DENVER | An epic day of basketball at the Denver Coliseum ended with a legendary finish Thursday night, as Smoky Hill’s Carter Basquez made it good to the last second.
The rangy sophomore dribbled through several Mountain Vista defenders, rose and banked in a shot off the backboard as the final horn sounded to lift the seventh-seeded Buffaloes to a wild 63-62 Class 6A Great 8 victory over No. 2 Mountain Vista.
Basquez scored 17 points and joined junior Kaylan Graham (19) and junior Lorenzo Contreras (15) in double figures as Smoky Hill forged its way into the state semifinals for the first time since the 2005-06 season.
“This is crazy, I can’t believe we won,” Basquez said. “I’m so excited. …I trusted that somebody was going to make, so when it came to me, I trusted myself to make it.”
Coach Anthony Hardin’s Buffaloes (20-6) kept alive their hopes of winning the program’s first state championship and took a spot in the March 8 semifinals against No. 6 Valor Christian, which knocked off No. 3 Chaparral 66-46.
In a meeting with Mountain Vista (21-5) in the same round as a Great 8 clash back in 2019, Smoky Hill came out flying, as it went on a 14-4 run to finish the opening quarter up 20-10. The Buffaloes displayed their typical bounciness, as the last basket came on an alley-oop for a dunk from Basquez to senior Ray Gasaway.
The Golden Eagles ripped off 12 of the first 14 points of the second period to get it back even before Smoky Hill took a five-point lead into the break.
A see-saw second half saw the Buffaloes go up five points on lay-up plus an and-one free throw from Contreras, but Smoky Hill faced a one-point deficit three minutes later. Basquez made two free throws with 2:48 left to put the Buffaloes ahead and Graham had a clutch inside bucket to again erase a one-point deficit.
Up two, the Buffaloes had a chance to virtually ice it when Contreras poked a ball loose into the hands of senior Kevin Sylla. Sylla missed both free throws, however, allowing Mountain Vista to set up a shot to tie or go ahead.
The Golden Eagles ended up with a shot in the paint from sophomore Oliver Junker (who had 22 points and 14 rebounds) and he scored with a foul called. Junker made the free throw to give Mountain Vista a one-point lead before the final play unfolded.
Basquez rolled the inbounds pass to Contreras, who picked it up and fed Basquez as he streaked across midcourt, took a couple of dribbles to get closer to the basket and rose to put up his winning shot.
“I saw a couple of white defenders I had to get by, and then it was just a layup,” Basquez said. “We do it every day in practice.”
Added Graham: “I was pretty confident in that last play.”
The historical aspect of the victory — which brought to an end a streak of three straight Great 8 losses, last season as well as in 2018 and 2019 — isn’t lost on the Buffaloes.
“It feels good knowing that we haven’t been to the Final Four since 2006 and it’s an amazing feeling to be part of the group to do it,” Graham said. “The job is not finished.”
Courtney Oakes is Aurora Sentinel Sports Editor. Reach him at sports@aurorasentinel.com. Twitter/X: @aurorasports. IG: Sentinel Prep Sports
(7) SMOKY HILL 63, (2) MOUNTAIN VISTA 62
Score by quarters:
Smoky Hill 20 13 18 12 — 63
Mtn. Vista 10 18 23 11 — 62
SMOKY HILL (63)
Carter Basquez 6 3-4 17, Lorenzo Contreras 6 2-3 15, Ray Gasaway 2 0-0 4, Damian Dirden 1 0-0 2, Kaylan Graham 8 0-0 19, Kevin Sylla 3 0-2 6, Jaylen Brown 0 0-0 0. Totals 26 5-9 63.
MOUNTAIN VISTA (62)
Jacob Hoefs 6 2-3 16, Carlos Arocho-Gonzalez 1 0-0 2, Rowan Baker 3 1-3 8, Cal Baskind 2 0-0 4, Oliver Junker 9 4-4 22, Wes Baskind 2 0-0 4, Hayden McKellar 0 0-0 0, Hudson Rooney 2 2-2 6. Totals 25 9-12 62.
3-point field goals — Smoky Hill (6): Kaylan Graham 3, Carter Basquez 2, Lorenzo Contreras. Mountain Vista (3): Jacob Hoefs 2, Rowan Baker. Total fouls — Smoky Hill 15, Mountain Vista 12. Fouled out — None. Technical fouls — None.
