Sand Creek (Colorado Springs) coach Joe Rausch knows there's no such thing as an ugly win this time of year.
Rausch's Scorpions advanced to their first Class 4A Final Four in school history this past weekend, and they have the battle scars to prove it.
Ghassan Nehme, Cheyenne Mountain (right).
File photo by Patrick Miller
"A grind is a great way of putting it," said Rausch, whose team brings a 21-5 mark into Friday's semifinals. "I bet all four teams that are left, none of us have played the kind of ball we'd hoped we'd be playing right now. But that's not really what it's about.
"It's just fighting each possession and hoping that you come out on top after the last one of the game."
The 4A tournament has proven to be a gauntlet, with close games and overtime contests spread throughout the bracket. When the dust settled, all four No. 1 seeds fell and a quartet of second-seeded teams remained alive in the pursuit of the championship trophy.
Along with the Scorpions,
Pueblo East (21-5),
Cheyenne Mountain (Colorado Springs) (21-5) and
Denver South (18-8) still have a shot to hoist the gold ball this weekend at the Coors Events Center on the CU campus.
"This year, maybe more so than we've seen in the last five or six years in 4A, it really felt like the top 11 or 12 teams had a shot," said Rausch, whose team had been knocked out in the quarterfinals two of the past three years. "It really just felt like there wasn't necessarily one or two great teams, but there were a ton of really good teams."
Sand Creek advanced to the final four by coming from behind to knock off top-seeded D'Evelyn (Denver) 58-51 Saturday. Behind the play of Ty McGee, who finished with 23 points and 14 rebounds, the Jaguars had a 47-39 lead heading into the final quarter of play. But the Scorpions clamped down on defense in the fourth, and outscored D'Evelyn 19-4 down the stretch.
"That whole game we just kept clawing and scratching and we couldn't make any headway until the fourth," Rausch said.
Senior
Dylan Clark, who will play college ball for the Air Force Academy, led the way with 16 points, while
Micheal DeCarmo added 15.
Next up for the Scorpions is Pueblo East, which advanced to the semifinals by outlasting top-seeded Valor Christian (Highlands Ranch) 62-56 in overtime.
Dylan Gavin led the way for the Eagles with 27 points and 11 rebounds.
Cheyenne Mountain, which finished tied with Sand Creek in Pikes Peak League play but lost the conference title because of a tie-breaker, needed two overtimes to get by No. 1 Thompson Valley (Loveland) 84-81.
Senior
Ghassan Nehme had a monster game for the Indians, scoring 41 points, including a 4-point play with 20 seconds left in the second overtime that gave Cheyenne Mountain the lead for good.
"I'm not sure there's anybody in the state more talented than Cheyenne Mountain," Rausch said.
Nehme's younger brother,
Christian Nehme, added 20 for the Indians, who will face Denver South in the semifinals.
The Rebels knocked off league rival Thomas Jefferson (Denver) 54-52 to advance to the Final Four for the first time since 1970.
Tyson Purifoy, who scored the game-winner with 23 seconds to play, led the way with 17 points and 11 rebounds.
MaxPreps Colorado Class 4A state tournament bracket
