AURORA — Sometimes everything goes right, and then sometimes it doesn’t. But it’s during those ugly games that a team must will itself to victory. That’s what the unbeaten Montbello Warriors did in Wednesday night’s 53-45 victory over George Washington at the Lee Rosa Holiday Tournament.
The Warriors found themselves down 11 early in the first quarter with no signs of offensive consistency. So they turned to their variety of zone defenses to slow down GW, and the strategy worked.
“The more intense we got, it slowed them down a little bit and they couldn’t handle the pressure,” said Montbello’s Azlan Williams, who scored 12 points — one of three Warriors to score in double figures.
Denying the Patriots (3-3) the opportunity to run the floor — something GW did quite well in the game’s first 10 minutes when Denzel Johnson scored 10 of his team-high 12 points — proved to be the difference. That, and the fact that George Washington struggled at the free-throw line.
Though Montbello went on a 15-4 run to close the first half to tie it at 28, George Washington never found itself down by more than one or two points at any time in the second half until the final minutes. That might not have been the case if the Patriots had just hit their free throws. Instead, GW was 6-of-15 from the line, including 3-of-12 in the second half.
“It wasn’t really the zone so much as it was that we missed a lot of free throws in the second half and we had some crucial turnovers when we didn’t need to have a turnover,” George Washington coach Michael Rogers said of his team’s woes. “We had the lead and still managed to turn it over, but we’re an inexperienced team right now. We’re getting better, getting better, and we’re looking forward to peaking out in February.”
DeAndre Clayton, who managed just one 3-pointer in the first half, finished with a game-high 14 to lead Montbello. It was his 3-pointer with 1 minute, 49 seconds remaining that broke the game’s final tie and the Warriors scored 11 of the final 12 points to set up a rematch with Eaglecrest in tonight’s championship game.
“In the first half, I was shooting but I couldn’t hit any shots. My coaches told me to get off a quick release so I could make some shots,” Clayton said.
Montbello (7-0) beat Eaglecrest by 19 in its season opener. George Washington, meanwhile, will play in the third-place game against host Aurora Central.
Montbello 11 17 8 17 — 53
George Washington 19 9 10 7 — 45
Montbello — Clayton 5 2-2 14, Cooper 2 5-6 10, Taylor 4 1-2 9, Conyers 1 1-3 3, Williams 5 0-1 12, Cherry 2 1-2 5. Totals 19 10-16 53.
George Washington — Lear 4 2-6 11, Jones 2 1-2 5, Johnson 4 3-4 12, Burnette 3 0-1 6, Rose 2 0-0 5, Marshall 3 0-2 6. Totals 18 6-15 45.
3-point goals — Clayton 2, Williams 2, Cooper; Lear, Johnson, Rose. Total fouls — Montbello 13, George Washington 15. Fouled out — Lear.
