LITTLETON — The Chatfield Chargers passed the hot hand Wednesday like an oven mitt at a Pillsbury bake-off.
Consequently, the No. 4 East Angels were roasted as the fifth-ranked Chargers hammered out a 94-74 Class 5A nonleague victory.
Landon Vermeer drained five 3-pointers and scored 19 of his game-high 30 points in the first half. Jordan Carter, a 6-foot-7 senior, poured in 17 points in the opening four minutes of the third quarter, and 6-8 center Trevor Wages had 18 points, six rebounds and blocked 10 shots as the Chargers (5-2) owned the paint against the smaller Angels (7-5).
“I don’t know what happened. My team needed to make a run,” said Carter, who had nine rebounds to go with 24 points. “I had been in foul trouble, missing a lot of shots — rushing them — and I just wanted to slow down and play my game and get my team going.”
The Chargers opened with a Vermeer 3-pointer, never trailed and flummoxed the Angels with an offense that flowed outside-in and inside-out at will. The Chargers led by 11 in the second quarter and 21 midway through the third quarter on Carter’s seventh basket of the frame.
Wages was immovable and unstoppable inside. The School of Mines signee rejected with authority, sometimes slamming the ball like someone had tossed up a beach ball.
“That’s all I wanted. You couldn’t ask for anything better,” Wages said of a game that saw him firmly stuck inside the heads of East’s shooters.
Vermeer had nine points in the first quarter and added 10 in the second, sneaking open to the wing and baseline for 3-pointers. He worked inside more in the second half while finishing with eight rebounds.
Chatfield turned the ball over 26 times, but shot 18-of-21 from the free-throw line, compared to East’s frosty 18-for-34 effort.
The Angels got 19 points and seven boards from Phillip Watts, 15 points from Uriah Carter and 13 points from Devon Gee.
With general parity in among 5A’s top teams, matchups and execution have been key in most matchups thus far. Angels coach Rudy Carey gave no excuses for his team, crediting the Chargers with a comprehensive victory.
“We’re not mentally tough enough,” Carey said. “That’s what we learned. We’re not mentally tough enough to be a great basketball team. We’re an average basketball team because we’re soft.”
Denver East 13 24 18 19 — 74
Chatfield 18 26 29 21 — 94
Denver East — Carter 4 7-9 15, Watts 7 3-4 19, Moore 3 4-14 10, Merriex 1 0-0 2, Gee 5 3-5 13, Whitaker 0 0-0 0, Zettas 2 0-0 4, Hakeem 0 1-2 1, Bledsoe 1 0-0 2, Schneider 2 0-0 6, Starks 1 0-0 2. Totals 26 18-34 74.
Chatfield — Wright 2 2-2 8, Evans 2 0-0 5, Vermeer 10 5-5 30, Wages 7 4-5 18, Carter 9 4-5 24, Vaninger 2 3-4 7, Slavin 1 0-0 2, Teague 0 0-0 0, Treece 0 0-0 0, Garcia 0 0-0 0, Elsenbast 0 0-0 0. Totals 33 18-21 94.
3-point goals — Watts 2, Schneider 2; Vermeer 5, Carter 2, Wright 2, Evans. Total fouls — East 21, Chatfield 24. Fouled out — Wright. Technicals — None.
