In a two-point game at halftime of Friday’s Class 4A Final Four, the beginning of the third quarter was delayed by about 15 minutes as Denver Coliseum staff had to replace a ripped net on the Pueblo South side of the court.
And while the Colts loitered around their bench, nothing to do but wait, Longmont took the opportunity to get some shooting practice in, firing up jumpers and threes with fervor.
When play finally did resume, Longmont came out hot from their warmup session as the Trojans used a sharpshooting third quarter — and a solid shooting performance overall, making nine of 16 from three — en route to a 71-60 victory over Pueblo South.
With the win, the Trojans make their second championship showing in the last four seasons. Longmont lost to Air Academy in the 2015 title in overtime, and now takes on Lewis-Palmer at 3 p.m. on Saturday for a crack at the program’s third state title and first since 1942.
Pueblo South came out on fire, and Longmont was on the ropes as much as a team could be for a game that was just a few minutes old. But Trojans coach Jeff Kloster called timeout to settle his troops, and it worked as Longmont cut the Colts’ lead to 11-9.
In the second quarter the teams remained even, with the Colts leading 24-22, but once the Trojans got rolling the second half, they could not be stopped.
Senior point guard Luke Johnson led all scorers with 20 points, while junior Brady Renck, sophomore Dallas Dye and junior Oakley Denning all chipped in 10 each for No. 5 Longmont. No. 1 Pueblo South was led by 24 points from senior forward Marcell Barbee.
The Northern League champion Trojans improve to 25-2, while the South Central League champion Colts finish 24-3.
