BOULDER, Colo.—RJ Demps scored 8 of his 17 points in overtime Thursday night, and Regis stunned ThunderRidge with a 71-59 victory in the Class 5A state semifinals.
ThunderRidge (18-9) appeared on its way to the win with seconds left and holding a 54-51 advantage. With 5.2 seconds to play, ThunderRidge controlled the ball on the far sideline, but the inbound pass was deflected to Regis’ Michael Clark.
Clark immediately passed the ball to Bud Thomas, who hit a long 3-pointer that tied the game at 54-54 and sent the packed Coors Events Center crowd into a frenzy as the buzzer sounded.
Top-seeded Regis (25-2), which beat third-seeded ThunderRidge for the second time this season, used the momentum shift to dominate in the extra period, outscoring the Grizzlies 17-5.
Thomas led the Raiders with 23 points, and Joey Ptasinski posted 17.
ThunderRidge used an 11-0 run to take a 46-36 lead with 6:33 to play in the game. Dave Arnold led the Highlands Ranch school with 23 points. Dave Day had 18 for ThunderRidge, which was clearly dejected after Thomas hit his shot to send the game into overtime.
Following ThunderRidge’s early fourth-quarter run, Regis put together a 12-3 stretch capped by a 3-pointer and a putback by Thomas that pulled the Aurora school within 49-48 with 3:20 left.
The game was tied seven times in the first half, the final time (27-27) at intermission.
One of the big differences in the game came at the free-throw line, where Regis converted 21 of 24 attempts. ThunderRidge was just 8 of 13 from the stripe.
Regis, making its first final four appearance since 1981, will play the winner of the George Washington-Fairview game for the Class 5A state championship on Saturday.
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