AURORA — These types of games may eventually wear out George Washington and coach Mike Rogers.
The Patriots remained undefeated in the early going of the 2008-09 season but struggled mightily against an inexperienced Montbello before winning 57-55 on Wednesday in the first round of the Lee Rosa Holiday tournament at Aurora Central.
GW, ranked No. 5 in The Denver Post/9News Class 5A poll, improved to 6-0, but did not accomplish much else.
“Good thing it’s not February,” Rogers said.
In trailing most of the way, the Patriots suffered an array of defensive lapses, poor shooting and failure to protect the ball, yet found a way late.
Their defensive pressure after showing signs of a fairly steady delay game as well as a technical foul on Montbello (4-3) helped to salvage the outcome, although their final inbounds play that should have been routine actually gave the Warriors a last-second shot.
“We came out unfocused,” Patriots senior leader Thomas Bropleh said. “We can’t act like we’re going to win. We had no intensity, no discipline . . . We have to get better.”
Said Rogers: “We still have to find our rhythm yet. We have to find it sometime.”
The two Denver Prep League teams — they’ll meet again Jan. 31 — went back and forth throughout with Montbello getting the better of it through three quarters, when it led by seven points.
However, Montbello’s undoing was across the board — the Warriors had trouble ballhandling and passing, continued to take bad shots and make poor decisions, and made just 10-of-18 free throws, 5-of-10 in the fourth quarter.
“We’re inexperienced and young, we only have two players from last year,” Warriors coach David Carey said. “I like our effort, the effort was good against a good basketball team, but it’s our lack of experience.”
Bropleh picked it up in the fourth quarter by scoring 11 of his team-high 21 points. Duvalier Johnson finished with 11. For Montbello, Sean Edwards led all scorers with 33 points, but needed 31 shots to get them.
“The kids have good determination, they’re working hard, not giving up, but we have to play better than that, and smarter,” Rogers said.
Montbello 11 16 13 15 — 55
George Washington 10 14 11 22 — 57
Montbello — Edwards 12 6-10 33, Harrison 1 0-0 2, Taylor 2 2-2 6, Cooper 3 0-2 6, Wilson 0 2-2 2, Sykes 1 0-0 2, Smith 1 0-0 2, Cherry 1 0-0 2, Hunter 0 0-2 0. Totals 21 10-18 55.
George Washington — Millard 2 3-5 8, Adams 2 4-4 8, Johnson 5 0-1 11, Bropleh 9 2-5 21, Balous 1 1-3 3, Sather 1 0-0 2, Ford 0 0-0 0, Marshall 1 0-0 2, Lear 0 2-2 2. Totals 21 12-20 57.
3-point goals — Edwards 3; Bropleh, Millard, Johnson. Total fouls — Montbello 20, GW 17. Fouled out — Cooper. Technicals — Taylor, Millard.
Neil H. Devlin: 303-954-1714 or ndevlin@denverpost.com
