DENVER | The walk out of the lockerroom in the bowels of the Denver Coliseum Saturday night was 180 degrees different than a year ago for the Grandview boys basketball team.
Last season, coach Michael Rogers’ Wolves trudged out quietly with heads down in the wake of a shocking last-second loss to Rock Canyon in the Class 5A Great 8.
This season, Grandview players virtually bounced out with smiles on their faces in the glow of a 59-53 upset quarterfinal win over third-seeded Chaparral. The sixth-seeded Wolves took the lead late in the third quarter and finished this time to take the program back to the Final Four for the first time since 2006, completing the celebration by soaking Rogers.
Junior Dayne Prim scored a team-high 16 points, junior reserve Tyler Unger added 10 and junior Levi Dombro made 5-of-6 free throw attempts in the final two minutes for Grandview (22-4), which is set to play at 7 p.m. March 9 against No. 2 ThunderRidge at the Denver Coliseum with a chance to make the program’s first-ever trip to the state title game.
The Wolves and Wolverines (21-5) got off to a slow start with a combined 11 points in a game that increased in pace and intensity in every subsequent quarter. Prim scored six points in the second period, including two baskets in the last 45 seconds to send Grandview into halftime down just two.
The third quarter proved to be the difference for the Wolves, which rang up 22 points in the period and took a lead it would hold all the way to the finish. Six different players scored at least a basket in the period for Grandview, which turned a two-point halftime deficit into a five-point advantage.
Senior Ben Boone battled foul trouble for the Wolves and saw limited action in the second half before he fouled out, but he connected on his third 3-pointer of the game early in the period to get his team rolling. Unger came on in his place and made back-to-back triples as part of an 8-2 run
Grandview needed the diverse contributions to counter what Ronnie DeGray III did on the other end for Chaparral. The junior forward — who scored 38 points in the Wolverines’ Sweet 16 win over Mountain Vista — scored a variety of baskets in the quarter for eight of his game-high 22 points, including a monster dunk late in the period.
The Wolves were unshaken, however, and pushed their lead to as many as eight points early in the final quarter on two free throws from junior Davon Walker.
Dombro didn’t have a field goal in the game and missed the front end of a 1-and-1 early in the fourth quarter, but sank all five of his tries (a sixth attempt was lost due to a lane violation) in the final 1:52 to help Grandview keep Chaparral at bay.
The Wolverines weren’t able to knock down any 3-pointers in the closing stages and after a long miss, Prim had a breakaway layup that assured the victory.
Grandview is the only school in 5A to send both its boys and girls teams to the Final Four this season.
Courtney Oakes is Sentinel Sports Editor. Reach him at 303-750-7555 or sports@sentinelcolorado.com. Twitter: @aurorasports. FB: Sentinel Prep Sports
(6) GRANDVIEW 59, (3) CHAPARRAL 53
Score by quarters:
Grandview 4 16 22 17 — 59
Chaparral 7 15 15 16 — 53
GRANDVIEW (59)
Caleb McGill 2 2-6 6, Gunner Gentry 1 0-1 2, Lian Ramiro 1 0-1 3, Ben Boone 3 0-0 9, Dayne Prim 8 0-1 16, Levi Dombro 0 5-6 5, Tyler Unger 4 0-0 10, Davon Walker 3 2-2 8, Andrew Turner 0 0-0 0. Totals 22 9-17 59.
CHAPARRAL (53)
Kobe Sanders 5 3-4 15, Tanner Giles 1 0-1 2, Tizell Lewis 1 2-3 4, Ronnie DeGray III 6 10-13 22, Bryce Matthews 3 0-2 7, Joseph Dalton 1 0-0 3, Matthew Hill 0 0-0 0, Aaron Jacob 0 0-0 0. Totals 17 15-23 53.
3-point field goals — Grandview (6): Ben Boone 3, Tyler Unger 2, Loan Ramiro; Chaparral (4): Kobe Sanders 2, Joseph Dalton, Bryce Matthews. Total fouls — Grandview 17, Chaparral 19. Fouled out — Grandview: Ben Boone; Chaparral: Matthews. Technical fouls — None.