GOLDEN — Lewis-Palmer sophomore Josh Scott stood out Friday in every way.
The 6-foot-8 sophomore was the biggest kid on the court at Colorado School of Mines, and turned in the biggest numbers to lead the Rangers to a 50-38 Class 4A state quarterfinal victory over the Sterling Tigers.
Scott had 28 points and 16 rebounds and blocked three shots as the Rangers (21-5) advanced to the final four for the second consecutive season.
“He was huge,” Rangers coach Russ McKinstry said of Scott. “We had a feeling he had a big size mismatch in this game.”
The Rangers won the Jim Baggot Region and return to the 4A state semifinals for the second consecutive season to face Colorado Springs Metro League rival and defending champion Sierra. The Stallions defeated the Rangers 46-39 in last year’s semifinal and have won both regular-season meetings this season, once in overtime.
Sterling (23-3), which got 12 points from Aaron Reyes, scored just 13 points in the second half.
Pueblo East 68, Broomfield 63 (OT).
Jordan Gregory scored 10 of Pueblo East’s 12 points in overtime and finished with a game-leading 28.
Pueblo East (24-1) won the Guy Gibbs Region and set up a meeting with Longmont in Thursday’s final four. Broomfield fell to 19-7.
Gregory hit enough free throws to put Pueblo East up by three points. Then Mike Fabrizio stole the ball with eight seconds left and hit two free throws to ice the wild win. Pueblo East’s Mitch Secora (13 points) tied the game at the end of regulation.
Longmont 63, Pueblo Central 54.
The Trojans (24-2) rode their tenacious defense, depth and got some key shots to hold off the stubborn Wildcats (22-4), who rode their starting five nearly the entire game.
The Trojans never trailed but twice had their lead cut to two points early in the fourth quarter. Junior Cade Kloster, son of coach Jeff Kloster, hit two 3-pointers in the fourth quarter to finally put the Wildcats down.
Cade Kloster had 19 points and Syd Donaldson added 16.
The Trojans won the Ron Shavlik Region and will face Pueblo East on Thursday in the final four.
The Wildcats got 17 points from guard Kevin Torres and 15 points and five blocks from Donthe Lucas.
