BROOMFIELD — Even with their captain coming and going, the Broomfield Eagles had more than enough hands on deck Saturday to weather every storm.
The No. 2-seeded Eagles attacked inside early, cashed 3-pointers and did just about everything right against No. 7-seeded D’Ev-elyn in the first half. Then the Jaguars went on a run and Eagles star Nick Tomsick got in foul trouble, which left Broomfield’s depth players to steer the ship to victory.
Behind sophomores Aric Kaiser and Jackson Reddy, the Eagles took care of the ball and hit their free throws to seal a 66-56 victory in the second round of the Class 4A boys state tournament.
“We did a great job, I thought, in the second half keeping our heads about us and weathering their storm,” said first-year Eagles coach Terrence Dunn. “They kept coming, they kept coming, they kept coming, and they were going to fight all the way to the end.”
Broomfield led by 14 late in the second quarter, but the Jaguars cut their deficit to 44-41 late in the third.
Tomsick scored four of his team-best 16 points in the second half before fouling out with 2:31 left. Kaiser scored seven of his 15 points in the final frame. The big-man tandem of Nick Halliday and Luke Gorman combined for 24 points, 20 rebounds and four blocked shots.
The Eagles (19-5), who have made three consecutive Final Four appearances, advanced in the Bill Weimar Region and play No. 3 Mitchell (18-6) in the Sweet 16 on Friday.
The Jaguars (16-9) battled with the loss of guard Jeremy Sullivan, the leading scorer in 4A. Sullivan’s 21 points came in the first and third quarters and he fouled out with 3:37 remaining. Charlie Basil added 11 points for the Jaguars.
D’Evelyn 15 10 19 12 — 56
Broomfield 17 21 12 16 — 66
D’Evelyn — Tschudy 1 4-6 6, Sullivan 6 6-9 21, Basil 3 3-5 11, Crabb 2 0-1 4, Hintz 1 0-1 3, Davis 1 0-1 3, Neely 2 0-0 5, J. Flack 1 1-4 3, Jennings 0 0-0 0, Bervick 0 0-0 0, Ahern 0 0-0 0. Totals 17 14-27 56.
Broomfield — Halliday 6 1-2 13, Dohm 1 0-0 2, Gorman 5 1-3 11, Tomsick 5 4-5 16, Kaiser 3 7-8 15, Lockwood 0 1-2 1, Reddy 2 4-4 8, Nobles 0 0-0 0, Smith 0 0-0 0. Totals 22 18-24 66.
3-point goals — Sullivan 3, Basil 2, Hintz, Davis, Neely; Tomsick 2, Kaiser 2. Total fouls — D’Evelyn 22, Broomfield 18. Fouled out — Sullivan, Tomsick. Technicals — None.
