GOLDEN — Jahmall Fountain had a headache and a sore throat, and his defense looked sick and tired in the first half Friday.
So Sierra coach Otis Johnson reminded his all-state senior that great players, including his favorite, Kobe Bryant, play through that kind of stuff.
Fountain got the message, and the rest of the top-seeded defending champion Stallions rolled in the second half en route to a 65-43 Class 4A state quarterfinal victory over Thomas Jefferson at Colorado School of Mines.
Fountain, who attempted one shot in the first half, scored 19 of his 20 points in the second half and the Stallions (24-2), winners of 19 straight, closed the game on a 32-8 run.
“We went into the locker room, and we knew we could play better than that,” Fountain said. “Our defense wasn’t all that good in the first half anyways.”
The Stallions won the Bill Weimar Region and will play Lewis-Palmer on Thursday at CU’s Coors Events Center in Boulder.
Kamryn Williams scored 18 points and Chris Fielder added 11 for the Stallions, who have yet to lose this season to 4A competition. Fountain grabbed five of his eight rebounds in the second half, showing off an aggressive streak that was missing in the first 16 minutes.
“We knew we could do better,” Fielder said.
The Spartans (18-8), who dismissed four players last weekend for breaking team rules, including leading scorer Ray Riley, tied the game three times in the third quarter, the last coming at 33-33.
From there it was all Stallions. Their half-court pressure forced eight fourth-quarter turnovers, they burned up the court in transition, knocked down their free throws and turned the Spartans into a tired perimeter team.
“We did an OK job dealing with it,” Spartans coach Grant Laman said of Sierra’s explosiveness, “but I think in the end we just ran out of gas.”
Shane Oliver led the Spartans with 14 points. Fellow starters Billy Sprague, Chris Carter and freshman Eric Andres combined for 14 points in the first half and just five in the second.
