It might as well have been old-home night for Highlands Ranch coach Bob Caton, the former Denver Prep League star and longtime coach within the city.
His suburban Falcons made it even better Tuesday with a 70-49 thrashing of host Denver East in Class 5A nonleague.
“It’s always a great atmosphere here, and these are the types of games our kids need to play,” said Caton, who greeted multiple well-wishers, many he hadn’t seen in a while, after the game.
As his team improved to 9-1, it also handed Angels coach Rudy Carey his worst loss, which includes since taking over at East in 1993 after a brilliant run at Manual (a combined eight state titles and more than 600 victories).
Highlands Ranch was terrific and East (6-4 after a 2-2 performance in Las Vegas prior to the holidays) struggled mightily.
The Falcons were once again paced by their University of Denver signees — Marcus Byrd went for 27 points, and Brett Olson added 22. Both were at the front of constant ball movement, routinely beating the East defense and finding each other for open shots.
“It’s what we did in practice all week, moving the ball and screening away in trying to get open shots,” the 6-foot-8 Byrd said.
Forget the rust from the holiday break as well as the Falcons’ unforeseen stumble against Cherry Creek.
On the other side, East scored only two points in the second quarter, made just two of its first 18 shots, and trailed by 22 at halftime and 26 in the third quarter. Olson also sat on Angels super freshman Dominique Collier, who scored 23, but had only six at halftime and didn’t receive much help.
“They’re a very good team,” Carey said.
Highlands Ranch 19 15 19 17 — 70
East 10 2 23 14 — 49
Highlands Ranch — Olson 9 3-4 22, Byrd 12 0-0 27, Bucholtz 0 2-3 2, Haldorson 1 0-0 2, Anttila 3 2-3 10, Donatell 0 4-4 4, Gosz 1 0-0 3, Pennel 0 0-0 0, Brady 0 0-0 0, Ragub 0 0-0 0, Hukill 0 0-0 0, Post 0 0-0 0. Totals 26 11-14 70.
East — Carter 2 0-0 5, Hakeem 0 0-0 0, Starks 4 0-0 12, Gee 1 2-4 4, Minnard 0 0-0 0, Davis 0 0-0 0, Kalac 0 0-0 0, Whitaker 1 0-0 2, Cardoza 0 0-0 0, Collier 6 8-11 23, Robinson 1 1-2 3, Napheys 0 0-0 0, Thompson 0 0-0 0, Bledsoe 0 0-0 0. Totals 15 11-17 49.
3-point goals: Highlands Ranch — Byrd 3, Anttila 2, Olson, Gosz. East — Starks 4, Collier 3, Carter. Total fouls — Highlands Ranch 10, East 14. Technicals — None.
Neil H. Devlin: 303-954-1714 or ndevlin@denverpost.com
