LITTLETON — With Chatfield having a fight on its hands, the Chargers did what they probably do best.
They dug in and got significant contributions from multiple players.
Good thing, too — they needed everyone of them in holding off visiting Rocky Mountain 79-73 on Friday night in Class 5A’s second round.
In improving to 20-4, the Chargers, a No. 2 seed and champions of the Jefferson County League, will host Highlands Ranch, which waxed South 67-48, on Tuesday in the Sweet 16.
“It will be fun, I can’t wait,” Chargers senior guard Landon Vermeer said. “This was a struggle, but (the Lobos) are a good team. I think people overlooked them.”
But not Chatfield, which knew Rocky Mountain was coached by Bruce Dick, who spent decades in Jeffco at Green Mountain.
In fact, the Lobos, a surprising No. 10 seed who ended 15-10, led at halftime and trailed by two points after three quarters.
But the Chargers’ firepower that came in waves and through patience finally took over.
Vermeer was steady with a team-high 20 points, but others had their turns, too. Junior Dean Wright made three big 3-pointers after halftime, two in the fourth quarter on the way to 16 points. Danny Vaninger made two 3s in the second quarter and Jensen Teague converted two key baskets, one a 3-pointer, as the Chargers showed resiliency and never got timid.
And at the top of the list had to be senior 6-foot-8 center Trevor Wages, who was harassed all game by a pesky Lobos defense by committee down low, yet scored 13 points, including three big putbacks after halftime, and took over the paint by grabbing 17 rebounds.
Only poor free-throw shooting by Chatfield (8-of-18) in the final quarter kept it from running away.
“If we make the free throws, the game’s over,” Chargers coach Gary Anderson said. “And (the Lobos) wouldn’t go away. Trevor’s rebounding and key shots by guys off the bench won it.”
For Rocky Mountain, Nathan Crabtree led all scorers with 24 points. But he had lots of help. Ty Traufield (14), Chris Roglen (12) and Zach LeVett (11) were there all game, and the Lobos had their moments of rebounding early against the Chargers before Wages, who also blocked six shots, took over.
“I’m really proud of them,” Dick said. “We got the effort that we’ve been looking for all year.
“I told them after the game that I wish I had a picture of their uniforms right now. Every uniform that was on the court was sopping wet. And that’s how we want to play, that’s how good teams play. And I can’t ask any more about their effort.”
Said a relieved Anderson: “The important thing is that we won the game.”
Rocky Mtn. 15 18 12 28 — 73
Chatfield 21 10 17 31 — 79
Rocky Mountain — LeVett 5 0-0 11, House 0 0-0 0, Feller 2 3-4 8, Roglen 6 0-0 12, Hoppal 0 0-0 0, Traufield 4 2-2 14, Crabtree 7 7-7 24, Karp 2 0-0 4, Bonk 0 0-0 0. Totals 26 12-13 73.
Chatfield — Slavin 3 0-1 6, Vermeer 6 6-10 21, Carter 2 1-2 5, Wages 4 5-7 13, Wright 5 3-7 16, Teague 4 0-0 9, Vaninger 2 0-2 6, Evans 1 0-0 3, Garcia 0 0-0 0, Treece 0 0-0 0. Totals 27 15-29 79.
3-pt. goals: Rocky Mountain —Traufield 4, Crabtree 3, LeVett, Feller; Chatfield —
Vermeer 3, Wright 3, Vaninger 2, Teague, Evans.
Neil H. Devlin: 303-954-1714 or ndevlin@denverpost.com
