AURORA | The Vista PEAK boys basketball team played its first nine games on the road, so head coach Keenon Clement wasn’t sure what he’d see when it played at home for the first time Tuesday night.
The Bison put on quite the show for the home crowd in a 58-50 victory over Lewis-Palmer — last season’s Class 4A state champion — to go into winter break with an 8-2 record and with more attention generated by each victory.
Vista PEAK came into the game ranked No. 7 in CHSAANow.com’s 5A coaches poll and surely will move up after it built a lead as large as 16 points and held on for a victory against the Rangers, who came in at 7-1 and ranked No. 4.
Junior Carson McDonald scored 12 points, while senior Nasir Mills added 11 and junior Julian Carrizales added eight — all in a key stretch in the fourth quarter — in a balanced effort that has become regular this season for the Bison, who are already in range of last season’s 11-win mark with more than half of the season remaining.
Vista PEAK built a six-point edge by halftime against Lewis-Palmer and added four more points to it after three quarters. Early in the fourth quarter, Carrizales — who hadn’t scored in the first three quarters — knocked down a 3-pointer and converted a layup seconds later after a steal by junior Javon Lowman.
Following a Lewis-Palmer bucket, Carrizales again was good from downtown to swell the Bison’s advantage to 16 points. In desperation mode, the Rangers cut the deficit to as low as six points inside the final seconds, but McDonald sealed the result with a pair of free throws.
Courtney Oakes is Sentinel Colorado Sports Editor. Reach him at [email protected] Twitter: @aurorasports. IG: Sentinel Prep Sports
(5A No. 7) Vista PEAK 58, (5A No. 4) Lewis-Palmer 50
Score by quarters:
Lewis-Palmer 5 15 8 22 — 50
Vista PEAK 11 15 12 20 — 58
