AURORA | Once the Smoky Hill boys basketball team could finally exhale, it could got back to having a little fun Saturday afternoon.
A behind-the-back, off-the-backboard lob from junior Lorenzo Contreras for a dunk from senior Kevin Sylla put a bouncy exclamation point on a clutch overtime performance that gave the seventh-seeded Buffaloes a 70-61 Class 6A Sweet 16 victory over 10th-seeded Regis Jesuit in front of a packed house at Smoky Hill.
Junior Damian Dirden scored a team-high 19 points — including a tying free throw in the closing seconds of regulation — for Smoky Hill and Sylla had six of his 15 points in extra time as coach Anthony Hardin’s Buffaloes prevailed after letting a double-digit fourth-quarter lead slip against the Raiders.
Smoky Hill won its fifth game in a row to improve to 19-6 and earned a spot at the Denver Coliseum, where it will play No. 2 Mountain Vista (21-4) in the Great 8 Feb. 29. The Buffaloes return to the quarterfinals after they lost to eventual state champion Denver East last season and they reached the round for the fourth time in seven seasons.
Coach Ken Shaw’s Regis Jesuit team (16-9) rallied from a 10-point deficit with just over five minutes remaining on the strength of clutch shots by senior Damarius Taylor and inside work from sophomore Eric Fiedler.
Buoyed by the energy from a massive student section, the Raiders took a 55-54 lead with 7.1 seconds left on a layup by Taylor, but fouled Dirden on the subsequent inbounds pass that created the tie.
Regis Jesuit trailed for the entire overtime as it came up short in its bid to return to the Denver Coliseum, where it advanced to the Final Four last season.
Courtney Oakes is Aurora Sentinel Sports Editor. Reach him at sports@aurorasentinel.com. Twitter/X: @aurorasports. IG: Sentinel Prep Sports
(7) SMOKY HILL 70, (10) REGIS JESUIT 61 (OT)
Score by quarters:
Regis Jesuit 13 10 11 21 6 — 61
Smoky Hill 12 18 16 9 15 — 70
REGIS JESUIT (61)
Mason Marshall 3 1-1 7, Lucas Dickinson 3 3-5 9, Damarius Taylor 7 5-6 20, Alec Roumph 1 0-0 3, Eric Fiedler 4 11-16 19, Deion Cesario-Scott 1 1-2 3, Zack Harlan 0 0-0 0. Totals 19 21-30 61.
SMOKY HILL (70)
Carter Basquez 3 0-0 6, Lorenzo Contreras 3 0-0 7, Ray Gasaway 4 0-0 8, Kaylan Graham 2 7-10 11, Kevin Sylla 6 2-4 15, Damian Dirden 5 5-8 18, Jaylen Brown 2 1-1 5. Totals 25 15-23 70.
3-point field goals — Regis Jesuit (2): Alec Roumph, Damarius Taylor. Smoky Hill (5): Damian Dirden 3, Lorenzo Contreras, Kevin Sylla. Total fouls — Regis Jesuit 23, Smoky Hill 25. Fouled out — Regis Jesuit: Lucas Dickinson, Zack Harlan. Smoky Hill: Carter Basquez, Ray Gasaway. Technical fouls — None.