Scoring just 13 points in the second half won’t win many games in Class 5A basketball.
It turned out to be more than enough Thursday night for Grandview.
The Wolves got to cut down the nets at the University of Denver’s Magness Arena after edging Gateway 45-41 to win the inaugural eight-team, multiclassification Tournament of Champions.
Before a sparse crowd and live television audience, Grandview (8-1) jumped out to an early lead against the cold-shooting Olympians (6-4) and survived a marathon fourth quarter, when the Wolves’ lead was twice cut to two points.
Tournament most valuable player Jake Nielson scored 10 points and teammate Brandon Gentry had 10 early in the fourth quarter before fouling out with 6:09 remaining. Center Brandon Sweet scored all six of his points in the second half and grabbed the last rebound when Derek Gainey’s potential game-tying shot bounced out with six seconds remaining.
The Wolves jumped out to an 11-2 lead in the first quarter and led 34-20 early in the third before Gateway picked up its defensive pressure and warmed up from the perimeter.
“I don’t think, through the late third, early fourth quarter, we played that well under pressure,” Grandview coach Gary Childress said.
Both teams were playing their fourth game in as many days.
The Olympians missed all 14 attempts in the first quarter and didn’t hit their first basket until nearly two minutes into the second quarter.
Grandview leaned heavily on a variety of zone defenses and converged quickly in the paint when the Olympians tried to penetrate.
Gateway salvaged many possessions with a strong effort on the offensive boards.
“Those guys can just jump,” Nielson said of the Olympians. “We had a problem boxing them out for a couple possessions.”
Gateway standouts Greg Bolling and Trevor Oliver never got into a rhythm offensively, combining for 17 points on 7-of-35 shooting.
Sophomore O’Rion Hughes rallied the Olympians with seven points in the third quarter and finished with a game-high 13 points and seven rebounds. Teammate Omar Belhachmi added nine points.
Oliver’s basket cut the deficit to 43-41 with 1:40 remaining. A series of turnovers, missed free throws, blocked shots, timeouts and random moments of chaos kept the score the same until Nielson iced it with two free throws with four seconds remaining.
“If we played as hard as we played in the second half in the first half, we might win by six or eight,” Gateway coach Jeff Sweet said.
Gateway 3 17 11 10 – 41
Grandview 13 19 5 8 – 45
Gateway – Bolling 4 0-1 9, Gainey 0 0-0 0, Oliver 3 1-4 8, Jack 0 0-0 0, Hughes 5 3-8 13, Smith 1 0-0 2, Lindstrom 0 0-0 0, Belhachmi 3 2-2 9, Singh 0 0-0 0, Slaughter 0 0-0 0, McMullin 0 0-0 0. Totals 16 6-15 41.
Grandview – McClung 0 0-0 0, Childress 2 0-0 6, Mason 2 0-0 4, Gentry 5 0-0 10, Nielson 2 6-6 10, Crader 0 0-0 0, Fernandez 2 0-2 4, Flanagan 2 0-0 5, Sweet 3 0-0 6. Totals 18 6-8 45.
3-pt. goals – Belhachmi, Bolling, Oliver; Childress 2, Flanagan. Total fouls – Gateway 15, Grandview 16. Fouled out – Gentry. Technicals – None.
