As No. 14 Chaparral prepares for its Sweet 16 road showdown against No. 3 George Washington on Wednesday night at 7 p.m. at the Thunderdome, the Wolverines are to be considered one of the best young teams in the Class 5A tournament.
Chaparral (15-9, 7-3 Continental) doesn’t start a single senior and is coming off a 53-50 victory over No. 17 Regis Jesuit in the second round. Sophomores Ronnie DeGray III (14.9 points per game), Joseph Dalton (12.8) and Bryce Matthews (11.2) pace the Wolverines offensively, with additional key contributions coming from junior Wayne Fish and freshman Kobe Sanders.
But the Wolverines face a formidable test in the Patriots (22-2), who ran the table to the Denver Prep League title and have as much firepower as any team in the state with the Fugett brothers (senior Calvin and junior Jon’il) as well as dynamic senior point guard Jervay Green.
George Washington beat Chaparral 92-71 on Jan. 10 and has lost just one time in the state of Colorado this season, a 71-61 setback to top-ranked ThunderRidge on Jan. 6.
Chaparral is under the direction of second-year head coach Tellus Truesdale and is looking capable of making a run at the program’s second title over the course of the next few years. The Wolverines went 9-16 and fell in the second round of the playoffs last season.
Denver Post preps editor Kyle Newman caught up with DeGray to assess Chaparral’s prospects against George Washington, why the Wolverines are a program on the rise, other key playmakers and more.
