LAKEWOOD — Deontae Fair’s life has gone from yellow to green.
Always a steady hand at the guard position, the 5-foot-7 Thomas Jefferson senior is looking to create scoring opportunities for himself this season rather than just for his teammates. And the depleted Spartans needed the help Saturday.
“Definitely this year I’ve got more of the green light,” Fair said. “Today I was just feeling it, so I kept shooting. Coach (Grant Laman) told me to keep shooting.”
Fair scored 13 points, one point shy of his season high, to help spark the Spartans to a 54-50 victory over Arvada West in the final of the annual Paul Davis Classic tournament at Green Mountain High School.
Banged up all-state guard Ray Riley (back) added 14 for the Spartans (4-3), who are still awaiting the January return of 6-5 all-state senior Chris Carter.
The Spartans took over in the second quarter, ran their lead to 12 points and held off the Wildcats (2-2) with a mixture of an aggressive interior defense, which included 11 blocked shots, and converted free throws in the fourth quarter.
“That definitely builds our confidence,” Fair said. “Most games this season we play hard in the first half and second half come out thinking, ‘Oh, we got this in the bag.'”
The Wildcats (2-2) showed promising depth and size but could not seem to find the right combination to give them consistent scoring and defense. Three starters were scoreless coming into the fourth quarter before Kevin Mitchell bagged nine points to spark a late run that cut the Spartans’ lead to 45-38 with 1:54 remaining.
“I’d like to say it’s going to take us some time to blend in these football guys more, but you know what? That’s just not an excuse anymore” Wildcats coach Jeff Parriott said. “We need to be better on offense.”
Sammy Porter paced the Class 5A Wildcats with 12 points, while Patrick Wheatlake and Andrew Higgins added 10 points apiece.
A scheduling snafu was the only reason the Spartans were in the final of the eight-team tournament. Wasson defeated the Spartans in the semifinals on Friday but couldn’t play Saturday for the title.
The Spartans, ranked No. 2 in the 4A Denver Post/9News preseason poll, went through a tight first quarter before making their first sustained run midway through the second.
Freshman Eric Andres blocked four shots and scored four of his seven points in the second quarter, then Fair hit a 3-pointer from the right wing and a floating layup to put the Spartans up 25-13 with 1:37 left in the half.
Arvada West12 6 10 22 — 50
Thomas Jefferson10 17 11 16 — 54
Arvada West — Wheatlake 4 1-2 10, Castor 0 0-0 0, Higgins 4 0-0 10, Waters 0 0-0 0, Mitchell 3 2-2 9, Porter 3 2-2 9, Gillespie 2 1-2 6, Leslie 1 1-2 3, Brown 0 0-0 0. Totals 17 9-14 50.
Thomas Jefferson — Fair 6 0-0 13, Oliver 2 3-6 8, Jackson 1 4-8 6, Riley 6 2-4 14, Sprague 2 2-2 6, Penn 0 0-0 0, Brewer 0 0-0 0, Melnicoe 0 0-0 0, McIntosh 0 0-0 0, Andres 2 3-4 7. Totals 19 14-24 54.
3-point goals — Higgins 2, Porter 2, Gillespie, Mitchell, Wheatlake; Fair, Oliver. Total fouls — Arvada West 18, Thomas Jefferson 11. Fouled out — None. Technicals — None.
