Littleton – Heritage coach Mike Broyles compared his team to the stock market before the Eagles played Coronado on Thursday night.
The Class 5A defending champions have had good quarters, bad quarters and were just breaking even at 5-5.
But the Eagles’ portfolio paid off handsomely against Coronado as they shot 55 percent on their home floor and dominated the boards en route to a 89-60 nonleague victory.
Senior guard Dan Ziernicki came off the bench and sank five 3-pointers to finish with a game-best 22 points as the Eagles (6-5) snapped a two-game losing streak and won for just the second time in six games.
Senior Brian Tracey scored eight of his 17 points in the third quarter to help the Eagles weather their only cold spell of the game as Coronado cut the deficit to 50-38. Tracey pulled down seven rebounds and blocked two shots, twin brother Matt had eight points and six boards.
Despite starting four players 6-feet-3 or taller, the Eagles ran the floor exceptionally well, outrebounded the Cougars 39-24 and knocked down loads of midrange jump shots.
“Last year we ran the floor tremendously well, and we’ve gotten away from that,” Broyles said. “I said, ‘That’s a staple for us here at Heritage – we push the ball and we run the court. Let’s get back to that.”‘
Kevin Lake sparked much of the transition game with 12 rebounds.
“We’re a lot bigger than last year and we’re not as fast,” Brian Tracey said. “This team is more of a rebounding team.”
The Colorado Springs-based Cougars (5-4) continued to grapple with the loss of standout senior Curtis Roundtree and dropped their third straight game. Roundtree is out for the rest of the season with a knee injury.
“We’re just now trying to relearn how to circle the wagons without (Roundtree),” Cougars coach Dan Hugill said.
Guard Joey Anderson scored 17 points and 6-5 junior Ryan Deese had 13 points and six rebounds to lead the Cougars.
Coronado 12 15 19 14 – 60
Heritage 23 21 24 21 – 89
Coronado – Stolk 0 0-0 0, Smith 2 4-6 8, Anderson 5 5-6 17, Lu. Harris 2 0-1 4, Orthwein 1 0-0 2, Hernandez 0 0-0 0, Le. Harris 2 7-8 11, Zincone 2 1-1 5, Callan 0 0-0 0, Deese 6 1-5 13, Kadzikowski 0 0-0 0. Totals 20 18-27 60.
Heritage – Lake 1 1-1 3, Barnes 1 0-0 2, B. Tracey 7 0-0 17, Zordani 2 0-0 5, Young 0 0-0 0, M. Tracey 3 2-2 8, Ziernicki 6 5-6 22, Skufca 0 2-2 2, DiCola 3 0-0 6, Semin 1 0-0 2, Degner 4 2-5 10, Heffron 3 4-5 10, Mueller 0 2-2 2. Totals 31 18-23 89.
3-pt. goals – Anderson 2; Ziernicki 5, B. Tracey, Zordani. Total fouls – Coronado 22, Heritage 23. Fouled out – Zincone. Technicals – None.
