Littleton – Levi Knutson showed Saturday he is good enough to be a one-man show, and then his teammates reminded everyone it’s not just him that will make the Warriors tricky in the postseason.
Knutson put on a shooting display and scored 25 of Arapahoe’s 34 first-half points. The CU-bound senior took just one shot in the third quarter before sitting down to watch the Warriors pour it on in a 67-27 Class 5A nonleague victory over a depleted and young Columbine squad.
Arapahoe (14-4), which began the week ranked No. 6 in The Denver Post/9News poll before losing by a point at home Tuesday to unranked ThunderRidge, got points from nine players while holding the Rebels (8-10) to 10 points in the second half.
Knutson finished with those 25 points, Mike O’Brien had 14 off the bench and Conor Loan and Jeff Hahl added six apiece.
The game originally was scheduled for early January but was snowed out and came a day after both teams had been victorious in their respective leagues.
“We had some motivation for this game just because we want to get better every game,” Knutson said. “It’s getting towards the end of the season and we want to prepare ourselves the best we can for the state tournament. We’re going to use every game, every practice, to get better, and that’s how we got fired up for this game.
“Plus, it’s nice to come out on a Saturday.”
Knutson had 10 of Arapahoe’s 13 points in the first quarter and scored 15 of its 21 in the second quarter. The Warriors’ remaining starters combined for one point on 0-for-7 shooting.
But that changed quickly in the third quarter.
Loan hit two 3-pointers, and Jack Sadowy and O’Brien both connected from downtown as the Warriors shot 7-of-13 from the floor in the third quarter and led by 29.
“That was huge for us and gives us momentum,” Knutson said. “Everyone is playing their role perfectly.”
And that, of course, is vital.
“If you look at our previous games, the games where it’s mostly just Levi and he didn’t get a lot of help, we’ve struggled,” O’Brien said.
Already missing 6-foot-6 junior Ben Tedford, the Rebels were without senior guard Sean Miller (flu). Sophomore Beau Smith led the Rebels with seven points.
Arapahoe 13 21 19 14 – 67
Columbine 8 9 7 3 – 27
Arapahoe – Vanchina 1 1-2 3, Loan 2 0-0 6, Sadowy 1 0-0 3, Hahl 1 4-5 6, Knutson 9 3-3 25, Lyons 1 0-0 2, O’Brien 5 1-1 14, Mackey 0 0-0 0, Kalkman 2 0-0 4, Wallace 1 2-2 4. Totals 23 11-13 67.
Columbine – Smith 3 1-4 7, Markle 0 0-0 0, Vassar 2 1-3 5, Osborne 0 2-2 2, Holtzinger 2 0-0 5, Hurlbut 1 0-2 2, Spond 1 0-0 2, Kilker 2 0-0 4, Varney 0 0-0 0. Totals 11 4-11 27.
3-pt. goals – Knutson 4, O’Brien 3, Loan 2, Sadowy; Holtzinger. Total fouls – Arapahoe 14, Columbine 19. Fouled out – None. Technicals – None.
