In Saturday’s Class 5A Great 8 opener, No. 5 Rock Canyon jumped out to a 17-2 lead over No. 4 Grandview after one quarter in a game that had all the makings of a blowout. The Jaguars’ hot shooting hands and pressure defense had the Wolves on their heels.
But Grandview battled back to take a 40-38 lead with 19.5 seconds to play.
The Jaguars, though, would own the final decisive moments. Senior Colin Rardin got a beautiful running hook shot to drop to tie the game with less than five seconds left, but the drama wasn’t done yet. Junior Sam Masten stole the pass on the following in-bound play and put up a lay-up that rolled off the rim, only to have junior Nick Janedis fly in and stuff home the put-back dunk for a 42-40 Jaguars win as time expired.
Helping my guy call 5A state quarterfinals. What an ending for to earn a Final Four bid:
— Nick Kosmider (@NickKosmider)
The teams seem determined to answer each opposing bucket with a big basket of their own. Grandview did that on countless occasions to finally take their first lead midway through the third quarter, as Kain Mack (10 points) and Gaige Prim (9) were both crucial in a comeback attempt that fell just short.
Grandview’s loss marked the end of a great season for the Wolves (21-5, 10-4 Centennial), who set a program record for wins. Meanwhile Rock Canyon (23-3, 9-1), fresh off its first Continental League title, is on to the Final Four to be played on Friday at the Denver Coliseum against No. 1 Eaglecrest.
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SCORE BY QUARTER
Rock Canyon 17 5 9 11
Grandview 5 13 10 12
