GOLDEN — They Kame, they saw, they raised eyebrows.
Behind an otherworldly performance by Amy Kame, the third-seeded Central Warriors of Grand Junction held their nerve Wednesday to defeat the second-seeded Arapahoe Warriors 70-63 to advance to the Great 8 of the Class 5A state tournament. Kame ruled the floor at Colorado School of Mines’ Lockridge Arena as the 6-foot junior poured in 31 points to go with 11 rebounds to lead Central (18-7).
“I think some teams overlook us,” Kame said. “We’re junior-dominated, and we decided we have nothing to lose. We just came out here with a lot of heart and played good team basketball.”
Central advances in the Kaye Garms Region to play top seed Horizon (24-1) on Friday at 2:30 p.m. at the Denver Coliseum.
Arapahoe (20-4) trailed by 10 with 5:57 left in the fourth quarter, but Amy Barczuk missed a layup that would have tied it. Central got the rebound and made its free throws from there to hang on.
Central (G.J.) 18 17 16 19 — 70
Arapahoe 18 19 11 15 — 63
Central — Kinnett 1 5-9 7, Hayter 4 2-4 11, Kame 0 12-16 31, Higgins 6 5-6 17, Vana 1 0-0 2, Paul 0 0-0 0, Duffy 0 2-2 2, Else 0 0-0 0. Totals 21 26-37 70.
Arapahoe — Wojahn 0 2-4 2, Hentschel 5 0-1 12, Barczuk 7 9-11 25, Bowen 6 2-4 18, Hoopingarner 1 0-0 2, Avery 0 0-0 0, Saurber 1 0-0 2, Lukasiewicz 0 0-0 0, Adkins 1 0-0 2, Olsen 0 0-0 0. Totals 21 13-20 63.
3-point goals — Kame, Hayter; Bowen 4, Barczuk 2, Hentschel 2. Total fouls — Central 16, Arapahoe 27. Fouled out — Wojahn, Hoopingarner. Technicals — None.Chaparral 60, Legacy 33. The Chaparral Wolverines did in one quarter what it took the Legacy Lightning to do in three. It was that kind of night.
The second-seeded Wolverines could do no wrong as they used a 20-0 run in the first half and smothering defense to thump the third-seeded Lightning to advance to the Class 5A Great 8. The Wolverines (20-5) led 18-3 after the first quarter, 50-18 after three.
The Wolverines advanced in the Alice Barron Region to play top seed Regis (21-4) on Friday at 4:15 p.m. at the Denver Coliseum.
Legacy 3 7 8 15 — 33
Chaparral 18 14 18 10 — 60
Legacy — Moreland 2 6-8 10, Dunahay 0 0-2 0, Edwards 1 0-4 2, Noonan 2 0-0 5, Wittkop 1 0-0 2, Boesel 2 3-4 7, Archuleta 0 1-4 1, Bice 2 1-1 6, Grein 0 0-0 0, Morton 0 0-0 0, Gaffin 0 0-0 0. Totals 10 11-23 33.Chaparral — Shepard 1 1-2 4, S. Martin 3 0-2 6, Ray 3 1-2 7, Gallo 1 5-5 8, Laboda 6 1-2 14, Baker 0 4-4 4, Faul 3 0-0 6, Pavlich 2 1-2 6, Balabanoff 0 0-0 0, C. Martin 0 0-0 0, Hurlbut 1 0-0 3, Hartman 0 2-2 2. Totals 20 15-21 60.
3-point goals — Noonan, Bice; Shepard, Gallo, Laboda, Pavlich, Hartman. Total fouls — Legacy 13, Chaparral 16. Fouled out — None. Technicals — None.
