LIMON — From back-and-forth to deliberate, Colorado Springs School has been working on a complete game.
It was on display Saturday night, when the Kodiaks held off Limon 75-65 in a hard-fought matchup that combined both testy moments as well as sportsmanship and made it clear these two programs will have to be dealt with as the postseason nears.
C.S. School, defending Class 2A state champion and No. 1 in The Denver Post/9News 2A poll, improved to 17-0 and won its 22nd game in succession. The Kodiaks have clinched the top playoff seed from District 8 and have been convincing. On Friday, they gave Calhan only its second loss in 16 games.
“A good win for us in a hostile environment,” C.S. School coach Dave Cortez said.
And how — the two went up and down the floor in a first half that was tied at 44 (they combined to make 14 of their first 16 shots), then the Kodiaks used their superior, all-around skill to patiently pull away while thwarting anything Limon (14-3) offered.
Senior DeLovell Earls, 2A player of the year in 2009, had a key stretch after the Kodiaks used a 9-2 run in the fourth quarter for a 61-54 lead. The 6-foot-4 Earls scored on a follow-up, then tipped in another rebound to make it 68-60 with 2 minutes to play.
Earls’ 16 points, along with handfuls of rebounds, assists, steals and blocked shots, meshed well with a game-high 21 points by Chris Daily as well as assorted moments by Andre Brown (13) and Ian Cullity (11).
“They were tough and we knew that,” Earls said of the Badgers. “But if we play together we can be better than last year.”
Matt Brown, The Denver Post Gold Helmet-winner in football, paced Limon with 19 points and younger brother Jason Brown, a sophomore, turned in 17.
“I think we proved that we can play with anybody, but we have to get over the hump a bit,” Limon coach Dirk Pedersen said.
C.S. School 27 17 11 20 — 75
Limon 23 21 8 13 — 65
C.S. School — Brown 4 4-4 13, Robinson 2 2-2 8, Earls 6 4-4 16, Dailey 6 6-7 21, Cullity 4 1-3 11, White 2 2-2 6, Eades 0 0-0 0. Totals 24 19-22 75.
Limon — Yowell 0 1-2 1, J. Brown 6 5-7 17, T. Dohe 5 0-0 10, M. Brown 6 4-6 19, King 4 1-1 9, Scherrer 2 1-4 5, Grimes 0 0-0 0, Bre. Schmidt 0 0-0 0, Beedy 1 2-2 4. Totals 24 14-22 65.
3-pt. goals — Dailey 3, Cullity 2, Robinson 2, Brown; M. Brown 3.
Neil H. Devlin: 303-954-1714 or ndevlin@denverpost.com
