AURORA — Depending on your point of view, it was either terrible or terrific.
Gateway will take the latter, thank you, as the Olympians survived an eastside backyard scrap with Eaglecrest 63-57 on Tuesday in the first round of the Class 5A state playoffs.
The host Olympians, who will be at Doherty in Colorado Springs on Friday, moved to 13-11 and have won at least one postseason game in each of coach Jeff Sweet’s 20 seasons.
“It was a struggle,” Sweet said. “Thank goodness for free throws.”
In converting 16-of-20 free throws in the fourth quarter, and 26-of-32 for the game, Gateway took the lead down the stretch and was able to keep it.
Senior Chris Brever made two of his four 3-pointers in the fourth quarter and all four of his free throws. Burphy Kranger added 10 points, including 7-of-9 from the line.
It was a fight from the outset. Before Gateway, which made only one of its first 10 shots, was able to hit the rim, it had its first three shots blocked and made four turnovers. Eaglecrest, which ended its season 7-17, wasn’t much better in taking an 8-5 lead after a quarter and was ahead only 22-21 at halftime.
The pace increased later, with a combined 52 points scored over the final eight minutes, more of a fitting end for two rivals who experienced harder times in 2009-10 — the Raptors were coming off back-to-back Centennial League crowns, and Gateway, second in the Continental a year ago, started the season 2-7.
Curt Brever’s consecutive 3-pointers midway through the fourth quarter gave the Olympians the separation they needed.
“It opened up things for our big men,” said Brever, who led all scorers with 18 points.
True, the Raptors’ interior defense was good and they had success on the offensive glass, but Gateway continued to make free throws. Kranger and John Collins, who came off the bench, each added 13 points.
Gateway also extended its defense to bother high-end guard Andre Marquez, who led the Raptors with 16 points, but never really got going. Byron Thompson and Eric Haviland each added 10.
“Gateway on its home floor, neither one of us score a lot of points, I knew it would be this way,” Eaglecrest coach John Olander said.
Eaglecrest 8 14 12 23 — 57
Gateway 5 16 13 29 — 63
Eaglecrest — Haviland 2 6-6 10, Udvari 1 2-4 4, Marquez 6 3-3 16, Thompson 3 2-2 10, Hall 3 3-7 9, Lewis 3 1-2 8, Ortiz 0 0-0 0, Sotelo 0 0-0 0, Wilford 0 0-0 0. Totals 18 17-24 57.
Gateway — Brever 4 6-6 18, Kranger 2 8-10 13, Mansaray 0 0-0 0, Kasovi 0 1-2 1, Roybal 2 4-5 8, Collins 5 3-4 13, Johnson 2 0-0 4, Guerra 1 4-5 6. Totals 16 26-32 63.
3-point goals — Thompson 2, Lewis, Marquez; Brever 4, Kranger.
Neil H. Devlin: 303-954-1714 or ndevlin@denverpost.com
