COLORADO SPRINGS | The Aurora Central boys basketball team hung with Fountain-Fort Carson early in Wednesday night’s Class 5A state tournament first round contest, but the hosts eventually pulled away.
In a battle of teams that both feature Trojans as mascots, Fountain-Fort Carson — the No. 31 seed — outscored Aurora Central in all four periods on its way to a 73-55 victory the Dean Fleishauer Activity Center and a berth in the second round.
Fountain-Fort Carson, which was paced by junior Isaiah Thompson with 24 points and senior Keyshawn Maltbia with 14, advanced in the Chuck Williams Region of the 5A bracket into a contest against No. 2 Fairview (20-3) in a game schedule for 2 p.m. Saturday. (Updated 5A playoff scoreboard & schedule, here)
Aurora Central came into the postseason with seven wins in its last nine games, but came up short in its bid for its first playoff win since 2016. The Trojans finished 16-8, a one-win improvement over the previous season in the first season under new head coach Marcus Shelton, a longtime assistant who finally got the head job.
The Trojans were the lone loss on a 3-1 night for Aurora teams in the opening round as No. 22 Overland (over Castle View), No. 29 Regis Jesuit (over Monarch) and No. 37 Hinkley — a team Aurora Central beat in the regular season finale — topped Mountain Range to move into the second round.
Courtney Oakes is Sentinel Colorado Sports Editor. Reach him at 303-750-7555 or sports@sentinelcolorado.com.Twitter: @aurorasports. FB: Sentinel Prep Sports
(31) FOUNTAIN-FORT CARSON 73, (34) AURORA CENTRAL (55)
Score by quarters:
Aurora Central 18 10 12 15 — 55
Ftn.-Fort Carson 25 13 17 18 — 73