CENTENNIAL — Cherry Creek was allowing fifth-ranked Eaglecrest to do whatever it wanted early Wednesday. It turned out to be more of a head start before the Bruins completely took over the Class 5A Centennial League showdown.
Trailing by 12 points against the unconscious-shooting Raptors, the Bruins got their tempo, their inside game and their defense to blow past the home team 63-49.
Said Bruins coach Mike Brookhart, “We were fortunate enough not to let them get in the game they like to play because we can’t play that way.”
A very hyped-up Brookhart singled out Jack Elway’s defensive effort on Eaglecrest standout Gage Wooten, who had just three points on four shots through three quarters; Elway shed his role-player tag with eight points and seven rebounds.
“You can’t ever stop a player like that. We knew that coming in and we got a lot of help on him,” Elway said of Wooten. “That slowed down the game a lot.”
The Bruins (10-5, 5-2 in league) trailed 15-3 before 6-foot-10 senior Trey Eckloff scored 17 of his game-high 24 points in the first half as the Bruins went on a 28-8 run. The suddenly cold Raptors (13-3, 5-2) went on to set a season-low for points.
Cherry Creek 16 15 12 20 — 63
Eaglecrest 17 6 8 18 — 49
Cherry Creek — Ahlbrandt 1 11-12 14, Keilt 0 0-0 0, Link 3 6-8 12, Elway 4 0-1 8, Eckloff 8 5-7 24, Breen 1 1-2 3, Zeller 0 0-0 0, Elliott 0 0-0 0, Mocevic 1 0-0 2, Gammie 0 0-0 0. Totals 18 23-30 63.
Eaglecrest — Mable 1 0-0 3, Turner 3 3-5 12, Wooten 4 3-4 12, Thompson 2 0-0 5, Dennis 2 4-4 9, Sanders 2 0-4 4, Okoye 1 0-2 2, Kyle 1 0-0 2, Johnson 0 0-0 0, Clark 0 0-0 0. Totals 16 10-19 49.
3-point goals — Eckloff 3, Ahlbrandt; Turner 3, Mable, Wooten, Thompson, Dennis. Fouled out — Okoye. Technicals — Eaglecrest coach John Olander.
