AURORA | The Vista PEAK boys basketball team advanced to its first Sweet 16 since 2020 with a Class 5A first round home victory against Discovery Canyon Wednesday night.
The ninth-seeded Bison earned their first postseason since the aforementioned season with a steady performance against the 24th-seeded Thunder, Vista PEAK dominated the second and fourth quarters on its way to a 52-35 victory.
Coach Keenon Clement’s Vista PEAK team rallied from a four-point deficit after one quarter to outscore Discovery Canyon by 13 in the second quarter and push the advantage into double figures for the majority of the second half to improve to 18-6 on the season.
The Bison moved into a 5A Sweet 16 matchup at 2 p.m. Saturday at the Colorado State Fairgrounds in Pueblo against eighth-seeded Pueblo East (18-6), which was the 4A state runner-up last season.
Junior Alante Monroe-Elazier scored 17 points — one short of his season-high — while senior Gabe Britton and junior Carson McDonald added nine apiece and senior Nasir Mills seven for Vista PEAK, which had lost its first postseason game the past two seasons since earning a bye and beating Windsor in the 2020 season before losing to Fairview in the Sweet 16.
Aurora’s other 5A state qualifier — No. 32 Gateway — played on the road and had its season come to an end with a 66-27 loss at top-seeded Air Academy.
Coach Ibn Shabazz’s Olys finished the season 14-10 overall and won the Colorado League’s regular season championship before placing third in its season-ending tournament. Gateway came a long way from a 1-20 campaign last season.
Courtney Oakes is Sentinel Colorado Sports Editor. Reach him at sports@sentinelcolorado.com. Twitter: @aurorasports. IG: Sentinel Prep Sports
2023 CLASS 5A BOYS BASKETBALL STATE PLAYOFFS (1ST ROUND)
(1) AIR ACADEMY 66, (32) GATEWAY 27
Score by quarters:
Gateway 7 5 8 7 — 27
Air Academy 26 20 11 9 — 66
(9) VISTA PEAK 52, (24) DISCOVERY CANYON 35
Score by quarters:
Discovery Canyon 12 6 11 7 — 35
Vista PEAK 8 19 11 14 — 52
DISCOVERY CANYON (35)
Sam Jones 3 2-2 10, Eli Liddiard 5 0-0 12, Nick Mantidis 1 0-0 3, Dyan Goodwin 3 0-2 6, Aiden Prechtel 2 0-0 5, Hugh Tapenning 0 0-0 0, Noah Eckles 0 0-0 0. Totals 14 2-4 35.
VISTA PEAK (52)
Nasir Mills 2 3-6 7, Alante Monroe-Elazier 7 2-4 17, Carson McDonald 4 1-4 9, Gabe Britton 3 3-4 9, Kyelin Sanders 1 0-2 2, Kyree Polk 2 1-4 5, Julian Carizzales 1 0-0 3, Javon Lowman 0 0-0 0, Mekhai Davis-Burks 0 0-0 0, Gabe Christian 0 0-0 0. Totals 20 10-24 52.
3-point field goals — Discovery Canyon (6): Sam Jones 2, Eli Liddiard 2, Nick Mantidis, Aiden Prechtel. Vista PEAK: Alante Monroe-Elazier. Total fouls — Discovery Canyon 16, Vista PEAK 10. Fouled out — Discovery Canyon: Prechtel. Technical fouls — None.