LOUISVILLE — Now two games into defending its Class 5A Front Range League title, Fairview didn’t fool around Tuesday night at Boulder Valley District rival Monarch.
The Knights almost literally jumped on the Coyotes at the opening tipoff, then rode their early wave to a convincing 70-48 decision.
Fairview, which improved to 9-5 overall, 2-0 in league, used hot shooting and energetic defense in the opening minutes to take leads of 10-2 and 19-5 against what appeared to be a stunned Monarch. The Knights drilled their first eight shots from the floor and forced 10 Monarch turnovers over the game’s first eight minutes.
“That has been our MO,” a disappointed coach Ken Niven said of his Coyotes, who dipped to 7-4, 1-1. “We’ve been starting slowly.”
Monarch did gather its composure to climb within 26-21, but it was temporary. Eight straight points by Darragh O’Neill, 5A’s leading scorer, paced the Knights’ next surge, and they rode it out with their usual overall contributions from their deep bench.
“We thought our press might hurt them, and I thought it did,” Fairview coach Frank Lee said. “We weren’t quite as effective in the second quarter and (the Coyotes) closed the gap. But I think our kids took the challenge. This is a rivalry game for us.”
Sixteen of O’Neill’s game-high 25 points came in the first half, 10 in the second quarter.
“We had that lull there in the second quarter, but in the second half my guys came out strong and were hitting great shots from the corner,” O’Neill said.
Michael Melillo added 13 points and Sean Skuba managed 10 as the Knights frequently found the open player on the perimeter or had success driving to the basket.
Fairview 21 17 15 17 — 70
Monarch 12 19 9 8 — 48
Fairview — D. O’Neill 8 7-7 25, Melillo 4 3-6 13, Saltarelli 0 1-2 1, Ghosh 0 0-0 0, Oldham 3 2-2 9, Skuba 4 2-2 10, Gallup 0 0-0 0, Lorentzen 0 0-0 0, Dolan 0 0-0 0, Morrison 0 0-0 0, Flora 0 0-0 0, S. O’Neill 3 2-2 8, Bell 2 0-0 4. Totals 24 17-21 70.
Monarch — Stanford 1 3-4 5, Webb 4 1-3 10, McGinley 5 3-5 14, Shefte 1 0-0 2, Brooks 1 1-2 3, Dovey 1 0-0 3, Spence 1 3-4 5, Moon 3 0-0 6. Totals 17 11-18 48.
3-point goals: Fairview — D. O’Neill 2, Melillo 2, Oldham. Monarch — Webb, McGinley, Dovey. Technicals — S. O’Neill. Fouled out — Flora.
Neil H. Devlin: 303-954-1714 or ndevlin@denverpost.com
