GOLDEN — Thomas Bropleh, one of Colorado’s top scorers, was struggling and probably thinking too much. But George Washington’s senior leader eventually settled down, as did the Patriots, to outlast Gateway 54-52 Thursday in Class 5A’s Sweet 16 at the Colorado School of Mines’ Lockridge Arena.
GW (24-1) will head to Saturday’s Great 8 after Bropleh overcame foul trouble as well as considerable defense in the front court by the Olympians (20-5).
“I was a little nervous and the team was nervous, but we kept on fighting and defense won it for us,” Bropleh said.
There were nine lead changes in the first quarter before Bropleh gave the Patriots the lead for good on consecutive, open layups in which he lost his defender. Gateway had its chances at the end but had two key turnovers inside the two-minute mark.
“We played, I’d say, OK defense in the fourth quarter and we had some mistakes on offense, but it’s always fun to advance,” GW coach Michael Rogers said. “The kids would come over in timeouts and tell me that they saw a few things. They’re the ones who have to do it, and they did.”
Bropleh missed most of the second quarter with foul trouble and scored 12 of his 16 points after halftime.
Gateway 15 9 15 13 — 52
George Washington 17 8 17 12 — 54
Gateway — Gibson 2 2-2 6, Riley 1 4-4, 7, Pleasant 3 4-8 10, Collins 6 0-0 17, Berling 2 0-0 4, Roybal 3 0-0 6, Witherspoon 0 2-2 2, Braver 0 0-0 0. Totals 17 12-16 52.George Washington — Millard 2 0-1 5, Adams 5 0-1 11, Sather 1 0-0 3, Bropleh 6 4-6 16, Balous 5 3-7 13, Du. Johnson 0 0-0 0, Marshall 2 2-4 6, Jones 0 0-0 0, Ford 0 0-0 0. Totals 21 9-16 54.3-pt. goals — Collins 5, Riley; Adams, Millard, Sather. Total fouls — Gateway 12, George Washington 16. Fouled out — None. Technicals — None.
East 66, Rampart 44
DaVaughn Thornton and the two-time defending champion Angels appreciated their quality time in running past the Rams. “We’re like a family,” Thornton said. “When we’re playing basketball together, it’s like we’re at the table eating. It’s just so much fun.”
Thornton, a tight end recruit signed to play this fall at the University of Colorado, led his family with 17 points and 14 rebounds, much to the approval of coach Rudy Carey.
“We did a lot of good things, we’re playing much better,” Carey said. “We shared the ball and were patient on offense.”
East (21-4) won its 10th consecutive game as Jace Davis (15 points), Phillip Watts (14) and Patrick Hilaire (11) added balance.
Rampart 17 9 13 5 — 44
East 23 16 16 11 — 66
Rampart — Shonts 0 0-0 0, Hoing 2 0-0 5, Coleman 0 0-2 0, Grant 1 0-0 3, Riggs-Russell 2 3-5 7, Reff 0 0-0 0, Mohn 2 0-0 4, Koehler 2 0-0 6, Kimsey 4 1-2 10, Evans 4 1-2 9, Saunders 0 0-0 0, Roman 0 0-0 0. Totals 17 5-11 44.East — Davis 6 3-4 15, Hildreth 0 0-0 0, Hilaire 5 1-3 11, Hampton 0 0-0 0, Watts 6 2-4 14, Wiese 1 0-0 2, Hardy 0 1-2 1, Moore 0 0-0 0, Merriex 2 1-2 6, Zettas 0 0-0 0, Smith 0 0-0 0, Thornton 8 1-2 17. Totals 28 7-13 66.3-pt. goals — Koehler 2, Grant, Hoing, Kimsey; Watts 2, Merriex. Total fouls — Rampart 16, East 11. Fouled out — None. Technicals — None.
Regis 77, Aurora Central 62
The Raiders, who have started slowly often during the second half of the season, haven’t been doing it on purpose.
“That wasn’t by design,” Regis coach Ken Shaw said after his team fell behind 9-0. “We got good shots, but they weren’t falling and (the Trojans) were very lively on defense.”
And shooting it well — Aurora Central was 14-of-20 in the first half. However, Regis (23-2) got it going behind R.J. Demps (25 points), Bud Thomas (22) and Joey Ptasinski (12) and through better ball movement, beating the Trojans (17-8) down the floor.
Aurora Central 17 18 9 18 — 62
Regis 10 22 19 26 — 77
Aurora Central — Martinez 0 0-1 0, Burnett 0 0-0 0, Abrams 3 2-2 9, Henderson 0 0-0 0, Venable 10 1-2 24, Lee 3 4-7 10, Johns-Carolina 1 2-2 5, Russell 0 0-0 0, Stubblefield 6 2-2 14. Totals 23 11-16 62.
Regis — Ptasinski 5 0-1 12, Cobb 1 1-2 3, Demps 7 8-8 25, Thomas 9 2-2 22, Clark 2 0-0 5, Winters 3 0-3 6, Dyer 0 4-4 4. Totals 27 15-20. 77.
3-pt. goals — Venable 3, Abrams, Johns-Carolina; Demps 3, Ptasinski 2, Thomas 2, Clark. Total fouls — Aurora Central 18, Regis 14. Fouled out — None. Technicals — None.
