Wheat Ridge – Cherry Creek showed off its individual talent for three quarters Thursday against Wheat Ridge.
In the decisive fourth quarter, the Bruins finally put it all together for a 60-53 Class 5A nonleague victory.
Cherry Creek took a 36-35 lead into the final quarter and stretched it to a 10-point advantage with 4:40 remaining behind points from six players to improve to 2-3. The Bruins were steady in their halfcourt set, turned the ball over just eight times and made their free throws.
“I thought, overall, it was our best team win of the season,” Bruins coach Mike Brookhart said. “Everybody contributed.”
And for a while, everybody contributed at different times.
After scoring just nine points in the first quarter on 4-of-15 shooting, the Bruins got 12 points in the second quarter from 6-foot-7 power forward Taylor Montgomery. Carter Ahlbrandt didn’t take a shot in the first half but hit three 3-pointers in the third quarter as the Farmers (2-2) began double-teaming Montgomery in their zone defense.
The seventh-ranked Bruins, who lost in the state final last season, had no points off their bench until Scott Traina hit three short jumpers to start the fourth quarter. Senior Karl Heimbrock chipped in with seven of his 10 points from the free-throw line down the stretch as Farmers failed to close within six.
Montgomery’s athleticism gave Wheat Ridge fits. The senior had no problem creating his own shots inside and out and managed to play both physically and aggressively without getting into foul trouble.
Montgomery led the Bruins with 17 points and 10 rebounds. Ahlbrandt finished with 12 and 6-10 senior Trey Eckloff had 12 points and five rebounds.
“Some people stepped up,” Montgomery said. “It didn’t always have to be a certain player, but a lot of players took advantage of the moments and took the shots we needed.”
Besides three 3-pointers from Wayne Wallace, the Farmers never got their perimeter game going.
Wheat Ridge answered every time the Bruins threatened to pull away but never could get up by more than three points.
“We’re a big team, but they’re bigger than we are, and we haven’t seen that in a while,” Farmers coach Tommy Dowd said.
Cherry Creek 9 16 11 24 – 60
Wheat Ridge 9 14 12 18 – 53
Cherry Creek – Ahlbrandt 3 3-6 12, Heimbrock 1 7-9 10, Link 1 1-2 3, Montgomery 7 3-3 17, Eckloff 5 2-2 12, Giles 0 0-0 0, Keeth 0 0-0 0, Traina 3 0-0 6, Elway 0 0-0 0, Johnson 0 0-0 0. Totals 20 16-22 60.
Wheat Ridge – Nelson 4 0-0 8, Wright 1 0-1 2, Routzon 5 1-1 12, Wagner 3 4-6 10, Dowd 0 2-2 2, Wallace 3 0-0 9, Gold 0 2-2 2, Gearhart 1 6-7 8, Achatz 0 0-0 0, Land 0 0-0 0. Totals 17 15-19 53.
3-pt. goals – Ahlbrandt 3, Heimbrock; Wallace 3, Routzon. Total fouls – Cherry Creek 16, Wheat Ridge 23. Fouled out – Routzon. Technicals – None.
