For years, East basketball has been all about pressure defense, multiple scorers and crashing the boards from start to finish.
Execution and great shot selection typically evolves as the season goes on, setting up the Angels as perennial threats for the Class 5A state title.
The Angels might be ahead of schedule.
The defending champions were crisp and cool on offense Wednesday night as they rolled to an 85-48 nonleague victory over Columbine for their eighth straight win since losing late in the regular season last year to Montbello.
“That Montbello loss, we kind of needed that loss to break what we were doing,” DaVaughn Thornton said. “It’s a whole new year. We can’t think about the state championship team. That team got their rings, now I’m trying to get two rings and the other guys are looking for their first.”
DaVaughn Thornton scored 10 points, Demetrius Thornton scored a game-high 17 and Koree Ross finished with 12 as the top-ranked Angels improved to 3-0.
East forced 13 turnovers in the first quarter in roaring out to a 19-8 lead. The Angels didn’t allow the Rebels (0-1) a field goal in the second quarter, got Columbine’s go-to players in early foul trouble and easily stretched their lead to 31 points before halftime.
The second and third waves of East players didn’t let up or miss a beat as coach Rudy Carey got points from 11 of his 13 players.
“We’re just working hard and running like we got to — running hard every time,” said Ross, who had three nice dunks, including a reverse alley-oop from Jamiko Verner in the second quarter. “We don’t really worry about dunking and all, we just work on the little things.”
It was a tough debut for Columbine coach Jeff Wennberg, who won a state title as a player in 1994 at George Washington. Wennberg was without three players he envisioned starting in the offseason — one of whom he expects back.
Center Connor Osborne and forward Garrett Hurlbut got in foul trouble early. Osborne fouled out in the third quarter but Hurlbut returned to score 12 of his 14 points in the fourth. Matt Hunington came off the bench to score 14 for the Rebs.
“What was great about this is now we know what we got to do,” Wennberg said. “If we want to make some noise at state, then we’re going to have to get to their level.”
Columbine 11 9 9 19 — 48
East 21 25 23 16 — 85
Columbine — Varney 2 0-0 6, Trader 0 2-4 2, Tanner 0 0-0 0, Hurlbut 4 5-7 14, Osborne 0 3-4 3, Romero 0 1-2 1, Isenburg 0 0-0 0, Baumgarten 0 0-0 0, Myer 2 4-8 8, Hunington 5 4-4 14. Totals 13 19-29 48.
East — Verner 0 0-0 0, Ross 6 0-1 12, Wiese 3 2-2 9, Da. Thornton 5 0-0 10, De. Thornton 7 3-6 17, Hildreth 0 0-4 0, Farris-Hilaire 2 0-1 4, Johnson 1 0-0 3, Hampton 4 2-3 10, Russell 1 1-2 3, Hardy 2 2-2 6, Moore 2 0-0 6, Dew-Merriex 2 0-1 5. Totals 35 10-22 85.
3-point goals — Varney 2, Hurlbut; Moore 2, Dew-Merriex, Johnson, Wiese. Total fouls — Columbine 23, East 23. Fouled out — Osborne. Technicals — None.
