EATON — There may be no better chant against the opposing team than this: “Fun-da-mentals!”
The lost art of the free throw is perhaps the most overlooked yet most important fundamental of all.
Denver Lutheran made sure its best free-throw shooter, Joel Haywood, got the majority of the touches down the stretch of its opening-round Class 3A game against The Pinnacle.
Haywood hit 12-of-14 in the fourth quarter to help stave off the Timberwolves’ upset attempt 64-61, pushing the Lights into today’s next round, against Eaton.
“For a sophomore, he just plays so much more mature,” said Lutheran coach Ryan Bredow, whose team handled Eaton earlier in the season. “We trust him — as much if not more than anyone else — with the ball in his hands.”
Lutheran led 57-48, but the fifth-seeded Timberwolves (17-5), out of the Frontier League, came up with big shot after big shot to draw within a possession late in the game.
Senior Cornell Orme scored 10 of his team-high 20 points in the fourth but missed free throws. The Pinnacle was just 7-of-14 in the fourth quarter.
“They just had a little too much in the tank at the end,” Pinnacle coach Dave Van Cleave said.
Haywood led four Lights in double figures with 19 points, and Terrance Brockman had 15.
Eaton 70, Bennett 32
Eaton senior Kade Merritt hit seven 3-pointers in the first half to bury Bennett early.
The Reds (19-4), the 2007 state champions and preseason No. 1 in The Denver Post poll, never trailed and spread the wealth around on offense against the outmatched Tigers.
Merritt finished with a game-high 25 points. Two-time Class 3A first-team selection Seth Lobato finished with 15, and Cameron Stewart had 13.
Bennett (9-15) was led by Mike Hicks’ seven points.
GIRLS
Lamar 48, Peak to Peak 41
The extra time after practice that Brittany Higgins and the rest of the Lamar Savages spend shooting 50 free throws paid off Friday.
Higgins hit 7-of-8 in the final quarter to finish with a game- high 18 points, helping the sixth- seeded Savages hang on and stun No. 3 Peak to Peak.
“We kind of fell asleep after halftime; we got too comfortable,” said Higgins, whose team was up by as many as 13 points early in the third quarter.
Lamar (18-6) went on a 12-0 run to start the second quarter and did so with balance. Four different players scored during the run, including a combined seven points off the bench from Kalais Eddy and Lisa Chavez.
Along with Higgins’ 18, Lamar got 10 points from Shelby Baker.
Peak to Peak (15-9) got eight points each from Khadijah Sayyid and Caroline Clark.
Eaton 66, The Academy 50
“Survive and advance,” Eaton coach Todd Hernandez said.
That’s the battle cry of basketball coaches this time of year. The host Reds (21-2) survived a scare from The Academy, having seen their 17-point lead dissipate to 31-27 in the third quarter.
Eaton senior Chelsea Cowan was huge off the bench, scoring a game-high 18 points. Lauren Woods chipped in with 12, and Melanie Mackey had 10.
The Wildcats (11-13) got 15 from point guard Tameka Manning and 10 off the bench from senior Becca Reyes.
