LOVELAND — George Washington coach Michael Rogers had the game-winning play drawn up on the sideline.
He never called timeout to discuss it with his players; instead, he left it in the capable hands of his young Patriots. Wise decision.
Junior guard Tony Adams knocked down his only 3-pointer of the game, breaking a 46-46 tie and propelling the third-seeded Patriots (20-5) of the R.W. Truscott Region to a 51-46 victory over Boulder in the Class 5A Sweet 16 at the Budweiser Events Center.
“Those kids just played so well, and Boulder is such a tough team to play,” said Rogers, who has all of about 12 hours to celebrate before he can plan for Friday’s game against ThunderRidge at the Denver Coliseum. “We’ve been in that situation a number of times this season, and I think we grew up just a little bit tonight.”
Boulder (19-6), the No. 2 seed in the region, had a chance to break the tie first, but Aaron Ragin’s runner didn’t drop with just over a minute to play.
George Washington then cycled the ball around the perimeter, keeping the ball in the hands of Adams, Nick Sather and Thomas Bropleh for the final minute.
Bropleh, who led GW with 18 points and 11 rebounds, knocked down two defenders before passing to Sather, who drew two Panthers defenders.
Adams was left wide open to knock down the winning shot.
“I give all the credit to Nick for finding me,” said Adams, who finished with nine points. “It’s a blessing, but my team did all the work. All I had to do was make the shot.”
Said Boulder coach Alan Schulz: “We just played a poor defensive fourth quarter. The tough thing for us is that we pride ourselves on defense, and our defense let us down.”
Boulder senior forward David Bremner led all scorers with 21 points, but was the only Panthers player in double figures.
Rocky Mtn. 60, Cherry Creek 57.
The last Class 5A Sweet 16 game of the night at the Budweiser Events Center ended with what else? Drama, and lots of it.
Rocky Mountain (22-3) advances to play East on Friday at the Coliseum.
With 12.2 seconds left, Cherry Creek coach Mike Brookhart called his last timeout to draw up a game-tying 3-point attempt. It all went as planned, with senior guard Carter Ahlbrandt getting the look he wanted.
Ahlbrandt’s jumper with five seconds remaining went halfway in and then came right back out. A last-ditch effort by Ryan Link was too strong.
Rocky Mountain, the No. 2 seed in the Wilson Region, got a game-high 24 points from senior Brian Glenn. Kaipo Sabas (15 points) and Austin Donnelly (11 points, 12 rebounds) also had big nights for the Lobos.
Cherry Creek (16-9) got 20 points from center Trey Eckloff.
Jon E. Yunt: 303-954-1354 or jyunt@denverpost.com
