PUEBLO — Thanks to an intense defense, the Dragons (25-1) are going to play for the boys basketball state championship for the second time in school history.
Austin Tharp had 13 points, and Holyoke held Ignacio to 15 points in the second half en route to claiming a 45-33 semifinal victory on Friday at Massari Arena.
“Our defense was definitely the key,” veteran Holyoke coach John Baumgartner said. “We don’t play much zone, but we played zone in the second half and we were able to shut down their big guy (Alex Herrera) and we got our offense going.”
The 6-foot-7 Herrera had 15 points, but only four in the second half, for Ignacio.
“A lot of people doubted us and we came down here to the state tournament with a vengeance,” said Tharp, who made 11-of-14 free throws. “We want to get that gold ball.”
Holding a 21-18 lead at intermission, the Dragons, who won the Class 2A state title in 1984, used a strong third quarter to take a 30-22 edge.
The Bobcats (23-2), who moved down from 3A to 2A this season, could get no closer than 37-30 with 1:16 to play on a 3-pointer by Taylor Dean.
“We kept getting the ball into the post in the second half, but the ball just kept falling out of our hands, and I don’t know how that kept happening,” Ignacio coach Chris Valdez said.
“They were real aggressive getting the ball, and we didn’t shoot the ball as well as I thought we would.”
Colorado Springs School 66, Meeker 41 •
The Kodiaks’ inaugural appearance at a state basketball tournament has definitely been memorable.
Junior DeLovell Earls poured in 30 points, grabbed 16 rebounds and had seven assists, leading Colorado Springs School to victory.
“We just played Kodiak basketball,” the 6-foot-4 Earls said. “We played good defense and we got out and ran on offense. There’s no team in this tournament that can run with us.”
The Kodiaks took a 33-19 lead at the half and were never threatened in the second half.
“We live and die by our (defensive) pressure, and we want to see if people can handle it, and it worked for us again tonight.”
Mitch Jacob had 17 points in Meeker’s defeat.
“We knew he (Earls) was going to cause matchup problems for us, and we backed off and he made a lot of shots,” Meeker coach Klark Kindler said. “That also was the quickest team we’ve seen all year.”
Tracy Renck, Special to The Post
