Working with little practice time and limited offensive schemes, Brett Olson did some quick deductions and realized what his Blue squad needed to do in order to put together a strong performance at The Show, the 11th annual basketball all-star game sponsored by the Nuggets and the Gold Crown Foundation.
Olson, a University of Denver- bound guard from Highlands Ranch High School, took one look at the twin behemoths on the White squad — namely, 6-foot-9 Josh Scott of Lewis-Palmer and 6-8 Xavier Ford of Harrison — and figured it would be best if the Blues attacked from the perimeter.
That plan was perfect Saturday as the Blue squad hit 10 3-pointers in a 97-84 victory at the Pepsi Center.
“You always want to show what you’ve got and you don’t want to disappoint,” said Olson, who had three 3-pointers. “Anyone here can hit shots. We just had to find them when they were open. They had a little bit of a size advantage, so we took our advantage at the 3-point line and put it to good use.”
Jeffrey Solarin of Rangeview led the victorious Blue team with 16 points, and Olson and Pueblo East’s Jordan Gregory added 13 points apiece.
The Blue squad led 46-39 at halftime and pulled away after making three 3-pointers during an 18-5 run that opened the third quarter. The Blue team extended its lead to 21 points early in the fourth quarter before the White squad rallied.
A 3-pointer by the White’s Riley Grabau, the All-Colorado player of the year from Boulder, trimmed the Blue’s lead to six points with 1:00 remaining, but the Blue team scored the final seven points of the game.
“These guys all played so unselfish,” said Blue coach Bob Caton, from Highlands Ranch. “I didn’t even look at the score. I didn’t want to think I had to do any strategy. I just wanted the kids to play.”
Blue 18 28 25 26 — 97
White 22 17 16 29 — 84
Blue —Gregory (Pueblo East) 4 3-4 13, Solarin (Range-view) 7 2-3 16, Haywood (Denver Lutheran) 3 0-0 7, Olson (Highlands Ranch) 4 2-2 13, Semin (Arapahoe) 4 2-2 12, Gordon (Sierra) 2 2-6 6, Davidson (Montrose) 3 0-2 6, Talton (Sterling) 5 0-0 11, Kloster (Longmont) 3 0-1 8, Byrd (Highlands Ranch) 2 1-2 5. Totals 37 12-22 97.
White — Grabau (Boulder) 3 0-0 9, Williams (Abraham Lincoln) 3 0-0 7, Hansen (Fossil Ridge) 4 3-3 12, Scott (Lewis-Palmer) 7 3-5 17, Engesser (Colorado Springs Christian) 1 0-0 2, Brown (Palmer) 4 6-8 14, Lopez (Colorado School for Deaf & Blind) 0 1-2 1, Collier (Denver East) 2 1-1 6, Ford (Harrison) 5 0-0 10, Cooper (Montbello) 3 0-0 6. Totals 32 14-19 84.
3-point goals — B, Olson 3, Semin 2, Gregory 2, Kloster 2, Talton; W, Grabau 3, Hansen, Williams, Collier. Fouls — Blue 15, White 12.
