Denver East Withstands Rock Canyon Comeback Bid
By Matt Langley
www.BasketballColorado.com
2/28/2015
Highlands Ranch, CO – It wasn’t an upset, yes the 6th seeded Denver East Angles defeated the 3rd seeded Rock Canyon Jaguars Saturday afternoon at Rock Canyon High School 69-61. However for it to be a real upset Rock Canyon would have needed to have a major advantage which they did not have and many argue that East was not a six seed and got shafted by the selection committee. The final score is a bit misleading as well. Denver East controlled nearly the entire game had the Angels been able to covert free throws through the second half the Jaguars may have never been able to cut into, at one point, was a 21 point lead at the end of the third quarter. However the Angels did struggle and that let the door open for the Jaguars senior guard Mitch Lombard.
Denver East simply dominated rock Canyon in the first half. The half court defensive pressure the Angels used was too much for the Jaguars to handle. So much so that when Rock Canyon was able to get open shots in the paint they missed and failed to the the offensive rebounds. It wasn’t until the second half when rock Canyon made it first three pointer. East on other hand was playing great defense and was extraordinarily clam on offense. The Angels passed the ball around against the Rock Cayon defense and then waited until they got the shot they wanted. Senior Angel guard Brian Carey was dominate in the first half scoring eight points and dishing out 3 assists. The Angels led 28-12 at halftime .
In the second half East built a 20 point lead behind Carey and junior wing Deron Harrell. There was no doubt that East had control of the boards on both ends of the floor. Even though East maintained control through the third quarter Lombard was heating up. After scoring eight points in the first half Lombard scored 27 points in the second half to lead his team on a ruckus comeback attempt. East then began to miss free throws and the Rock Canyon coach used a hack an Angles policy for much of the second half and all of the fourth quarter. The Angels shot 39 free throws in the 4th quarter alone mean while Lombard scored 21 points in the fourth quarter himself to help cut the East lead to as little as 10 points with 3:40 left in the game. However Carey and Ed Meyers were able to piece enough free throws together to secure the win 69-61.