COLORADO SPRINGS — A week ago, a slender, 6-foot-1 Dominique Collier enjoyed his 15th birthday. On Friday night, the East freshman experienced his baptism on Colorado courts.
The celebration continues.
Collier led all scorers with 31 points, none larger than a 3-pointer from the right corner with 21 seconds to play, as the Angels overcame host Palmer 69-65 in Class 5A nonleague.
In a tight one at the Terrors’ distinguished fieldhouse and in front of former great Nate “Tiny” Archibald, East turned its in-state debut into veritable larceny — the Angels trailed nearly the entire game but rode defense, rebounding and the blossoming of Collier, a member of the AAU 15-year-old team, to a rousing road victory.
“I’m telling you,” East coach Rudy Carey said after his team, ranked No. 5 in The Denver Post/9News 5A poll, improved to 3-1 — it had a three-game set in Kansas — “he’s as good as any freshman I’ve had. Johnnie Reece, Chucky Sproling . . . he can play.”
Overall inexperienced and younger, Carey knows the Angels will have their erratic moments throughout 2010-11, and they did against the fourth- ranked Terrors (3-2).
Poor shooting and turnovers didn’t help against Palmer, which was paced by Terrell Brown (24 points), Dashawn Moore (14) and Jalen Little (12).
However, the Angels, while being outplayed, stayed within range. Ultimately, Collier passed on a baseline layup, then got lost against the Terrors’ defense.
“I was just looking for a quick shot,” Collier said. “And I got it.”
East 13 21 17 18 — 69
Palmer 15 24 15 11 — 65
East — Gee 5 2-5 12, Whitaker 0 0-0 0, Collier 9 9-11 31, Carter 5 0-0 11, Davis 0 1-2 1, Robinson 0 0-0 0, Kalac 2 0-0 5, Hakeem 2 0-0 4, Cardoza 2 1-1 5. Totals 25 13-19 69.
Palmer — Little 4 4-5 12, Deese 1 0-1 2, Brown 8 8-11 24, Urbaniak 3 0-0 6, Johnson 0 0-2 0, Moore 7 0-0 14, Stiles 0 0-0 0, Humphrey 2 0-0 4, Victorinia 1 0-0 3. Totals 26 12-19 65.
3-point goals — E: Collier 4, Carter; P: Victorinia.
Neil H. Devlin: 303-954-1714 or ndevlin@denverpost.com
