They do not consider it a get-over-the-hump game despite entering their third consecutive tournament undefeated and coming up short of a championship in the previous two.
But Aurora Central’s Trojans gained considerable measures of confidence and revenge in Saturday’s 55-41 decision over Cherry Creek in Class 5A’s Great 8 at the Denver Coliseum.
In improving to 26-0, the Trojans advanced to their first Final Four since their 1982-83 team won it all in big schools, then designated as 4A.
Cherry Creek, runner-up a year ago and the program that knocked Aurora Central out of the 2005-06 tournament, finished 17-8 and lost to the Trojans a second time this season, having also dropped the earlier game in December.
Behind steady play out front that featured senior guard Sean Cunningham, the Trojans handled the slower pace of the Bruins, weathered their assortment of moves and comebacks, played one of their more stable games and further dispelled the notion of the overall weakness of their Skyline League, a popular reason as to why they hadn’t gotten this far in the two previous seasons.
“We didn’t want to hold back,” said Cunningham, who led all scorers with 21 points, nine in the fourth quarter. “And we’re not done yet.”
Said Trojans coach Bob Caton: “Everybody has the same goals in the tournament. We’re just trying to win the next game.”
Behind Cunningham, Ste- phen Franklin and Caston Mabin, the Trojans rolled to a variety of leads through perimeter shooting, getting to the basket and converting free throws.
However, Cherry Creek, which never led, somehow managed to return the favor consistently, eventually tying the score at 32 in the final seconds of the third.
But Franklin’s 3-pointer from the left corner at the buzzer gave the Trojans the lead for good as the Bruins eventually ran out of gas and continued to suffer from shooting problems (15-of-41, 37 percent) and not getting to the free-throw line (7-of-12 with zero attempts in the second half).
“We got the pace we wanted and played very good defense, but we didn’t shoot it well,” Bruins coach Mike Brookhart said. “We were always having to play catch-up and that’s difficult.”
Franklin, headed to Colorado State, scored 11 points – two on a blur of a dunk in traffic to begin the second quarter – and added eight rebounds, the same total for Cunningham as the Trojans withstood early foul trouble to their inside players.
Scott Traina paced the Bruins with 17 points, and his nine in the fourth quarter accounted for all of his team’s scoring over the final eight minutes.
Cherry Creek 6 9 17 9 – 41
Aurora Central 10 9 16 20 – 55
Cherry Creek – Ahlbrandt 0 0-0 0, Heimbrock 1 1-3 3, Link 2 2-2 6, Montgomery 5 0-1 11, Eckloff 2 0-0 4, Traina 5 4-5 17, Giles 0 0-1 0, Keeth 0 0-0 0, Elway 0 0-0 0, Johnson 0 0-0 0. Totals 15 7-12 41.
Aurora Central – Johnson 0 5-6 5, Cunningham 6 7-10 21, Franklin 4 1-3 11, Bond 1 0-0 2, Goyer 1 0-0 2, Mabin 3 3-4 10, Veasley 2 0-1 4. Totals 17 16-24 55.
3-pt. goals – Traina 3, Montgomery; Cunningham 2, Franklin 2, Mabin. Total fouls – Cherry Creek 18, Aurora Central 19. Fouled out – None. Technicals – None.
