Cherry Creek Holiday Classic Day 3 Wrap Up

The Cherry Creek Holiday Classic wrapped up play Wednesday with a few outstanding performances including Pine Creek taking host Cherry Creek to the brink in the last game of the day.

 

 

 

 

 

Thomas Jefferson 52  Fountain Fort Carson 26

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Fountain Ft. Carson got to know sophomore Breon Harper real well in the first half. Harper nearly out scored the Trojans by himself in the first half, 13-14.  Thomas Jefferson’s senior guard Henry Copper also had a good day scoring 13 points and playing well on defense. When Fountain Ft. Carson did get an open look they couldn’t get them to fall.

Legend 77 Lincoln 57

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Lincoln led  15-13 after a whistle and fouled filled first quarter as both teams were shooting the 1 and 1 before the quarter ended.  Legend built a 10-5 lead mid way through the quarter but Lincoln’s senior wing Rene Melendez led a balanced scoring attack for the Lancers in the first quarter which included a 8-3 run to finish the quarter.

The story of the game though would be the three point shooting of Legend and the lack thereof of Lincoln. Legend connected on 10 three pointers while Lincoln shot 3 of 15 from behind the arch. Both Lincoln and Legend primarily matched up man to man on the defensive ends but after made baskets Lincoln pressed which gave Riley Matticks the room to find the open shooters like Monroe Porter,  who made three 3’s on the day including one that was a four point play that put the Titans up 10 with 2:17 left in the 1st half.  Danny Garrick was also on the receiving end of Matticks assists scoring 11 points in the quarter.  Lincoln was unable to keep up with the scoring pace of the Titans and trailed 40-26 at halftime.

In the third quarter the Titans put the game away. Matticks came out attacking the basket, scoring eight points in the quarter and had assists on three more made three pointers. Legend managed to control the boards as well, limiting Lincoln’s second chance points.

In the fourth quarter the Legend lead ballooned to as many as 28 and the second string for Legend was in the game about mid way through the quarter. Lincoln point guard was injured at the outset of the fourth quarter and did not return to the game. If it is a major injury, it will hamper Lincoln’s success in the second half of the season.

Doubled Digit Scorers

Legend 

Matticks 15

Garrick 16

Porter 14

Lincoln

Jalloh – 13

Melendez – 11

Cherry Creek  68   Pine Creek 60

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Cherry Creek Bruins got everything it wanted and more from the Pine Creek Eagles in the final game of the Classic.  Pine Creek started off hot hitting its first of 13 three’s of the game to get things started. The Bruins on the other hand struggle early and was getting out worked for rebounds. It wasn’t until mid way through the second quarter and the Bruins had fallen behind by 10 points until it started to click for them. Senior Hayden Parr scored five straight points to cut the led but Pine Creek’s Quentin Gutierrez hit one of his game high five three pointers to push the lead back up . The Bruins went on to out score the Eagles 11-5 in the final four minutes of the first half to cur the Eagel led to two points going into halftime.

Parr came out and tied the game at the beginning of the third quarter but Gutierrez responded with two straight three pointers to again put the Eagles in front.  It wasn’t the only time in the quarter where Gutierrez single handily took the wind out of the Bruins sails. After his last three pointer the Bruins then went on a 10-2 run which included a steal and dunk by Parr and a three pointer by Will Halfon. The Eagles were careless with the ball and were getting beat back in transition.

Both the Eagles and Bruins matched up man to man for most of the game. The smaller Eagles did a good job of getting in position for rebounds and worked hard to keep the Bruins off.

In the final quarter Pine Creek’s Dawson Thomas scored  11 of  his 16 points in the quarter keeping the Eagles in the game. Thomas’s second three pointer of the quarter gave lead back to the Eagles but for a brief moment.  Parr and Halfon took over in the last four minutes for the Bruins. Both made key three pointers and shot a combined eight of eight from the free throw line to keep Eagles at arms length.

 

Double Digit Scorers

Cherry Creek 

Halfon 25

Jalen Meeks 10

Parr  18

Pine Creek

Gutierrez 19

Thomas 16