HIGHLANDS RANCH — These are the types of games Zach Pirog craves.
So do his teammates.
“Definitely, I want to drive through my teammates and they want to drive through me,” the 6-foot-10 senior said Friday night after leading the Grizzlies to a 61-51 victory over rival Rock Canyon in the Class 5A Continental League.
The Grizzlies, ranked No. 2 in The Associated Press 5A media poll, improved to 16-1 overall, 4-0 in league and won a toughie on the road at The Jungle at Rock Canyon (14-4, 4-10), which is itching to make the jump to the league’s and classification’s elite.
ThunderRidge has won seven games in succession and can thank Pirog (28 points, 15 rebounds, four blocked shots) as well as overall team defense that suffocated and harassed Rock Canyon.
“Good win,” longtime coach Joe Ortiz said. “Our defense is our strength even though we have a lot of weapons … and Pirog was the difference.”
The Jags had no one to deal with Pirog, who was a constant. Emotions also were a problem — they recently took down Chaparral, are coached by Kent Grams, who won state titles in football and basketball while playing for ThunderRidge, and appeared tight in the first half.
Rock Canyon got within nine points down the stretch, but poor free-throw shooting — the Jags misfired on 12, including six in the fourth quarter — didn’t help, nor did a slow first half in which the Jags generated only 11 points. All told, they made only 14 baskets.
Plus, Noah Szilagyi scored eight of his 12 points for the Grizzlies after halftime, and Pirog, signed with Nebraska Omaha, made 9-of-10 shots after the first quarter, none more than a couple of steps away from the basket.
Neil H. Devlin: ndevlin@denverpost.com or twitter.com/neildevlin
ThunderRidge 12 11 22 16 — 61
Rock Canyon 7 4 18 22 — 51
ThunderRidge — Szilagyi 4 3-4 12, Mueller 3 0-0 7, Pirog 12 4-9 28, Tiedgen 1 1-2 4, Varto 1 1-2 3, Brady 0 0-0 0, Verk 1 0-0 2, Bloom 0 0-0 0, Harhigh 0 5-8 5, Engel 0 0-0 0. Totals 22 14-25 61.
Rock Canyon — Lombard 6 8-11 20, Garcia 2 6-9 10, Masten 2 0-0 5, Hirsch 4 5-9 15, Ewan 0 0-0 0, Kozmata 0 0-0 0, Andrews 0 0-0 0, Rardin 0 1-2 1, Berman 0 0-0 0. Totals 14 20-32 51.
3-pt. goals — Mueller, Szilagyi, Tiedgen; Hirsch 2, Masten.
