LITTLETON — Darragh O’Neill admits he gets a little too fired up at times.
But on a cold night when both teams showed some early-season frost, O’Neill’s spark was a welcome sign for Fairview — even when it landed him on the bench Thursday during a key stretch against Thomas Jefferson.
“I had to make sure I kept a cool head, because I’m a pretty hotheaded player at times,” O’Neill said. “I think it helps me a lot too, because I get pumped up about stuff.”
After picking up his third foul and a quick technical in the third quarter, O’Neill scored 14 of his 26 points in the fourth as the Knights (2-0) held off the Spartans 73-62 to advance to tonight’s final of the sixth annual Tip Off Classic at Heritage High School.
The Knights, who won this tournament last year but graduated most the offensive firepower from their Class 5A state semifinalist squad, didn’t look drastically different. They hustled, rotated and slid on defense to thwart the penetration of Spartans guard Ray Riley, limited their turnovers and made their free throws.
O’Neill cashed 16-of-17 attempts from the free-throw line, and the Knights shot 25-for-37, compared with a 15-for-29 effort by the Spartans (1-1), ranked No. 2 in 4A.
“You can’t beat a good team when you shoot 50 percent from the line,” Spartans coach Grant Laman said.
Fairview led by 10 in the second quarter and was up 38-27 on Will Oldham’s three-point play midway through the third quarter when O’Neill got booked for an offensive foul and a technical, sending him to the bench with four fouls.
The Spartans used the time to rally behind Riley (17 points) and forward Billy Sprague (15 points and 13 rebounds) but could not extend their lead beyond three points before O’Neill returned and took over.
Thomas Jefferson 13 14 16 19 — 62
Fairview 15 19 12 27 — 73
Thomas Jefferson — Fair 2 0-0 5, Oliver 0 1-2 1, Jackson 0 0-0 0, Sprague 4 7-14 15, Riley 6 3-7 17, Andres 4 0-0 8, Price 0 2-4 2, Penn 3 2-2 9, Brewer 0 0-0 0, McIntosh 2 0-0 5, Melnicoe 0 0-0 0. Totals 21 15-29 62.
Fairview — D. O’Neill 5 16-17 26, Oldham 6 5-7 19, S. O’Neill 1 0-4 2, Ghosh 2 1-2 6, Skuba 5 2-4 12, Morrison 1 0-0 2, Lorentzen 1 0-0 2, Saltarelli 1 0-0 3, Gallup 0 0-0 0, Bell 0 0-1 0, Flora 0 1-2 1, Dolan 0 0-0 0. Totals 22 25-37 73.
3-point goals —Riley 2, Fair, Penn, McIntosh; Oldham 2, Ghosh, Saltarelli. Total fouls — Thomas Jefferson 27, Fairview 21. Fouled out — Oliver. Technical — D. O’Neill.
