The big-school boys basketball focus last week was on the Heritage-ThunderRidge Tip-Off tournament, which featured several good teams. Chatfield won it, as expected, but the fourth-ranked Chargers certainly had to earn it with an 84-79 win against Fairview in double overtime.
The Chargers had a lot of doubles in that one, especially Trevor Wages’ double-double (25 points and 10 rebounds). Two other players, Dean Wright with 18 points and Landon Vermeer with 15, also scored in double figures.
Fairview’s Darragh O’Neill also excelled, scoring 42 points.
Chatfield, 3-0, obviously is off to a good start, and interim coach Gary Anderson knows he has inherited a lot of talent now that Steve Schimpeler is taking a leave of absence for personal reasons. Anderson has been a successful girls coach before, but this is his first time heading a boys program.
“This is Coach Schimpeler’s team; he’s built them,” Anderson said. I’m just doing what he would do the best that I can.”
One rule that Anderson has instituted is that only co-captains Landon Vermeer and Kyle Slavin may speak to the press. That prevents Wages from talking despite a spectacular game.
Chatfield held small leads for most of regulation, but Fairview came surging back. O’Neill, the only returning starter for the Knights, did most of the damage and was superb at the foul line, missing only two free throws in 23 attempts.
Fairview held an eight-point lead with 3 minutes left in regulation, but Chatfield staged its own rally. The Chargers finally put it away with a dominant 14-point second overtime period.
“I’ve been questioning our team’s toughness and I will no longer do that,” Anderson said. “Tonight, our actions spoke louder than words.”
Chatfield got the win even after 6-foot-6 Jordan Carter and then the 6-8 Wages fouled out. Wages just recently committed to play for the Colorado School of Mines.
“It goes to show with practice and everything where we all come in,” Vermeer said. “The (former) J.V. guys push us really hard, and tonight, with the foul trouble we had, the J.V. guys stepped up huge. They just didn’t lose composure and found ways to make the big play.”
T-Bones
Emotions ran high throughout the game and officials handed out four technical fouls. While Darragh O’Neill dodged them all, his brother Shane was teed up once. Chatfield’s Carter and Vermeer were upset with a non-call and foul, so they got one technical apiece.
One technical was given to Fairview coach Frank Lee, who hadn’t lost his temper. He called a timeout late in the game, knowing full well that he had none left. Fairview trailed by a basket and Lee was looking for a miss and Fairview rebound after the technical foul shots. It didn’t work, but was smart coaching anyway.
Another Tip-Off Classic
Rangeview won the Aurora Public Schools version of a tip-off tournament. The Raiders beat Gateway 62-60 when Jamal Wright hit a three-pointer with less than a second remaining. It was Wright’s fourth three, and he finished with 25 points.
Foray into Class 4A
Thomas Jefferson was the Class 4A representative at the Heritage-ThunderRidge tournament. After an opening 75-62 win against Grandview, the Spartans lost to Fairview by almost the same score, but TJ wrapped up its tourney with a fairly close loss to ThunderRidge, 62-57.
Although the Spartans suffered two losses in three games, guard Ray Riley continued to impress. He had a nice dunk late against the Grizzlies and gets far more slams than usual for a player that stands 5-10. Spartans coach Grant Laman recommended viewing a highlight film showing many of Riley’s dunks on YouTube.
There doesn’t figure to be much movement in the 4A rankings from preseason, considering the results of the first week of play. Sierra, Lewis-Palmer, TJ, Pueblo South and Broomfield all look like good bets to keep on winning, although there could be some 5A obstacles in the coming weeks.
