palmer took an 80-76 victory. Senior Jameer Satchell had 21 points and Asp finished with 19 points.

Green Mountain and Thomas Jefferson will play in the third-place game at 2 p.m. Saturday.