PUEBLO — Forgive the Otis and Ouray boys if the opening minutes of Friday’s third quarter in the Class A semifinal looked like an NBA 3-point shooting contest.
They were just trying to advance to a state championship game.
Both teams came out of the break fired up and put up eight 3-pointers in the opening minutes, making four. But Otis pulled away in the last 2 1/2 minutes of the third quarter en route to a 66-51 win and a spot in tonight’s title game against defending state champion Caliche (24-2).
After trailing by as many as 10 in the first quarter, Otis (25-0) went on a 25-8 run that earned a 32-25 halftime lead.
“We got number 32, Jimmy McGrath, who is a senior. He’ll hit them whenever we need a big one,” Otis senior Karson Kuntz said. “And we got Dillon Patterson (three 3-pointers), who just seems to be Johnny-on-the-spot.”
Ouray showed signs of a comeback when Nakoa Martinez hit a 3-pointer to open the fourth quarter to close within 49-41, but that would be as close as the Trojans (17-6) got.
The Bulldogs were led by Carlos Hernandez and McGrath with 19 points each.
Caliche 71, Ridgway 60 • Fans of offense had plenty to cheer about in the second half as the teams combined for 71 points. But it was Caliche that had more gas in the tank as it found its way to the title game for the third consecutive year.
“It would be cool (to get a second straight championship),” said Corey Stumpf, who finished with 11 points. “That’s what we work for every year. Being one of the only seniors, we’ve worked hard our last four years. I think we deserve it.”
The Buffaloes shot 12-for-20 in the third and turned a four-point deficit at halftime into a 54-46 lead after the third quarter.
Ridgway shot 6-for-9 in the third, but was hurt by its eight turnovers, including three charging fouls.
“We take a lot of pride in taking charges,” Caliche coach Randy Kirkwood said. “That’s like our dunk on the defensive end of the floor.”
