BASKETBALL

Ortiz then called a timeout to set up one nal play.

Ryan Doyle inbounded the ball to Crawford, whom the Golden Eagles tried to foul in the backcourt because they had three fouls to give, but no foul was called.

After making his way into the frontcourt, Crawford was fouled just beyond the arc as he ailed and heaved the ball somewhat toward the basket.

But did the foul occur on the oor? Was Crawford fouled while shooting? Was he shooting at all? e o cials conferred and ultimately ruled that Crawford was indeed fouled while attempting a 3-point shot.

And so, the junior went to the line for three free throws with 3.8 seconds showing on the clock and his team trailing by one point.

Crawford’s rst attempt bounced out. His second went through, knot-

Myers donned Pokemon head gear again after his second straight title victory.

“I wanted to be aggressive and I was in the match,” he said. “It was more expected this season. I wore this head gear last year and it is Pikachu from Pokemon. My little sister had it and she decided when I won a state title I had to wear it. So that’s what it was last year, this year and next year.” ting the score at 73-73. His third shot ricocheted o the left side of the iron, and o to overtime the two teams went. (It should be noted that Crawford was perfect from the free-throw line in the two overtime periods — he was 5-for-5 — to keep his team in it).

“ ey all felt good,” Crawford said. “ ey just rimmed out.” e game appeared to be heading toward its end in the rst overtime, but Crawford and the Grizzlies had other ideas.

A Baskind 3-pointer — one of the sophomore’s six triples on the night — stretched Vista’s lead to 88-81 with just 67 ticks remaining.

However, Crawford quickly responded with one of his own six treys. Moments later, the junior was fouled on a 3-point attempt and knocked down all three of his free throws to trim Vista’s lead to 89-87.

After an empty possession by the Golden Eagles, Crawford scored on a driving, twisting layup with 6 seconds left to force double overtime.

“We kept scoring, but they hit some tough shots and kept clos-

Other wrestlers from south metro schools that did well included Rock Canyon senior Sammy Mobly, who was the runner-up at 157 pounds. Chaparral’s Delcan Smith was fourth at 113 pounds and teammate Noah Kubala was a fth-place nisher at 126 pounds. Crabtree was second at 175 pounds. underRidge’s Nic Vicic was third at 138 pounds and Legend’s Juan Diaz ing in,” said Homer, who scored a team-high 30 points for the Golden Eagles. “Andrew and Charlie hit some crazy shots. ey’re amazing players.” underRidge’s leading scorers were Crawford, Spann (27) and Tommy Wight (10). e Golden Eagles (21-2, 10-0 6A/5A Continental League) clinched the league title three nights before their duel with underRidge — only their second league championship in program history — but have their eyes set on a bigger prize. e Class 6A state tournament begins Feb. 22, and Wood believes his squad has a chance to go the was sixth at 144 pounds. Jake Howell of Cherry Creek was third at 215 pounds and Legend’s Nathan Sandy was fourth. Valor Christian’s Winston McBride nished fourth in the 285-pound bracket. distance. Vista, the No. 1 seed, will play 32nd-seeded Bear Creek (Lakewood) in a rst-round game.

In regulation, the two teams went back and forth the whole way. ey exchanged the lead 14 times, were tied on 14 separate occasions and were never separated by more than ve points. Most of the night, only a point or two separated them.

Four players scored in double gures for Vista: Homer, Caden Stevens (29), Baskind (22) and Zach Bowen (10).

In the Class 5A girls competition, Douglas County’s Jylian Cabral was fth at 115 pounds and the Huskies’ Elizabeth Sandy was fourth at 190 pounds.

“It’s single elimination, so you never know,” Wood said. “But I feel like we’re de nitely one of the teams that can win it.” underRidge drew a 13 seed and will take on No. 20 Eaglecrest (Centennial) in a Round 1 game.

But don’t sleep on the Grizzlies (13-10, 4-6), who are young — they don’t have a single senior on the roster — but seem to be peaking at just the right time. underRidge is also a program that is very familiar with the state tournament and has achieved enormous success there.

In Ortiz’s 26 years leading underRidge, the Grizzlies have been to the Great Eight 16 times, the Final Four 12 times and the championship game eight times. ey’ve won the whole thing four times, including last year.

“We just showed that we can play with anybody if we play like we did tonight,” Ortiz said. “Absolutely we believe [we can make a run in the playo s].”

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