HIGHLANDS RANCH | Overland’s young, talented boys basketball team learned how difficult it is to win on the road in the Class 5A state tournament.
The sixth-seeded Trailblazers defended their home floor in an opening round victory over Rampart — the first postseason experience for nearly the entire roster — but found the going much tougher on Saturday afternoon at third-seeded ThunderRidge.
Joe Marucci and the Grizzlies started fast and finished strong in a 67-57 victory that propelled them into 5A’s Sweet 16, where they will go against second-seeded Fairview. ThunderRidge ran out to a 16-7 lead through one quarter and kept the lead the rest of the way, though Overland got with seven points at halftime and made a game of it in the third quarter.
Junior T’Aren Williams finished with a team-high 16 points for Overland, which played the final few minutes of the game without two starters as sophomore Austin Conway was hit with two technical fouls and freshman standout De’Ron Davis fouled out. Conway scored 13 points and Davis 11 as the Trailblazers finished the season 15-10.
Overland was just 5-19 last season and missed the playoffs altogether, but the Trailblazers made significant strides with the addition of a new coach in Danny Fisher, the further development of the fearless Conway and the arrival of the talented 6-foot-8 Davis and some other young players. Overland was a factor down the stretch in Centennial League play and built a foundation for the future.
The deepest playoff push for the Overland program in the past 10 years came in 2009 when the Trailblazers made it to the Sweet 16 before losing to a juggernaut Fairview team.
Reach Sports Editor Courtney Oakes at sports@aurorasentinel.com or 303-750-7555
(3) THUNDERRIDGE 67, (6) OVERLAND 57
Score by quarters:
Overland 7 17 21 12 — 57
ThunderRidge 16 15 17 19 — 67
OVERLAND (57)
T’Aren Williams 5 5-6 16, Austin Conway 5 3-7 13, De’Ron Davis 5 1-3 11, Tre Thomas 3 1-1 7, Tyler Stevenson 2 2-7 6, Andrew Tillman 1 0-1 2, King Grant-Perry 1 0-0 2. Totals 22 12-25 57.
THUNDERRIDGE (67)
Joe Marucci 7 7-13 23, Nolan Zarlin 2 2-2 7, Hunter O’Neill 3 0-0 6, Zach Rusk 4 2-2 11, Peter Howell 5 2-2 12, Keelan Hammonds 2 2-2 7. Totals 22 13-19 67.
3-point field goals — Overland: T’Aren Williams; ThunderRidge (4): Joe Marrucci 2, Zach Rusk, Nolan Zarlin. Total fouls — Overland 23, ThunderRidge 20. Fouled out — Overland: Austin Conway, De’Ron Davis. Technical fouls — Overland: Conway 2 (ejected).
