Mountain Vista boys basketball looking to build on 2012 tourney run

It's not as if the Mountain Vista (Highlands Ranch) boys basketball team backed into the 2012 postseason. Yet the Golden Eagles still weren't exactly the early darlings of a Class 5A tournament they entered into with a 15-8 record.

But then Mountain Vista became a shining example of a team getting hot at the right time, reeling off three consecutive road wins—including impressive victories against the Carlton Hurst-led Trojans of Aurora Central and Front Range League champion Fairview (Boulder)—to make a somewhat unexpected appearance in the Elite Eight.

That momentum never waned for the Golden Eagles for much of this season, until, perhaps, the season's final week, as two losses in their final three games denied Mountain Vista the Continental League crown.

However, the late setbacks failed to dim the Golden Eagles' luster in the eyes of the tournament selection committee. Spurred by wins against league champion Regis Jesuit (Aurora) and ThunderRidge (Highlands Ranch), Mountain Vista still received one of the four No. 1 seeds and will be one of the tournament favorites when first-round play begins Wednesday.

"I'd say we kept some of that momentum, and we have a lot of veteran players back. It makes you raise your expectations higher than a year ago," Mountain Vista coach Robert Wood said. "We thought we'd be better this season. We feel like we have the sort of team that can make a long tournament run."

After defeating their two toughest rivals in the Continental League in Regis and ThunderRidge, Mountain Vista was in line to collect the league crown before colliding with the late stumbling blocks.

Although the losses hardly were embarrassing, occurring on the road against defending 5A champion Chaparral (Parker) and crosstown rival Highlands Ranch, it certainly wasn't the manner in which a state title contender would prefer to enter the postseason.

Nevertheless, Wood believes his club learned a valuable lesson. Led by the sharpshooting of senior Elijah Valdez (17.4 points per game), the athleticism of junior Jake Pemberton (17.3) and an up-tempo approach that produces 78.4 points a game, the Golden Eagles are tough to defend.

"Of course we're disappointed about not winning the conference, but basketball a lot of times is about matchups," Wood said. "With both of those teams, we were at a real size disadvantage. We like to go fast and try to get to the basket, but when we go against size that makes it hard to do. Those kids of teams give us trouble, but I think we know that now and know what to expect."

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Also earning No. 1 seeds in the 5A bracket were Regis Jesuit, 5A Jeffco champ Chatfield (Littleton), and Denver Prep League champ Denver East. Those teams will begin play Saturday while awaiting the winners of the 8-9 seed matchups during Wednesday's opening round.

In the Class 4A boys draw, No. 1 seeds went to defending champion Lewis-Palmer (Monument), Wasson (Colorado Springs), which will close after the school year, Valor Christian (Highlands Ranch) and D'Evelyn (Denver).

Led by senior Luke Stratman, who tops 4A in scoring and ranks second overall in the state with a 28.2 scoring average, D'Evelyn is eyeing a deep postseason run after falling one basket short of the Final Four a year ago.

"It's been a pleasure and an honor to have a player like (Stratman). Sometimes you get mesmerized by him," D'Evelyn coach Troy Pachner said. "But we've had five different players score 20 or more points this year. It's not just the Luke Stratman show. We're much deeper than people think."

Of note, last week Stratman broke the state record for three-pointers made in a season with 115. The previous record was 112, set by Matt Clark of Poudre (Fort Collins).