COLORADO SPRINGS — Julien McCollum won’t let his brother get in his head when he shoots free throws, so there was no way Sierra’s home crowd was going to Saturday.
With 1.7 seconds on the clock and the scored tied, McCollum calmly stepped up and sank both of his free throws as top-ranked Widefield escaped with a wild 51-49 Class 4A Colorado Springs Metro League victory over the rival Stallions.
“He’s always trying to get in my head, screaming,” McCollum said of practicing hoops with his brother. “He said, ‘Don’t worry about what people are saying, just shoot.’ ”
It was a surreal end to a physical game where neither team shot well from midrange and were left to fight it out underneath for rebounds and second chances.
It was the 16th straight victory for the Gladiators (16-1, 11-0 in league) and their second this season over the Stallions (11-6, 6-4), who snapped a four-game winning streak.
It was also a painful end for Sierra, which had tied the game with 11 seconds remaining on Devahn Branch’s layup only to give Widefield a gift a la Chris Webber.
The Gladiators — state semifinalists a year ago — got the ball in following Branch’s layup and got it across half court only for the ball to get loose. Sierra junior guard Erik Fielder emerged with the ball on the floor and called for a timeout, which the Stallions were out of and resulted in a technical foul.
It was an especially cruel turn of events for Fielder, who came off the bench to score a game-best 17 points.
“We pride ourselves on defense, and that first quarter they killed us on the glass,” Sierra coach Steve Cook said. “I think that was the difference in the game. We played catch-up the whole game.”
Drew Felton led the Gladiators with 12 points, McCollum had 11 points and 10 rebounds and Dion Vaughn added 10 points.
Terrin Pyos scored 10 points and DJ Dickson had nine points, 11 rebounds and four blocked shots for the Stallions.
Widefield 18 13 5 15 — 51
Sierra 12 13 13 11 — 49
Widefield — Farrior 2 1-2 7, Vaughn 3 4-5 10, Felton 4 3-3 12, McCollum 4 3-4 11, Gilmore 2 2-4 6, James 1 1-2 3, Collins 0 0-0 0, Hunter 1 0-0 2. Totals 17 14-20 51.
Sierra — Branch 4 0-0 9, Dias 0 0-0 0, Pyos 5 0-0 10, Bumpas 0 0-0 0, Dickson 2 5-5 9, Fielder 6 4-6 17, Phipps 1 0-0 2, Williams 1 0-0 2, Cooks 0 0-0 0. Totals 19 9-11 49.3-point goals — Farrior 2, Felton; Branch, Fielder. Total fouls — Widefield 14, Sierra 23. Fouled out — Bumpas. Technical — Fielder.
