Although with about a month still remaining in the high school boys basketball regular season, Jeremiah Haynes admitted it wasn’t too soon for Holy Family to feel desperate.
The unranked Tigers — hovering around .500 and winless in their first two league games — played like a desperate team Saturday, riding a huge game from Haynes to an emphatic 76-57 road win against No. 8 Denver Christian in the Class 3A Metro League.
Haynes, a senior guard, scored a game-high 30 points on drives and smooth jumpers while teammate Josh Tinnon controlled the post with 16 points and 12 rebounds in a victory the Tigers hope will put their season back on track.
“I think this helps, especially because they’re ranked,” Haynes said. “A lot of people don’t understand that, yes, we have four losses, but three of them are against top-10 teams. We’ve been trying to hang in there.”
The Tigers (6-4, 1-2) did more than that in snapping the Crusaders’ eight-game win streak. After leading throughout, the Tigers endured a brief scare when Denver Christian forged a three-point advantage midway through the third quarter. But Holy Family soon unleashed a barrage of 3-pointers.
Bryan Murphy closed the third quarter with a long 3-pointer to give the Tigers a 59-49 lead. Haynes drilled another 3 to start the fourth quarter, and the rout was on.
“We did what we thought we had to do, but Haynes just answered the challenge,” Denver Christian coach Dick Katte said. “He and (Tinnon) just dominated. We went to a zone, which worked, until they figured out the zone has spots in it too.”
Katte, whose Crusaders (9-2, 3-1) were led by Jacob Pursell’s 13 points, admitted his team might have been overachieving during its winning streak.
Holy Family was just delighted to remove its goose egg in league play.
“We definitely didn’t want to fall to 0-3 in league,” Tinnon said. “We started off the league schedule pretty tough with the No. 1 team in the state (Faith Christian), and Peak to Peak is pretty tough too. This is definitely one we needed.”
Holy Family 23 15 21 17 — 76
Denver Christian 17 16 16 8 — 57
Holy Family — Bovine 2 4-5 10, Murphy 3 0-0 7, Sommers 0 0-0 0, Tinnon 6 4-4 16, Haynes 13 1-1 30, Willis 0 0-0 0, Cribari 4 0-0 8, Golter 2 0-0 5. Totals 30 9-10 76.
Denver Christian — Terpstra 2 2-4 8, Pursell 5 2-5 13, Smith 3 2-2 8, Lenderink 3 0-0 6, LeFebre 3 0-0 6, Wiley 2 1-2 5, Conway 2 7-8 11, Viss 0 0-0 0. Totals 20 14-21 57.
3-point goals — HF, Haynes 3, Bovine 2, Murphy, Golter; DC, Terpstra 2, Pursell. Totals fouls — HF 18, DC 9.
