Fort Collins – David hath slain Goliath.
Eaton did what no other team in Colorado had yet to do this season, and hung an “L” on Faith Christian on Friday night. The Reds played a nearly flawless first half, weathered the Eagles’ comeback, then got a game-winning layup from Lance Korell with 0.9 seconds remaining for a 55-53 stunner in the Class 3A semifinals at Moby Arena.
“It feels wonderful,” said Korell, who like Thursday night was one of just four Reds to score. “All of us stepped up and played a perfect game. Got to give credit to them, they are a great ballclub, that’s why they are 25-0.”
Eaton (23-3), which lost 66-46 to Faith Christian during the regular season, will try for its first title since 1991 on Saturday night against Kent Denver.
With the game knotted 53-53, Eaton coach Dean Grable called timeout with 14.4 second left and drew up a play called “LSU”, a play designed for 6-foot-7 sophomore Seth Lobato. Instead Korell, off a brilliant pick by Lobato that sealed off two Eagles, drove the lane and dropped in a soft right-handed layup.
“On any given day, anybody can beat anybody,” said Grable, who as a player helped Horizon to the big-school title game in 1994. “Lance has the ability to attack, and we wanted the ball in two of our best playmakers hands.”
Faith Christian (25-1) cut a 12-point halftime deficit in half heading into the fourth quarter and didn’t draw even until Jobi Wall hit a jumper with one minute to play.
Abram Ziemer paced the balanced Faith Christian attack with 12 points, Nick Gill had 11 and Vince Colson finished with 10.
Lobato finished with a game-high 15 points, and Cody Ball finished with 14, on 6-of-7 shooting. Both guards, Korell and Drew Geisick, had 13 points.
Eaton 22 15 9 9 – 55
Faith Christian 15 10 15 13 – 53
Eaton – Korell 6 0-0 13, Geisick 4 3-4 13, Smith 0 0-0 0, Ball 7 0-0 14, Lobato 6 2-4 15, Stewart 0 0-0 0. Totals 23 5-8 55.
Faith Christian – Wall 3 2-2 9, Ziemer 5 1-3 12, Colson 4 2-2 10, Gill 5 0-0 11, Yantis 2 3-6 7, Kirkwood 1 0-1 2, Grabau 0 0-2 0, Yeager 1 0-0 2. Totals 21 8-16 53.
3-point goals – Geisick 2, Korell, Lobato; Wall, Ziemer, Gill. Total fouls – Eaton 13; Faith Christian 13. Fouled out – Gill. Intentional foul – Smith. Technicals – None.
KENT DENVER 46, C.S. CHRISTIAN 42: Kent Denver coach Todd Schayes is an emotional man. So it should be no surprise that he quoted an equally emotional coach, North Carolina State’s legendary bench boss, Jim Valvano.
“Survive and advance,” said Schayes, whose past two trips to Fort Collins have ended with buzzer-beating losses.
The Sun Devils lived to play another day, avenging a 15-point regular-season loss to Colorado Springs Christian with a victory Friday night.
“We’ve been delayed for three years,” Schayes went on to say, “but we will not be denied.”
One night after lighting up Moby with 36 points, senior Kyle Lewis again was the story for the Sun Devils. The University of Denver-bound Lewis pumped in 25 points as the Lions never found an answer for him.
Lewis got help from fellow senior Will Deevy’s 11 points.
C.S. Christian (24-2) was led by Matt Baarts’ 18 points. Taylor Broekhuis pulled down a game-high 12 rebounds.
Kent Denver 11 7 10 18 – 46
C.S. Christian 10 7 7 18 – 42
Kent Denver – Reilly 1 0-1 2, Lewis 7 7-8 25, Deevy 4 2-3 11, Wiebe 0 2-2 2, Stewart 1 2-6 4, Ely 0 0-0 0, Dunlap 0 0-0 0, Clark 0 0-0 0, Holz 1 0-0 2, Murray 0 0-0 0, Kenney 0 0-0 0. Totals 14 13-20 46.
C.S. Christian – Mellema 1 2-3 4, Shugart 3 2-4 9, Smith 1 0-0 2, Broekhuis 3 3-3 9, Baarts 7 3-5 18, Veltkamp 0 0-0 0, Selley 0 0-0 0, Collura 0 0-0 0. Totals 15 10-15 42.
3-point goals – Lewis 4, Deevy; Shugart, Baarts. Total fouls – Kent Denver 12; C.S. Christian 19. Fouled out – Mellema. Technicals – None.
