AURORA | In the lockerroom is where it really hit home to Vista PEAK Prep boys basketball coach Keenon Clement that his team had accomplished something big.
The second-seeded Bison happily walked off the floor after their 57-34 Class 5A Sweet 16 victory over No. 15 Discovery Canyon, but they let loose when Clement entered the lockerroom to celebrate the program’s first-ever trip to the Great 8.
Vista PEAK Prep broke through the round that had stopped it five times previously, improved to 21-4 with its sixth straight win and earned the coveted chance to play March 1 at the Denver Coliseum.
“I was actually kindof surprised that some of our kids weren’t more elated at the end, but we lost our minds in the lockerroom,” Clement told the Sentinel afterwards. “They dumped water on me and we just had a really cool moment with a lot of hugs. …This time of year, you hope to God you get to tell you guys ‘see you tomorrow’ or ‘see you Monday’ (for practice). We get to do that.”
Vista PEAK Prep will next face No. 7 Ponderosa (17-8) — a program that hasn’t appeared at the Denver Coliseum itself since 2001 — with a spot in the March 7 Final Four at stake.
Defense has been a staple for the Bison all season and it has been outstanding two games into the state tournament, as they have yielded a total of 69 points to No. 31 Palisade in the first round and Discovery Canyon, which had scored 52 points in its first round game.
Clement was pleased with the effort that saw his team hold Discovery Canyon to single digits in three of the four quarters.
“We missed a lot of shots in the first half that would have blown it open early, but our kids just guarded,” he said. “We held them to 34 points and I’m convinced that no matter what happens, we can score 36 against anybody. We just really guarded, so I was really impressed with our effort on that.
“Our kids have bought into the fact that our defense allows us to win games, even when things don’t go the way we want them to offensively.”
Vista PEAK Prep got things going a bit offensively in the second quarter, when a three-point lead grew to 15 by the break.
Senior Javon Lowman opened the quarter with a 3-pointer and scored five points to get the Bison advantage to double digits, while junior Mitchell Oliver had an eight-point burst (two 3-pointers and a layup) to get the lead to 26-12. Oliver also drew to offensive fouls from Discovery Canyon players during the run.
The lead reached 17 points in the third quarter on a dunk and transition layup by senior James Brown III on consecutive possessions, while it hit 21 on senior Savon Alexander’s 3-pointer early in the fourth quarter.
Brown III and Polk tied for team-high honors for the Bison, while Lowman and Oliver added eight apiece and senior Alante Monroe-Elazier six.
Courtney Oakes is Aurora Sentinel Sports Editor. Reach him at sports@aurorasentinel.com. Twitter/X: @aurorasports. IG: Sentinel Prep Sports
(2) VISTA PEAK PREP 57, (15) DISCOVERY CANYON 34
Score by quarters:
Discovery Canyon 8 7 15 4 — 34
Vista PEAK Prep 11 19 18 9 — 57
DISCOVERY CANYON (34)
Aiden Hayler 0 0-0 0, Duane Donlin 4 0-0 9, Nick Martidis 1 0-0 2, Noah Eckles 2 3-5 7, Hugh Tarpenning 3 1-2 7, Micah Rohacs 3 0-0 7, Andrew Martidis 1 0-0 2, Hayden Jones 0 0-0 0, Mitchell Vorwaller 0 0-0 0, Matthew Bennett 0 0-0 0. Totals 14 4-7 34.
VISTA PEAK PREP (57)
Julian Carrizales 2 0-0 5, Javon Lowman 3 0-0 8, Alante Monroe-Elazier 3 0-0 6, James Brown III 3 4-4 10, Kyree Polk 4 2-4 10, Mitchell Oliver 3 0-0 8, Savon Alexander 1 0-0 3, Mekhai Davis-Burks 1 0-0 2, Larry Mosley 2 0-0 5, Truth Isaac 0 0-0 0. Totals 22 6-10 57.
3-point field goals — Discovery Canyon (2): Duane Donlin, Micah Rohacs. Vista PEAK Prep (7): Javon Lowman 2, Mitchell Oliver 2, Savon Alexander, Julian Carrizales, Larry Mosley. Total fouls — Discovery Canyon 16, Vista PEAK Prep 12. Fouled out — None. Technical fouls — None.