East ends Vista’s season in Final Four

Golden Eagles come up short of reaching title game for first time in program history

BY ALEX K.W. SCHULTZ SPECIAL TO COLORADO COMMUNITY MEDIA

e Mountain Vista boys basketball program’s dream of playing in a state championship game for the rst time in school history will have to wait at least another year.

With a senior-laden and talent-rich roster, the Golden Eagles thought this very well may have been the year when the stars would align and they would nally, after knocking on the door several times in seasons past, gain entry into Colorado high school basketball’s biggest party.

But Vista, the No. 1 seed in the Class 6A tournament, ran into a deep, hot-shooting and ball-hawking Denver East team March 10 inside an electric Denver Coliseum, where an estimated 3,500 fans were on hand to take in the two teams’ Final Four game.

Five Angels scored in double gures and fourth-seeded East outrebounded the 6A/5A Continental League champions by a dozen to win 86-67, ending what was a memorable season for the Golden Eagles.

(East went on to rout Fossil Ridge 82-61 the following day for the state title. Now a 12-time state champion, East is tied with Manual for the most state titles in Colorado).

“I’m super proud of them,” said Vista coach Brian Wood, playing in his rst Final Four as a head coach. “I’d love to get [a state championship] at some point. I thought we had a pretty good chance this year. It’s just the way it goes sometimes,