Meet Tim Collamore, one of Kent Denver’s “other” players.
Typically a quiet supporter of standouts Robby Pride and Kyle Lewis, Collamore scored consecutive baskets in the final minute Friday night as the Sun Devils rallied past top-ranked Denver Christian for a wild 60-55 Class 3A Metropolitan League victory.
Collamore’s offensive rebound and subsequent basket put the No. 3 Sun Devils up 56-53 before the 6-foot-6 senior drilled a 15-footer with 37 seconds remaining to give the visitors a 58-53 lead.
Collamore finished with 17 points and six rebounds to help the Sun Devils improve to 5-2, 1-0 in league.
“You know, us bigs have been working all year alongside Kyle and Robby and finally it was someone else’s time to step up,” Collamore said.
Before an overflow and deafening crowd, Kent Denver survived 11 lead changes and a 40-31 deficit with 3:10 remaining in the third quarter to drop the defending state champion Crusaders to 6-1, 0-1.
Dartmouth-bound Pride recovered from a scoreless second quarter and poured in 15 of his team-best 21 points in the second half. Lewis added 16 points, including several key steals as the Sun Devils forced 19 turnovers.
“I really made a point of it in the second half to start taking it to the hole and get something going,” Pride said.
“We kind of went flat in that second quarter, and I put it upon myself – and Kyle, too – to take over in that second half.
“It was all heart.”
The Crusaders got 20 points from Tristan Matthies, who sank his first five 3-pointers but finished on a 1-for-8 run from beyond the arc.
Veteran Crusaders coach Dick Katte said his team simply lost its poise down the stretch and failed to answer the surging tempo created by Pride and Lewis.
“We didn’t do our thing,” Katte said. “We were content to shoot the 3s, and you know, you live by the 3 and you die by the 3.”
Senior Kirk Smith added 12 points and 6-8 senior Brent Schuster had 10 points, seven rebounds and two blocked shots for the Crusaders.
Kent Denver closed the third quarter on a 9-0 run to tie the game 40-40.
The teams knotted the score three more times in the fourth quarter and swapped the lead five times before junior Will Deevy put the Sun Devils up for a good with a slashing baseline layup with 1:51 remaining.
Kent Denver 13 12 15 20 – 60
Denver Christian 10 22 8 15 – 55
Kent Denver – Stabler 0 0-0 0, Warkentin 0 0-0 0, Lewis 7 0-0 16, Pride 7 5-7 21, Deevy 3 0-1 6, Wiebe 0 0-2 0, Collamore 7 2-3 17, Christian 0 0-0 0. Totals 24 7-13 60.
Denver Christian – B. Matthies 0 0-0 0, Van Kooten 0 0-0 0, Smith 5 1-2 12, Poland 0 0-0 0, C. Matthies 1 2-2 4, T. Matthies 6 2-3 20, Lenderink 3 2-2 9, Zimmerman 0 0-0 0, Schuster 5 0-0 10, Kurtz 0 0-0 0. Totals 20 7-9 55.
3-point goals – Lewis 2, Pride 2, Collamore; T. Matthies 6, Lenderink, Smith. Total fouls – Kent Denver 19, Denver Christian 12. Fouled out – None. Technicals – None.
