BOULDER, Colo.—Koree Ross scored six of his 13 points in overtime Saturday night, and top-seeded Denver East won its second straight class 5A state championship with a 62-59 win over ThunderRidge.
Demetrius Thornton scored 18 points and Mookey Gilbert added 11 for Denver East (23-5), which won the season series with ThunderRidge (24-4), 2-1.
Zach Tiedgen led No. 1 seed ThunderRidge with 16 points, while Corey Stern and Larry Riley combined for 10 apiece.
Gilbert broke the 46-46 tie six seconds into overtime with a layup off the tip.
After ThunderRidge missed at its offensive end, Ross was fouled and hit a pair of free throws, giving East a 50-46 lead with 3:27 to play.
The schools traded baskets, and after Stern drained a 3-pointer to pull the Grizzlies within 55-54 with 1:17 to play, Ross sunk two more foul shots with 1:15 left.
Pesky ThunderRidge, the Continental League champions, refused to give up, pulling within one point again, 60-59, with 13.1 seconds left on a 3-pointer by Troy Noser.
But Ross, once again, calmly converted two free throws to account for the final margin.
With a defender draped all over him, Dave Arnold attempted to tie it again with a 3-point try from the top of the key, but his shot was off the mark, falling harmlessly out of bounds with .7 seconds remaining.
Stern sent the game to overtime with an impressive dunk after a feed from Larry Riley with 1:24 to play.
East, second-place finishers in the Denver Prep League to Class 4A champion Abraham Lincoln—which successfully defended its crown earlier Saturday—had an opportunity to win in the waning moments when Jamiko Verner appeared to score on a driving layup with 2.5 seconds left. But the officials waved off the shot, calling an offensive foul.
Arnold then heaved a shot from half-court, and the ball bounced off the front of the rim at the buzzer.
Denver East, which led 24-20 at halftime, won its fifth state championship since 1996 and 10th in school history.
This was the third meeting between the schools in the 5A title game. ThunderRidge won its second straight title in 2003, while East beat the Grizzlies in ’04.
The schools, which have combined to win five of the last seven Class 5A crowns, showed true respect for one another at the end of the game as each player took a moment to hug his opponent.
East beat ThunderRidge in a Las Vegas tournament in late December. Two weeks later, the Grizzlies beat the Angels in Highlands Ranch.
———
On the Net:
Colorado High School Activities Association:
