FORT COLLINS — Darragh O’Neill had circled Tuesday on his calendar weeks ago.
Class 5A’s leading scorer will continue to remember it after depositing 28 points as Fairview knocked off Fort Collins 70-61 to remain in position to defend its Class 5A Front Range League crown.
In just their second year in the Front Range since moving from the Centennial, the Knights have developed a rivalry across the board against the Lambkins. They had a hotly contested boys soccer match in last fall’s playoff in which O’Neill received a red card and had to sit out his team’s basketball opener. In football, the Knights downed Fort Collins in Week 8 to win the league title.
“It’s something,” O’Neill said. “(The Lambkins) are a really good team, but we all played really well tonight.”
O’Neill rebounded, passed and defended as the Knights (13-5 overall, 6-0 in league), ranked No. 10 in The Denver Post/9News 5A poll, had more contributions than a charity.
Michael Melillo scored 13 of his 24 points in the first quarter. And keep going down the roster — Kenny Bell, Daniel Flora, Ryan Gallup, Neal Ghosh, Andrew Morrison, Will Oldham, Shane O’Neill, Craig Saltarelli and Sean Skuba combined to turn in anything else Fairview required.
“Darragh was phenomenal,” Fairview coach Frank Lee said. “And I think our kids are starting to figure out how good they can be.”
The Knights, who were periodically guilty of turnover issues and settling for weaker ball movement, came together in the final minutes and weathered assorted moves by the No. 3 Lambkins (16-2, 5-1). Fairview made 12-of-13 free throws in the fourth quarter, defended when it counted and frustrated the Lambkins late.
Fort Collins led only briefly early, then fell behind by double figures. Trailing 36-28 at halftime, the Lambkins made seven of their next eight shots to climb within 51-47 entering the final eight minutes. Twice they tied it late before O’Neill scored five straight points to make it 60-55. The Lambkins got within 62-61 with 42 seconds remaining, but Fairview free throws and three turnovers by the Lambkins sealed it.
Nate McAuliffe led Fort Collins with 16 points, but both he and Austin Maag (14 points, none in the fourth quarter) fouled out late. Cody Spicer and Greg Svitavsky each added 10 points.
“We just had too many turnovers (20),” Lambkins coach Monte Alcaraz said.
Fairview 25 11 15 19 — 70
Fort Collins 15 13 19 14 — 61
Fairview — D. O’Neill 10 6-6 28, Melillo 9 3-3 24, Saltarelli 1 0-1 2, Ghosh 0 2-2 2, Oldham 1 0-0 3, Skuba 1 0-0 2, Gallup 0 0-0 0, Morrison 0 0-0 0, Flora 0 2-2 2, S. O’Neill 2 2-2 7, Bell 0 0-0 0. Totals 24 15-16 70.
Fort Collins — McAuliffe 6 4-4 16, Maag 6 0-2 14, Spicer 4 0-1 10, Brakke 0 1-3 1, Kelley 0 1-2 1, Svitavsky 3 4-6 10, Marum 4 1-1 9, Wood 0 0-0 0. Totals 23 11-19 61.
3-point goals: Fairview — Melillo 3, D. O’Neill 2, Oldham, S. O’Neill. Fort Collins — Maag 2, Spicer 2. Fouled out — McAuliffe, C. Spicer, Maag. Technical — McAuliffe.
Neil H. Devlin: 303-954-1714 or ndevlin@denverpost.com
