Lakewood – It’s not unusual to see a 6-foot-10 player open around the 3-point arc.
It’s not normal when that player starts raining down shots.
“In the second half, they just started to cheat off me a little toward Erich (Bracht), and they left me wide open,” said Chaparral’s lanky senior John Madsen.
Bad idea.
Madsen drilled four 3-pointers in the second half and grabbed seven rebounds as the top-seeded Wolverines pulled away from No. 4 Montbello for an 81-57 victory Wednesday night to advance to the final eight of the Class 5A state tournament.
Madsen scored a game-high 20 points at the Pirate Pit at Alameda High to lead a Chaparral effort that got points from nine players and had four players score in double figures. The senior-led Wolverines never trailed, dominated the boards against the Warriors (16-9) and survived 19 turnovers.
“We thought rebounding would probably be the main thing, and that’s how they’d be able to stay with us, getting second-shot opportunities,” Wolverines coach Jason Jacob said.
Bracht, a 6-6 senior, had 14 points and 15 rebounds and Yale-bound standout Nate Rohnert had 13 points on 4-of-10 shooting and grabbed four rebounds. Rohnert had the highlight of the night when he soared over Montbello’s Anthony Porch for a dunk early in the third quarter.
The Wolverines won their 15th straight to improve to 23-1 and will face Smoky Hill on Friday at the Denver Coliseum.
Montbello 11 9 15 22 – 57
Chaparral 19 12 22 28 – 81
Montbello – Jordan 4 0-0 9, Hairston 1 0-1 2, Smith 3 4-4 10, Porch 2 0-0 4, Bryant 1 1-1 3, Littlejohn 4 1-2 9, McDonald 0 0-0 0, Nelson 5 1-2 11, Williams 0 1-2 1, Domineck 0 0-0 0, Shead 1 4-4 6, Alexander 0 0-0 0, Green 0 0-2 0, Crowder 1 0-0 2. Totals 22 12-18 57.
Chaparral – Schraufnagel 3 4-4 12, Rohnert 4 5-7 13, Madsen 8 0-0 20, Kraus 2 2-2 6, Bracht 6 2-4 14, Gann 3 0-0 6, Gallagher 2 1-2 5, McKnight 1 1-2 3, Bratcher 0 0-0 0, Evans 1 0-0 2. Totals 30 15-21 81.
3-pt. goals – Jordan; Madsen 4, Schraufnagel 2. Total fouls – Montbello 20, Chaparral 22. Fouled out – None. Technicals – None.
