On an afternoon in which the weather broke, there was a father-son, head-to-head coaching matchup and both teams were successful in taking away each other’s leading scorers, depth — or lack thereof — came out for East and Montbello.
Behind unexpected top efforts from Uriah Carter, Demetrius Cardoza and Talon Whitaker, East handled Montbello 72-57 in front of another sold-out crowd at the Thunderdome and took back the Class 5A-4A Denver Prep League title.
The Angels improved to 17-4 overall, 7-0 in the city. Ranked No. 8 in The Denver Post/9News 5A poll, East knocked off the No. 9 Warriors (15-6, 4-2), the 2009-10 city winners, and lifted coach Rudy Carey to another victory over son David. It was the fifth victory in seven tries for the father, who also notched career victory No. 652.
“Hey, I was a father before I was a coach,” the elder Carey said of an emotional day.
Clearly, the Angels were intent on pestering Warriors point guard Isiah Cooper, and Montbello wanted to sit on East’s fabulous freshman Dominique Collier. Both strategies worked — Cooper shot 5-of-14 and was guilty of multiple turnovers, and Collier, who was covered as if with a blanket, was held to eight points.
Enter others for the Angels: Carter, a senior guard, led all scorers with 17 points; Cardoza, a junior, scored 12; and the 6-foot-5 junior Whitaker, operating at high post on offense, had 11 points and 13 rebounds. Devon Gee and Leonard Davis enjoyed assorted moments inside, Tariq Hakeem added eight points and Collier dutifully refused to force the action, although he turned in a handful of sharp passes and knocked down an NBA-length 3-pointer for his first basket, which came midway through the second quarter.
“We got a lot of contributions,” Rudy Carey said. “Uriah played really well. A lot of our kids did.”
Of his rebounding, Whitaker said, “that’s what we had to do. (The Warriors) really didn’t have a big man, so you just try to box out real well.”
Montbello, which suffered a rare loss to John F. Kennedy on Tuesday, kept it close until late, when it was outscored 16-8. There was balance — Azlan Williams, 16 points; Cooper, 14; Jawaun McFalls-Price, 13; and Jerriesh Nelson, 11 — but not enough of it. Plus, the Warriors botched possessions at key times, missed an array of inside shots and took a beating on the backboards.
“This came down to heart,” coach David Carey said. “We got exposed. We’ve got some players who have no heart.”
Montbello 12 22 15 8 — 57
East 17 23 16 16 — 72
Montbello — Williams 5 5-6 16, Cooper 5 2-5 14, Jallow 0 1-2 1, Sykes 1 0-0 2, Muhammad 0 0-0 0, McFalls-Price 6 0-0 15, Crews 0 0-0 0, Nelson 3 1-4 9. Totals 20 9-17 57.
East — Carter 7 0-1 17, Hakeem 3 0-0 8, Starks 0 0-0 0, Gee 5 0-0 10, Davis 2 2-4 6, Whitaker 5 1-1 11, Cardoza 4 3-3 12, Collier 3 1-2 8, Robinson 0 0-0 0. Totals 29 7-11 72.
3-pt. goals: Montbello — McFalls-Price 3, Cooper 2, Nelson 2, Williams. East — Carter 3, Hakeem 2, Cardoza, Collier. Total fouls — East 14, Montbello 13. Fouled out — None. Technicals — None.
Neil H. Devlin: 303-954-1714 or ndevlin@denverpost.com
