PARKER — Peter Travers and Rocky Mountain were as flat as eastern Colorado for most of Tuesday night’s first half against Chaparral.
But the 6-foot-7 senior center embarked on his own block party that awakened the Lobos for a 63-53 Class 5A nonleague victory. Travers rejected a dozen shots by the Wolverines, scored 16 points and grabbed eight rebounds as the Lobos improved to 8-3.
“I was just trying to fire up the team and get the defense going. We just had to come out and work hard,” said the quiet Travers, who’s overlooked on a team featuring multisport stars, notably Bryan Peters and Jake Stewart.
Rocky Mountain coach Bruce Dick isn’t surprised. He said: “Pete’s playing very well for us. He’s a much-improved player for us, gone through our system and played on every level. He has taken advantage of that.”
Chaparral (3-6) twice built 13-point leads early and was ahead 35-29 at halftime. But the Rocky Mountain defense, with Travers owning the lane, permitted just 18 points over the final two quarters.
“That’s how we have to win,” Dick said.
Along the way, Rocky Mountain’s offensive balance arose — five players scored at least seven points, including 14 by Jake De La Torre and 11 by Peters.
Conversely, Chaparral adhered to its season-long woes of performing up-and-down, then fading late. It lost to powerful East by a point, struggled for a stretch, then won the Grandview tournament.
Said Chaparral coach Rob Johnson: “We’re out of shape. That’s what it comes down to.”
Rocky Mountain 11 18 18 16 — 63
Chaparral 23 12 9 9 — 53
Rocky Mountain — Smith 2 0-3 4, Peters 4 2-2 11, Westra 0 0-0 0, De La Torre 6 0-0 14, Musgrave 1 0-0 3, Travers 6 4-6 16, House 0 0-0 0, Stewart 4 0-1 8, Feller 2 1-2 7, Roglen 0 0-1 0. Totals 25 7-15 63.
Chaparral — Murphy 0 0-0 0, Morse 1 0-0 2, Pavlich 3 1-2 8, Hirschberg 3 2-2 9, Adams 1 0-0 2, Patten 3 1-1 7, Newton 5 0-0 10, Calvert 6 0-0 13, Keyser 1 0-0 2. Totals 23 4-5 53.
3-point goals — De La Torre 2, Feller 2, Musgrave, Peters; Calvert, Hirschberg, Pavlich. Total fouls — Rocky Mountain 11, Chaparral 16. Fouled out — None. Technicals — None.
Neil H. Devlin: 303-954-1714 or ndevlin@denverpost.com
