LAKEWOOD — Keigan Peterson wants to become a regular in Green Mountain’s starting lineup. If the junior plays like he did Saturday afternoon, he’ll get his wish.
Peterson, who has started two of the Rams’ first six games, was scoreless through three quarters before putting up 13 key points in Green Mountain’s 69-51 decision of Mountain Vista.
The Rams moved to 6-0 by winning the title game of their Paul Davis Classic. Mountain Vista dipped to 4-3.
Peterson, the son of former Arvada West boys coach Chris Peterson, had a four-point play after drilling a 3-pointer from the right wing as he was fouled; made consecutive driving layups through traffic and high off the glass; then hit 5-of-6 free throws.
“I knew that we needed a score, we still needed some points, so I was just trying to get in there and keep the lead,” Peterson said.
Good thing — the Rams threatened to run the Golden Eagles off the floor in racing to a 24-7 lead, then had to hold them off. Mountain Vista opened in man-to-man defense, was victimized, then got back into the game through an extended zone.
But Peterson, with top player Brian Hunt as well as Anthony Nicholson sidelined down the stretch with injury, paced the late charge. Mountain Vista had climbed within 39-38 late in the third quarter.
“(When) you come out and don’t play well at the beginning, it’s not often that you’re going to win,” Golden Eagles coach Bob Wood said. “We played better in the middle quarters, but you just have to answer the bell.”
Mountain Vista didn’t. Green Mountain got terrific ball movement and shooting early. The Rams made 10 of their first 13 field-goal attempts and never trailed.
It wasn’t until Wood got the attention of the Golden Eagles after the first quarter that they turned it up. They established more of a physical presence, outrebounded the Rams and cut off their open shots. Consequently, the Rams had just 20 points over 16 minutes.
“Those types of teams can give us trouble,” Rams coach Rudy Martin said. “Our weakness on offense is against the zone. We just haven’t seen that much of it. But it feels pretty good to get off to this start.”
Hunt, like Nicholson, went to the floor hard in the lane on a drive after pacing the Rams with 18 points. Nick Sleeman added 10 points and nine rebounds.
Mountain Vista, which got into early foul trouble and was 11-of-22 at the free-throw line, was paced by Eric Anderson and Phil Wells with 13 points each.
Mountain Vista 7 15 16 13 — 51
Green Mountain 24 10 10 25 — 69
Mountain Vista — Karr 0 1-2 1, Wells 4 3-5 13, Smith 3 3-5 9, Mueller 5 0-2 11, Anderson 4 4-8 13, Luehrs 0 0-0 0, Nash 1 0-0 2, Kahn 1 0-0 2, Dolezal 0 0-0 0, Bean 0 0-0 0. Totals 18 11-22 51.
Green Mountain — Hunt 6 4-4 18, Swartzendruber 2 3-3 7, Peterson 3 6-7 13, Nicholson 1 0-1 2, Sleeman 4 1-3 10, Jimmerson 2 2-2 8, Swaim 3 1-2 9, Smith 0 0-0 0, Deignan 0 2-2 2. Totals 21 19-24 69.
3-pt. goals — Wells 2, Anderson, Mueller; Hunt 2, Jimmerson 2, Swaim 2, Peterson, Sleeman. Total fouls — Mountain Vista 24, Green Mountain 17. Fouled out — Karr, Luehrs; Sleeman. Technicals — None.
Neil H. Devlin: 303-954-1714 or ndevlin@denverpost.com
