CENTENNIAL | Tuesday night’s monster Class 6A boys basketball matchup between Eaglecrest and Mountain Vista lived up to the billing and came down to a thrilling finish.
The host Raptors (who sit No. 3 in Class 6A in the Colorado High School Activities Association’s seeding index) saw an early lead get away and turn into an eight-point deficit in the fourth quarter against the No. 12 Golden Eagles, but dominated the last six minutes on their way to a wild 69-66 victory.
Eaglecrest erased a six-point deficit in the final 1:20 on four of senior Anthony Nettles’ game-high 23 points, then got the go-ahead basket from senior Garrett Barger with 23 seconds remaining and held on for its fourth straight victory.
Nettles — a transfer — scored 11 points in the fourth quarter in his highest ouput in the four games since he joined the lineup, while Barger had 12 of his 20 in the second half. Senior Jason Noone added eight points for coach Jarris Krapcha’s Raptors, who improved to 11-2.
Mountain Vista (8-4) poured racked up 24 points in the second half to take a six-point lead at halftime and added two more points to the advantage after three quarters. The Golden Eagles’ edge sat at 54-46
In a tie game, senior La’Quince York rebounded a Mountain Vista miss and threw a Nikola Jokic-style full court pass that hit Barger in stride as he raced up the right sideline. Barger skied for the layup to make it a 68-66 edge. Nettles got fouled after another Golden Eagles’ miss and made one free throw for a three-point edge that held up with Carlos Arocho’s 3-pointer went wide.
Mountain Vista finished the game without standout junior post Oliver Junker after he fouled out after a 15-point effort that put him behind Cal Baskind’s 17 for team-high honors.
Eaglecrest has a bit of a break before the start of Centennial League play, which comes with a Jan. 22 home game against Grandview.
Courtney Oakes is Aurora Sentinel Sports Editor. Reach him at sports@sentinelcolorado.com. Twitter/X: @aurorasports. IG: Sentinel Prep Sports
(3) EAGLECREST 69, MOUNTAIN VISTA 66
Score by quarters:
Mtn. Vista 12 24 16 14 — 66
Eaglecrest 19 11 14 25 — 69
MOUNTAIN VISTA (66)
Carlos Arocho 3 2-4 9, Hudson Rooney 2 2-3 8, Wes Baskind 2 0-0 4, Cal Baskind 6 4-4 17, Oliver Junker 7 1-1 15, Duncan Crespo 1 0-0 2, Payson Land 2 0-0 6, Brandon Matchem III 2 0-0 5. Totals 25 9-12 66.
EAGLECREST (69)
Jason Noone 3 2-2 8, Anthony Nettles 8 5-8 23, Lucas Kalimba 5 0-0 10, Garrett Barger 10 0-1 20, La’Quince York 1 4-4 6, Gavin Gallegos 0 2-2 2, Demari Manns Davis 0 0-0 0, Kris Coleman 0 0-0 0. Totals 27 13-17 69.
3-point field goals — Mountain Vista (7): Payson Land 2, Hudson Rooney 2, Carlos Arocho, Cal Baskind, Brandon Matchem III. Eaglecrest (2): Anthony Nettles 2. Total fouls — Mountain Vista 16, Eaglecrest 11. Fouled out — Mountain Vista: Oliver Junker. Technical fouls — Eaglecrest: Garrett Barger.
