AURORA | Ian Calvert admitted he didn’t know what to expect when his Aurora Central boys basketball team opened the new season Saturday.
A couple of weeks of practice still hadn’t totally clued Calvert in as to how his talented, but extremely young, Trojans would perform once games began for real.
Sprinkled in the midst of some general opening game sloppiness, Aurora Central showed glimpses of potential — especially on the defensive end — on its way to a 52-40 non-league victory against visiting Vista PEAK.
Sophomore Ladarius Thomas finished with a team-high 16 points, senior Levi Watson added 15 and sophomore Elijah Coleman 14 for Aurora Central, which played its first game in the past four seasons without graduated star Carlton Hurst, who is now playing at Colorado State.
Junior Isaiah Young countered with 14 points and 11 rebounds for coach Josh Brenning’s Vista PEAK (1-2) club, which also got 10 points from junior Noah Butler and nine from senior Romello Washington.
Courtney Oakes is Sports Editor of the Aurora Sentinel. Reach him at 303-750-7555 or [email protected] Twitter: @aurorasports. Facebook: Aurora Prep Sentinel
AURORA CENTRAL 52, VISTA PEAK 40
Score by quarters:
Vista PEAK 14 7 11 8 — 40
Aur. Central 16 10 13 13 — 52
VISTA PEAK (40)
Romello Washington 2 4-4 9, Isaiah Young 6 1-1 14, Noah Butler 5 0-0 10, Austin Pivik 2 0-0 4, JT Johnson 1 0-0 3, Alex Hawkins 0 0-0 0, Ayo Sanusi 0 0-0 0, Xavier Barrow 0 0-0 0, DJ Ortiz 0 0-0 0. Totals 16 5-5 40.
AURORA CENTRAL (52)
Ladarius Thomas 5 5-9 16, Elijah Coleman 5 4-4 14, Levi Watson 6 3-5 15, CJ Porter 2 0-0 4, Ca’Jee Curlee 0 0-0 0, Marcus Tripplett 1 1-2 3, Tahleel Khabir 0 0-0 0, Quay Spears 0 0-0 0, Jake Henderson 0 0-0 0. Totals 19 13-20 52.
3-point field goals — Vista PEAK (3): JT Johnson, Romello Washington, Isaiah Young; Aurora Central: Ladarius Thomas. Total fouls — Vista PEAK 13, Aurora Central 10. Fouled out — None. Technical fouls — Aurora Central: Tahleel Khabir.
