CENTENNIAL — The Arapahoe basketball team readily acknowledges that senior standout Parker Semin likely will receive the bulk of attention from opposing defenses throughout the season.
Unfortunately for those defenses, the Warriors boast several other players who can take over games during any given stretch.
George Washington witnessed this firsthand Saturday as Semin, Javon Moore and Beau Webb took turns dominating play and led the host Warriors to a 61-49 victory in a Class 5A nonleague battle between ranked teams.
No. 2 Arapahoe jumped to an early lead and never trailed, holding off a rally by the 10th-ranked Patriots in the third quarter to improve to 3-0.
“We’ve got a lot of very good basketball players and we’re really deep,” Arapahoe coach Dan Snyder said. “It’s a great mix and very interchangeable.
“We don’t have any drop-off when we sub. A number of these guys who didn’t start the game, they could start the game.”
Moore made his first four shots and scored the Warriors’ first nine points to stake Arapahoe to a quick lead. Semin added eight of his team-leading 15 points in the second quarter to help the Warriors to a 35-29 advantage at halftime.
The Patriots (2-2) crawled to within three points midway through the third quarter, but then it was Webb’s turn to take over. The senior guard knocked down a pair of 3-pointers during an 8-0 burst by Arapahoe that closed the third, and Webb added two 3-pointers early in the fourth to keep George Washington at bay.
Webb finished with 14 points and Moore scored 12 points for the Warriors. George Washington guard Odessa Lear led all scorers with 23 points.
“We have a deep bench and everyone can play, and it’s harder to guard when everyone can score,” Webb said. “Javon Moore got off to a hot start and got us going, and that takes pressure off Parker so he doesn’t feel he has to do everything. This was a good test early on for us.”
George Washington 9 20 7 13 — 49
Arapahoe 17 18 12 14 — 61
George Washington — Jones 0 5-6 5, Lear 5 10-13 23, Johnson 3 0-1 6, Williams 2 0-0 4, Marshall 1 2-2 4, Hudgens 1 0-0 2, DeHaro-Lopez 0 0-0 0, Feng 2 0-2 5. Totals 14 17-24 49.
Arapahoe — Fromm 2 1-2 5, Webb 4 2-2 14, Moore 5 0-0 12, Ratterman 0 0-0 0, Semin 5 4-7 15, Jensen 3 1-3 7, Jessup 0 0-0 0, Kocur 0 6-6 6, Haas 1 0-0 2. Totals 20 14-20 61.
3-point goals — Lear 3, Feng; Webb 4, Moore 2, Semin. Fouls — George Washington 19, Arapahoe 18.
