CENTENNIAL — Eaglecrest slowly and proudly managed to break out its scissors Wednesday night.
The Raptors cut down the nets after defeating Arapahoe 64-49 at The Nest for their second consecutive Centennial League championship.
“It’s a tough thing to do and hasn’t happened in my eight years here,” Eaglecrest coach John Olander said.
The Raptors, ranked No. 4 in The Denver Post/9News Class 5A poll, are 17-3 overall, 10-1 in league, and cautiously confident they will land one of the four quadrant seeds in the big-school postseason bracket.
“It scares me,” Olander said. “You want to win it as soon as possible, but we have three games left, so we can’t have a letdown. But I think we can get one of those seeds . . . It’s a tough league, we play home-and-away and the Centennial records may be down, but we’ve been beating each other up all year.”
Arapahoe (12-8, 6-5) hung around for a quarter, and then the Raptors displayed their skill, experience and depth that may be surpassed only by top-ranked and undefeated Fairview, which moved from the Centennial to the Front Range this season.
Olander used combinations freely. Raptors first-team all-state forward Gage Wooten scored only six points, but it didn’t matter — in no particular order, Josh Turner, Arden Dennis, Terrell Thompson, Andre Marquez, Josh Caldwell and Cameron Johnson took turns leading or blended into impressive defense, ball movement and transition.
“It’s a great accomplishment, winning the Centennial again, but we’re not done yet,” Turner said.
Arapahoe went seriously south beginning in the second quarter. The Warriors scored just two points in eight minutes and had more turnovers (nine) than shots (six), of which they made only one.
“The second quarter, the only word I can use is horrific,” Arapahoe coach Dan Snyder said. “We just crumbled. . . . (The Raptors) are a tough matchup for anyone and they amped up their defense.”
Said Olander: “We have to be ready. The ending is so important because there are a lot of really good teams with good records. Hopefully, our guys will understand.”
Arapahoe 15 2 9 23 — 49
Eaglecrest 13 13 17 21 — 64
Arapahoe — Fromm 1 0-0 3, Eigner 0 2-3 2, Semin 8 2-6 18, Knakelc 4 1-2 13, Babb 0 0-0 0, Keen 0 0-0 0, Moore 1 0-0 3, Kocur 0 4-4 4, Webb 0 0-0 0, Balli 0 0-0 0, Billingsley 2 2-2 6. Totals 16 11-17 49.
Eaglecrest — Marquez 3 1-3 7, Johnson 2 0-0 4, Bess 2 0-0 4, Turner 4 1-1 10, Wooten 3 0-0 6, Caldwell 4 1-1 9, Kampeska 0 2-2 2, Lewis 0 0-0 0, Dennis 3 5-6 11, P. Anderson 0 0-0 0, Thompson 3 2-2 11, S. Anderson 0 0-0 0, Bonsor 0 0-0 0. Totals 24 12-16 64.
3-point goals — Knakelc 4, Fromm, Moore; Thompson 3, Turner. Total fouls — Arapahoe 17, Eaglecrest 15. Fouled out — Babb. Technicals — Thompson.
