DENVER | It had been too long since the Eaglecrest boys basketball team had been to the Final Four and the Raptors didn’t let a No. 1 seed stand in their way of a return.
From a 3-pointer in the opening minute from junior LaDavian King, eighth-seeded Eaglecrest held a lead and managed to stave off top-seeded Fruita Monument in the second half on its way to a 61-53 victory to earn the program’s first semifinal trip since 2017.
Junior Garrett Barger had a big game inside with a team-high 18 points, King tallied 15 and broke the 1,000-point mark for his career and the Raptors’ role players made all sorts of key plays down the stretch to deal the Wildcats their only loss of the season in 26 games.
Coach Jarris Krapcha finally got past the round that stopped him multiple times with Eaglecrest and moved into a March 8 semifinal on the same floor against No. 4 ThunderRidge, which defeated No. 5 Rock Canyon 62-60 in overtime.
“Honestly, I feel a little relieved since I’ve been to this stage four times and lost the first three,” Krapcha said. “I’m happy for the boys, but I’m still relieved.”
King set the tone in the opening minute of the contest with a pair of 3-pointers — one from either wing — and the Raptors pushed out to a six-point lead after one quarter. Senior SirDevin Roberts and junior La’Quince York gave Fruita Monument trouble with their play on the defensive end.
The lead that grew to double figures on a three-point play conversion by Barger midway through the period and a 3-pointer by junior reserve Jason Noone (his second of the half) pushed it as high as 17 just before the break.
The advantage grew to 20 in the first minute of the third quarter as the Raptors worked the ball inside to the 6-foot-8 Barger for a basket and freshman Kris Coleman followed with a 3-pointer.
“Our coach at the start of the 3rd quarter said just give him the ball and started running plays for me,” Barger said. “I just try to give my all out there.”
Fruita Monument — which had rallied from a double-digit deficit to win its first round game against No. 32 Highlands Ranch — pulled back eight of those points by the end of the quarter by keeping Eaglecrest from getting the ball into the paint.
Fueled by turnovers, the Wildcats cut their deficit into single digits early in the final quarter before another well-time 3-pointer from King. The margin went all the way down to three points with just over four minutes left.
Junior Lucas Kalimba — who started the season strong, but missed much of it due to injury — came through with a tough drive for a basket for Eaglecrest, which pushed its advantage back to seven on a transition dunk by Barger, who swung his legs high with momentum after throwing the ball down.
The Raptors missed a few free throws in the closing minutes, but Fruita Monument got no closer than six points in crunch time.
“We just said we have to keep our composure, value the basketball and just get some stops,” Krapcha said of holding the lead late. “You go through our league, you’re going to play in some tight ones and you’re going to blow some leads. Our kids have been through it, which I think helps a lot.”
Barger finished with his second-highest point total of the season behind a 26-point outing against Mountain Vista in non-league play and was credited with 14 rebounds and three blocked shots, while Kalimba had eight points and Roberts seven and York pulled down eight rebounds.
Barger is looking forward to returning to the floor for the Final Four contest, where a win would put Eaglecrest back in the state championship game since its title-winning season of 2017. The Raptors are in search of their third all-time title.
“I feel like we had that game and we know environment, so we’re going to come out with that killer mentality,” he said.
Courntey Oakes is Aurora Sentinel Sports Editor. Reach him at sports@aurorasentinel.com. Twitter/X: @aurorasports. IG: Sentinel Prep Sports
(8) EAGLECREST 61, (1) FRUITA MONUMENT 53
Score by quarters:
Eaglecrest 17 16 17 11 — 61
Fruita Monument 11 7 20 15 — 53
EAGLECREST (61)
LaDavian King 5 1-4 15, SirDevin Roberts 1 5-8 7, Kris Coleman 1 0-0 3, Garrett Barger 6 6-8 18, La’Quince York 1 2-2 4, Jason Noone 2 0-0 6, Lucas Kalimba 3 2-2 8, Gavin Gallegos 0 0-0 0. Totals 19 16-24 61.
FRUITA MONUMENT (53)
Wilson Siegmund 2 0-1 4, Austin Reed 1 0-0 2, Max Orchard 6 0-1 12, Jhett Wells 4 3-6 14, Daniel Thomason 8 2-5 18, Aiden Tuning 1 1-2 3, Lucas Weaver 0 0-0 0, Isaac Belnap 0 0-0 0, Masen Lopez 0 0-0 0. Totals 22 6-15 53.
3-point field goals — Eaglecrest (7): LaDavian King 4, Jason Noone 2, Kris Coleman. Fruita Monument (3): Jhett Wells 3. Total fouls — Eaglecrest 17, Fruita Monument 20. Fouled out — Eaglecrest: Kris Coleman. Fruita Monument: Daniel Thomason. Technical fouls — None.
