Southern Colorado showdown ahead for 4A boys basketball title
Posted : Mar 12, 2010 1:08 AM
Updated: Mar 12, 2010 7:46 PM
BOULDER, Colo. (AP) - Chris Fielder scored 18 points and Jahmall Fountain added 16 as Sierra withstood a furious fourth-quarter rally Thursday to beat Colorado Springs Metro League rival Lewis-Palmer 64-52 in the boys Class 4A state semifinals.
Leading by 19 points (52-33) with less than a minute to play in the third quarter, top-seeded and defending state champion Sierra (25-2) appeared to have the game in hand. But second-seeded Lewis Palmer (21-6) never gave up, going on a 13-0 run that ended with Jordan Ververs' steal and basket, closing the Rangers within 52-46 with 5:57 left in the game. It got as close as 53-48 before Sierra returned to its dominating defense and quick offensive attack to build a comfortable lead down the stretch.
In Thursday's other semifinal, Mike Fabrizio scored 18 points to lead the Pueblo East Eagles to a 59-52 victory over the Longmont Trojans in the boys Class 4A state semifinals.
Pueblo East (25-1), the No. 1 seed from the South Central League, will play defending champion Sierra for the Class 4A crown on Saturday night at 6:00 p.m. at CU's Coors Events Center.
The Eagles, which have not made an appearance in the state championship since 1978, led 28-25 at the break and didn't trail the rest of the way. Their biggest lead was 11 points, 41-30 with1:44 to play in the third quarter, and Longmont could come no closer than 5 points, 50-45, with 5:01 left in the game.
(Copyright 2010 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
wpvfd17 at Mar 12th 2010 3:15 AM
Good for East it's good to see a Pueblo team in the championship hopefully they can bring one back to show off. Hopefully they don't pull what South did last year when they lost to Sierra. Good luck Eagles!