FAST START CARRIES FAITH CHRISTIAN INTO TITLE GAME
FORT COLLINS — Not even a big shovel could have gotten the Aspen Skiers out of the hole they dug for themselves in the opening quarter against Faith Christian on Friday night at Moby Arena.
The Eagles started their Class 3A semifinal game on a 20-0 spree and rolled to a 52-34 victory over Aspen and will have a chance to play for their first state title since 2002.
“I don’t know what to tell you, we just came out and did our thing,” Faith Christian senior guard Nick Gill said.
Up next for Faith Christian (24-1) will be a rematch with Colorado Springs Christian, which the Eagles beat 63-34 during the regular season. The Eagles avoid Eaton, a team that beat them in last year’s semifinals and again in this regular season.
“Not a word can explain (how bad we want to see Eaton),” said Gill, who led all scorers with 14 points. “But we’ll play whoever we play.”
Gill was the catalyst of the Eagles’ opening spurt on both ends of the floor. In addition to his seven points, Gill was a defensive pest against Aspen guards who had trouble finding Drake University-bound Cory Parker.
“Can we get a mulligan?” asked Aspen coach Steve Ketchum, whose team was making its deepest run in school history. “Our kids played scared. They played like it was their first time in the final four, and it was.”
Parker shot just 3-for-11 from field and finished with 10 points. Guard Tommy Rittenhouse had eight points.
C.S. Christian 57, Eaton 53:
Colorado Springs Christian coach Alan Karg knew it was going to take a nearly flawless effort to knock off the reigning Class 3A champs, and he got it.
Six-foot-9 senior Taylor Broekhuis has been playing games at Moby for three years, and Friday night was far and away his most complete effort. The Lions’ standout had 21 points, nine rebounds and six blocked shots.
“It always feels nice to play well, but we played well as a team,” Broekhuis said. “It’s my senior year, I’ve worked hard, the team’s worked hard. That was like a heavyweight fight, (and) we deserved this win.”
“That’s one of the better games, especially some of those seniors have played in several years,” Karg said of his Lions (23-3). “Taylor wasn’t the only one. It was an entire team effort.”
Eaton (24-2) got 50 of its points from three players — Lance Korell (17), Cody Ball (17) and Seth Lobato (16).
