Jefferson County – Two years removed from the state tournament, Palisade had to wait an extra 20 minutes Friday to play Mountain View after the Mountain Lions’ bus took a wrong turn on its way to D’Evelyn High School.
The idle time only strengthened the Bulldogs’ resolve.
“Before the game the seniors said, ‘This is not our last game,’ and I think everyone believed that,” Palisade senior Cory Swetnam said.
Swetnam scored 24 points and Mark Douglass had 25 as the Bulldogs pulled an upset with a 74-69 victory in the first round of the Bill Weimar Region in the Class 4A state tournament.
Palisade, seeded ninth in the 12-team region, surged past the No. 8 Mountain Lions in the third quarter and held on in the final minutes to improve to 11-12.
The Bulldogs, who went 1-21 last season, will face No. 1 D’Evelyn (19-4) Saturday night. Palisade coach Keenon Clement said he was proud of his team and surprised by its calm exterior.
“It’s a situation these kids haven’t been in and it’s a situation they should be a … lot more impressed with,” Clement said. “To them, it’s just more basketball games and they get to play the best team in the state.”
The Loveland-based Mountain Lions (11-13) went straight from the bus to warming up and seemed affected, shooting 2-for-25 from 3-point range. Mountain Lions coach Darin Reese said it was his team’s worst shooting performance, but credited the Bulldogs.
“Honestly, it was their aggressiveness and their physicality that hurt us more than anything else,” Reese said.
Anthony Trimarco led the Mountain Lions with 29 points, Dell Watkins had 13 and Shane Sexton finished with nine points.
The Bulldogs led 32-31 at halftime and opened the third quarter with a 22-8 run behind 12 points from Douglass.
The Mountain Lions roared back to tie the game at 65 with 2:29 remaining on a steal and a layup by Trimarco. But the Bulldogs made 7-of-10 free throws to seal the game.
Palisade 18 14 24 18 – 74
Mountain View 21 10 14 24 – 69
Palisade – Swetnam 9 1-2 24, Douglass 10 4-5 25, Whaley 3 6-8 13, Robinson 1 0-0 2, Zeibots 5 0-0 10, Bauer 0 0-0 0, Schmitt 0 0-0 0, Collette 0 0-0 0, Quintana 0 0-0 0. Totals 28 11-15 74.
Mountain View – Stine 0 0-0 0, Sexton 4 1-1 9, Brock 0 0-0 0, Trimarco 11 6-6 29, Watkins 5 2-2 13, Koski 0 4-4 4, Ruggles 6 2-3 14. Totals 26 15-16 69.
3-point goals – Swetnam 5, Douglass, Whaley; Trimarco, Watkins. Total fouls – Palisade 15, Mountain View 16. Fouled out – Sexton. Technicals – None.
GLENWOOD SPRINGS 54, ENGLEWOOD 36
The No. 5 Demons (16-7) got a scare from No. 12 Englewood (5-19), pulling out the victory in the final four minutes of a poor shooting game.
The Demons led 35-33 with 4:23 remaining, took a timeout and then put away the game with a 12-0 run.
“It was the worst game I’ve seen us play all year,” Demons coach Kevin Flohr said. “It was terrible. I don’t know what it is. Young kids?”
Senior Chris Benson led the Demons with 21 points, Michael Flohr had 12 and Ryan Foraker added 11. Ben Stewart led the Pirates with 16 points.
Glenwood Springs will play No. 4 Greeley Central (16-7) at 5:30 p.m. Saturday.
Englewood 8 5 12 11 – 36
Glenwood Springs 7 10 15 22 – 54
Englewood – Kavinsky 1 3-3 5, Trujillo 0 0-1 0, Moss 1 0-0 2, Stewart 6 4-5 16, Rentner 3 2-3 8, Taylor 0 0-0 0, Fish 0 0-0 0, Avelar 2 0-1 5, Marsh 0 0-0 0, Williams 0 0-0 0. Totals 13 9-13 36.
Glenwood Springs – Foraker 2 7-8 11, Thimsen 0 3-4 3, Moore 2 1-3 5, Flohr 4 2-5 12, Benson 7 7-10 21, Zerfoss 0 1-2 1, Warkentin 0 1-2 1, Steuben 0 0-0 0, Waller 0 0-0 0. Totals 15 22-34 54.
3-point goals – Avelar; Flohr 2. Total fouls – Englewood 21, Glenwood Springs 16. Fouled out – Trujillo, Moss. Technicals – None.
