BOULDER — It was Jahmall Fountain’s turn Thursday night to lead the deep and unpredictable Sierra Stallions.
“We don’t have one solid MVP on our team. It’s whoever wants it, they go get it, basically,” Fountain said after scoring 20 points to guide the Stallions (22-5) into Saturday’s Class 4A state championship.
Ten deep and cautiously changing the game’s tempo as needed, the Stallions defeated Colorado Springs-area rival Lewis-Palmer 46-39 at the Coors Events Center to move a step closer to a third title and first since 2000.
Fountain, who scored 16 of his points in the second half, pulled the Stallions out of the doldrums by scoring eight points in the third quarter and kept the Rangers (19-8) from mounting a prolonged run.
Fountain heated up by attacking the basket, and his steal and layup with less than a minute left in the third gave the Stallions a 32-21 lead.
A few games removed from an 18-for-40 effort from the free-throw line, the Stallions were 10-of-17 in the fourth quarter, missing the front end of just one 1-and-1 situation.
“We talked about it in practice, ‘We got to hit; we got to hit, they’re going to foul us,’ ” guard Kelby Dias said.
The Rangers could not penetrate off the dribble, hit from outside, get key rebounds or get their backdoor cuts going.
“We could not find enough people to score points,” Rangers coach Russ McKinstry said. “We didn’t get to the free-throw line, and that’s kind of our game.”
Cole Schumacher’s 11 points led the Rangers. Leading scorer Kyle Engelhardt had 8.
Sierra 15 7 10 14 — 46
Lewis-Palmer 6 11 5 17 — 39
Sierra —Johnson 1 0-0 2, E. Fielder 1 2-5 4, Cooks 1 0-0 2, Bumpas 2 1-4 5, Williams 3 0-0 6, Fountain 7 6-8 20, Dias 1 3-4 6, Brown 0 0-0 0, C. Fielder 0 0-0 0, Burleson 0 1-2 1. Totals 16 13-23 46.
Lewis-Palmer —Ververs 4 0-0 9, Schumacher 5 1-2 11, Snyder 0 0-0 0, Engelhardt 3 2-2 8, Cavera 0 2-2 2, Lane 2 5-7 9. Totals 14 10-13 39.
3-point goals —Dias; Ververs. Total fouls —Sierra 15, Lewis-Palmer 18. Fouled out —Fountain. Technicals —None.
