AURORA | Locked in a back-and-forth matchup with fierce rival Hinkley, the Aurora Central boys basketball team finally got some separation at a key juncture Tuesday night.
Freshman Alejandro Flores scored seven straight points on one possession in the early stages of the fourth quarter to turn a three-point lead into 10 and the Trojans held on for a 55-49 home victory over the visiting Thunder in front of a large crowd.
Flores finished with 15 points and joined senior Nico Portillo (16 points) and junior Camron Crisp (10) in double figures as coach Marcus Shelton’s team won for the fifth time in its past seven games to get to 6-8 overall on the season.
Coach Tommy Verner’s Hinkley team dropped to 2-12.
Holding a precarious 43-40 lead with five minutes remaining, the Trojans transitioned quickly after a Thunder miss as senior Simeon Veasley fired a pass ahead to Flores, who finished a layup as he was fouled. An intentional foul call results in two free throws — both of which were made by Flores — and Aurora Central also got possession as a result.
Flores capped the burst — which took just 13 seconds — with a 3-pointer from the top of the key and the Trojans’ lead got into double figures at 50-40 with just over four minutes remaining.
Three straight misses on the front ends of 1-and-1 free throws by Aurora Central kept the door open for Hinkley and allowed it to cut into its deficit. Senior Tatum Starks — whose outside shooting had helped the Thunder in the opening half — made a 3-pointer to cut the deficit to six.
A steal by Crisp (whose 3-pointer at the buzzer sent his team into halftime with a four-point lead) ended the ballgame before Hinkley could get any closer.
Aurora Central gets back into Colorado League play with a 7 p.m. Thursday game on its home floor against Skyview, while Hinkley resumes its City League schedule with a noon visit to Denver East on Saturday.
Courtney Oakes is Sentinel Colorado Sports Editor. Reach him at sports@sentinelcolorado.com. Twitter: @aurorasports. IG: Sentinel Prep Sports
AURORA CENTRAL 55, HINKLEY 49
Score by quarters:
Hinkley 13 13 9 14 — 49
Aur. Central 14 16 9 16 — 55
Aurora Central points: Nico Portillo 16, Alejandro Flores 15, Camron Crisp 10, Bishop Dankyi 9, Christopher Perkins 2, JR Rodriguez 2, Simeon Veasley 1