ARVADA — The only person capable of stopping Ralston Valley’s Pierce Hornung on Saturday was coach Mitch Conrad.
When Conrad took his all-state junior power forward out of the game for good against D’Evelyn, Hornung had 29 points and the visiting Jaguars were sitting on 30.
“It’s all started with our defense,” Hornung said after the Mustangs defeated D’Evelyn 72-52 on their home floor to clinch the Jefferson County Tournament. “We are playing rock-solid D, and teams can’t score. We’re forcing turnovers and that gets us easy buckets.”
Hornung, who also grabbed nine rebounds and blocked one shot, scored with ease in transition and successfully attacked every defensive scheme the Jaguars threw at him.
Ralston Valley (8-5), which began the season ranked No. 1 but dropped out of the top 10 after a 4-5 start, led by 14 points in the first quarter, 22 in the second and 25 in the third, and was up 60-30 after Hornung’s reverse layup with seven minutes left in the fourth.
Brandon Ribble added 15 points for the Mustangs, who committed just six turnovers by the time Conrad pulled his starters.
“We’re a pretty athletic team, and we’re going to do all we can to go out there and run with them,” Ribble said.
The Jaguars (7-4), ranked No. 6 in 4A, committed six turnovers in the first quarter, shot poorly from the perimeter and found it tough to score inside against the Mustangs’ collection of tree-like forwards.
Senior forward James Rader scored 10 of his team-best 21 points late in the fourth quarter to go with nine rebounds. Junior guard Jeremy Sullivan scored nine points but shot just 2-of-12.
“We got taken to task tonight,” Jaguars coach Troy Pachner said. “I think ultimately it will be good for us.”
