Littleton – After hitting the snooze button before the season opener, the East Angels are officially awake for the 2006-07 boys basketball campaign.
Donell Wells and Blake Swain each scored 19 points as East broke away from Columbine for an 82-53 victory Wednesday night in a Class 5A nonleague game, a nice rebound after getting thumped by preseason No. 1 Doherty last week.
“That game was a wake-up call for us,” Swain said of the loss. “We knew we needed to take this one seriously and get the victory.”
Swain hit four 3-pointers in a game that No. 2 East (1-1) took control of in the second quarter. Jamiko Verner finished with 10 points, and DaVaughn Thornton pulled down 11 rebounds to go with eight points.
For Columbine (2-1), Sean Miller hit three 3-pointers on the way to 19 points, Tyler Holtzinger added 15 points and five rebounds and Andrew Kilker came off the bench for 10 points.
The Angels led 12-10 after the first quarter before separating on the scoreboard. Wells triggered a 9-2 run that was most notable for a botched dunk that turned into a 3-pointer by Swain. Columbine’s Miller stopped the bleeding briefly with a long 3-pointer of his own, but Swain answered right back to set up a brief one-man show by Wells.
Wells hit back-to-back 3-pointers to make the score 32-21 before attacking the paint and finishing with a soaring, acrobatic reverse layup.
“My team can feel it when I’m feeling it, and they get me the ball,” Wells said. “We lost a big game to Doherty, and we had to come out and make a statement. We stayed active on defense, and that was one of the big keys.”
Defensively, Verner gave new meaning to the term one-on-one. With both players sporting the No. 1 on their jerseys, Verner hounded Columbine guard Beau Smith every time he tried to bring the ball past halfcourt and forced a 10-second call and a turnover.
“Defense” also was the reason a smiling Swain credited for the victory.
The Angels tried to put on a show in the second half.
First, Wells drove to the basket and spun a pass behind his head for Thornton’s finish. Later, Mookie Gilbert tried to complete an alley-oop off the glass but couldn’t get a handle on the ricochet pass.
Columbine never had much chance for a second-half rally, and Verner made sure of that with a layup that he followed with a steal and another layup. Swain then gave the Angels their biggest lead of the game with a 3-pointer that made the score 76-45.
East 12 26 23 21 – 82
Columbine 10 13 14 16 – 53
East – Verner 4 2-3 10, Swain 7 1-2 19, Wells 8 0-0 19, Thornton 4 0-0 8, Gilbert 3 0-0 6, Ross 3 1-4 7, Hildreth 1 0-0 3, Brooks 3 1-1 7, Frazier 1 0-0 2, Molock 0 1-2 1, Russell 0 0-0 0, Franklin 0 0-0 0. Totals 34 6-12 82.
Columbine – Smith 0 0-0 0, Miller 6 4-4 19, Vassar 1 0-2 2, Tedford 2 1-2 5, Holtzinger 7 0-0 15, Kilker 4 2-3 10, Hurlbut 0 0-0 0, Osborne 1 0-0 2, Markle 0 0-0 0, Varney 0 0-0 0. Totals 21 7-11 53.
3-pt. goals – Swain 4, Wells 3, Hildreth; Miller 3, Holtzinger. Fouls – East 11, Columbine 13. Fouled out – None. Technicals – None.
