Mon’Darrius Benson’s redemption came Friday when he grabbed a tipped ball in overtime and raced for a layup.
The Mitchell guard’s basket with five seconds left in OT made up for his two missed free throws with three seconds left in regulation as the third-seeded Marauders (19-6) knocked off No. 2 Broomfield 49-46 at Metro State. With the Eagles (19-6) trying to inbound the ball looking for the win, the deflection went to the speedy Benson, who said his mind was peacefully blank.
“Nothing. Just, ‘We need to score. Real bad,’ ” he said. “That’s what made us win it right there — defense.”
The six-deep Marauders were balanced behind David Snipes (11 points), Benson (10), LaShawn Hamilton (nine) and Zach Sims (nine).
The Eagles, who battled back from a nine-point deficit in the fourth quarter, hit just one 3-pointer. Nick Tomsick led the Eagles with 15 points.
The Marauders face top- seeded Pueblo South (25-0) in the 4A Great 8 today at 6 p.m. at CSU-Pueblo.
Windsor 64, TJ 61 (OT)
Craig Von Allman nearly ended his high school career as a footnote. Instead, the 6-foot-4 guard from Windsor will play today for a shot at the Class 4A final four. Von Allman finished with 30 points as the top-seeded Wizards had to go to overtime to defeat fourth-seeded Thomas Jefferson.
Von Allman put on a shooter’s clinic, but his two misses on the front end of 1-and-1 attempts in the fourth quarter prevented the Wizards (22-3) from winning in regulation.
“It just shows the character of this team,” Von Allman said. “You stumble once, there’s someone there to pick us up. The seniors I’m playing with, this group, we’ve played together so long we deserved this one.”
Michael Finney and Trevor Okamoto both hit 3-pointers in overtime for the Wizards, who will play the winner of No. 2 Glenwood Springs-No. 3 Lewis- Palmer here today at 2:30 p.m.
The Spartans (16-9), who got 19 points from Ray Riley, had a chance to win with a 3-pointer at the end of regulation. The loss ends the Denver Prep League’s four-year run of 4A titles.
Sterling 60, Wheat Ridge 50
Don’t judge the Sterling Tigers by their stripes alone.
“That’s the thing about us — we don’t make spectacular plays,” Sterling forward Kyle Applehans said. “We don’t dazzle people with our play, but we come out and play hard as a team and play defense.”
Applehans scored 12 of his 15 points in the second half Friday as the top-seeded Tigers (20-5) ran away with a Class 4A victory over fourth-seeded Wheat Ridge (14-11) at Metro State to advance to today’s Great 8.
The Tigers, who got 14 points from Aaron Reyes, took the lead for good early in the fourth quarter and stretched it to 10 with 3:11 remaining on Mike Lock’s free throws.
Sterling plays Greeley West at 4:15 p.m. today at the Thunderdome.
The Farmers, led by Eric Achatz’s 23 points, jumped out to a 7-0 lead but faded from beyond the arc in the second half.
