Loveland – Maybe it shouldn’t be much of a surprise that Monarch is making another trip to the Class 5A Great 8 at the Denver Coliseum.
After all, the Coyotes have been there three of the past seven seasons.
But this crew?
You bet.
Monarch, seeded sixth in the Ray Ball Region, stunned its second consecutive opponent with a 61-57 overtime win Thursday over second-seeded Arapahoe at the Budweiser Events Center.
Up next for the Coyotes (20-6) is Doherty, a 77-52 winner over Brighton, at 6 p.m. Saturday.
“This feels good,” Monarch coach Ken Niven said.
And it should.
Monarch put the ball in the hands of Sabatino Chen down the stretch, and the savvy junior didn’t disappoint. With backcourt running mate and outside shooting threat Brooks Bajcar having fouled out midway through the fourth quarter, Chen didn’t turn the ball over and was effective at getting to the basket and drawing fouls.
“I always look to Brooks, and when he wasn’t there, I had to do something,” said Chen, who finished with 16 points and seven rebounds.
Even more impressive was the Coyotes’ physical defense against Class 5A’s leading scorer, Levi Knutson. The University of Colorado-bound senior finished with a game-high 31 points, but was forced to work hard. Monarch routinely had two men on Knutson, whose three-point play with 17.3 seconds left in regulation sent the game into overtime.
“We’ve been practicing really well, and defending really well about the last 12 games,” said Niven, who has coached at the Louisville-based school since it opened in 1998. “We’ve played better offensively earlier in the year, but defense is what has carried us this year.”
Said Arapahoe coach Dan Snyder: “(Levi) was phenomenal. We just could not hit shots when we needed to hit shots. It was a real struggle for us offensively. I have to give all the credit to Monarch’s defense.”
Bajcar shot the Coyotes back into it from long range and finished with 12 points. Ryan Magiera and added 11 points, and Josh Allen contributed eight.
Monarch 8 13 14 15 11 – 61
Arapahoe 11 15 6 18 7 – 57
Monarch – Chen 3 10-14 16, Bajcar 4 0-1 12, Kawulok 0 1-2 1, Cashdollar 4 2-2 10, Magiera 5 0-0 11, Pendleton 1 0-0 3, Stepisnik 0 0-0 0, Allen 4 0-0 8. Totals 21 13-19 61.
Arapahoe – Vanchina 0 0-0 0, Loan 6 0-2 12, Sadowy 1 4-6 6, Hahl 1 0-0 2, Knutson 9 11-12 31, Kalkman 1 0-0 2, Mackey 0 0-0 0, O’Brien 0 0-0 0, Babb 0 0-0 0, Lyons 2 0-0 4. Totals 20 15-20 57.
3-pt. goals – Bajcar 4, Magiera, Pendleton; Knutson 2. Total fouls – Monarch 21; Arapahoe 21. Fouled out – Bajcar; Loan. Technicals – None.
Jon E. Yunt can be reached
at 303-954-1354 or jyunt@denverpost.com.
