CENTENNIAL — Other than temporarily falling in love with shooting 3-pointers, Arapahoe’s 57-38 home victory over Cherry Creek on Wednesday was methodical and the kind of grind-it-out game that will be necessary to capture the Centennial League.
The Warriors (10-2 overall, 3-0 in league), who have climbed to No. 4 in The Denver Post/9News Class 5A poll, had flashes of sharp passing and defended and rebounded, but inexplicably resorted to firing from the perimeter after establishing early superiority.
“We can’t do that,” Warriors coach Dan Snyder said. “We can’t settle for shooting a 3 after a pass. It’s that simple.”
Arapahoe went cold from the floor to interrupt its flow. The Warriors attempted 13 3-pointers in the first half and made four. However, after Snyder got their attention at halftime, they tried only five 3-pointers (making one) and went back to the cutting, passing style that produced early leads of 9-0 and 16-3.
“We’ve had games where we’ve been hot and it’s everybody’s favorite thing to do and we have good shooters, but once we start settling it doesn’t do us any good,” Arapahoe senior Tim Billingsley said. “We’ve just got to learn throughout the season that when we’re not hitting, we’ve go to attack to the basket.”
Billingsley had a tough night from the floor (0-for-10), but was 6-of-6 in the fourth quarter at the free-throw line, where Arapahoe was 22-of-26 compared to the Bruins’ 6-of-11.
Parker Semin, who led the Warriors with 13 points, agreed with a closer approach: “We just have to come out with the same mentality every game and not be flat-footed.”
While the losses continue to mount for Cherry Creek (2-10, 1-2), it’s a learning experience with only two seniors.
“The wins and losses don’t show the progress we’ve made,” Bruins coach Mike Brookhart said. “That’s OK. But the effort’s good.”
Cherry Creek 7 11 7 13 — 38
Arapahoe 16 14 13 14 — 57
Cherry Creek — Arnold 4 1-2 10, Curtis 0 0-0 0, Siegle 3 0-0 8, Smith 1 2-2 4, Bowman 1 0-1 2, Baus 0 0-2 0, Cobb 1 0-0 2, Rattiner 3 1-2 8, Gauna 1 0-0 2, Mostek 0 0-0 0, Huso 0 2-2 2. Totals 14 6-11 38.
Arapahoe — Fromm 2 0-0 5, Eigner 2 4-5 9, Semin 3 7-9 13, Ratterman 3 2-2 8, Keen 0 3-4 3, Moore 4 0-0 11, Kocur 1 0-0 2, Webb 0 0-0 0, Balli 0 0-0 0, Billingsley 0 6-6 6, Kocur 0 0-0 0. Totals 15 22-26 57.
3-point goals: Cherry Creek — Siegle 2, Arnold, Rattiner. Arapahoe — Moore 3, Fromm, Eigner.
