GOLDEN — Going into Friday’s Class 4A Great 8 matchup, Valor Christian had had easy victories — by 36 and 18 points — in its two tournament games.
But the No. 2 Eagles wouldn’t win easily against No. 5-seeded John F. Kennedy in the John Baggot Regional final at Colorado School of Mines’ Lockridge Arena.
The Commanders played basket-for-basket with the Eagles, but Valor Christian’s Marcus Wilson made one late free throw, and a long-range shot by Kennedy’s Jourdan Hunter fell short as Valor Christian hung on for a 53-52 victory.
Valor Christian (32-2) will play Lewis-Palmer in the state semifinals Thursday at the Coors Events Center in Boulder.
With 5.8 seconds remaining and the score tied at 52, Wilson was taking a 3-point shot when he was fouled, sending him to the free-throw line.
“The pressure was insane. The crowd was going crazy,” Wilson said of his free throws. “I was just trying to focus on knocking some down.”
After his first free throw went off the rim, Wilson, who finished with four points, made his second but missed the third, allowing Kennedy an opening to go for the win.
Facing pressure, Hunter made his way into the interior of the right arc, but his last-second shot rimmed out.
After Wilson’s final missed free throw, Valor coach Steve Rotello said the Eagles were hoping to foul, in an attempt to run out the clock, as his team had a couple of fouls to give.
“We wanted to foul them early, maybe (after) one or two dribbles,” Rotello said. “We probably fouled them three times, and the officials didn’t call it. Fortunately, the shot didn’t go in.”
Hunter, a senior, finished with a game-high 31 points, including four 3-pointers (two in the final minutes).
“I tried to step up, control my team and knock down my shots,” Hunter said. “I did, but we still came up short in the end.”
Senior Max McCaffrey led Valor Christian with 18 points.
