COLORADO SPRINGS - In the fall, Wheat Ridge finally proved it could match up physically with ThunderRidge on the football field.

But in a physical battle on the basketball court at World Arena on Thursday, ThunderRidge dominated the Farmers in a 69-48 foul-filled victory to advance to Saturday's round of eight in the Class 5A boys state basketball tournament.

In a game in which 79 free throws were attempted and six players fouled out - four from Wheat Ridge - the Grizzlies never backed away from the Farmers' challenges.

"They really tried to get in our face and we weren't having it," ThunderRidge forward Justin Becker said. "We just took it right at them."

The 6-foot-8 forward was a major force for the Grizzlies (21-4), the No. 2 seed in the John Casey Region. Becker had 14 points and 12 rebounds, and he played a critical role in stopping the Farmers' only threatening run of the game.

Early in the fourth quarter, No. 3 seed Wheat Ridge parlayed a spate of offensive rebounds and ThunderRidge turnovers into the first six points of the quarter, trimming the Grizzlies' lead to 43-35.

During the run, Grizzlies 6-6 forward Scott Day fouled out, leaving ThunderRidge without one of its important post players.

But with 6:44 remaining in the game, Becker grabbed an offensive rebound after Matt Stern's missed free throw and scored to give ThunderRidge a 46-35 lead and restore the Grizzlies' control.

"We seemed like we were in a rush and we just needed to calm down," Becker said.

The final four minutes were nearly all free throws, with ThunderRidge making 22-of-28 in the quarter to deflect any Wheat Ridge attempt at a rally.

Lucas Nelson led the Farmers (18-6) with 16 points.

Wheat Ridge......5	11	13	19	-	48
ThunderRidge......16	9	18	26	-	69

WR - Lucas Nelson 5 4-8 16, Dylan Orms 3 1-6 7, Matt Wright 0 2-2 2, Ryan Rouzon 0 2-2 2, Mike Gearhart 3 2-3 8, Pat Gold 1 1-2 3, Mac Land 0 2-2 2, Eric Achatz 0 1-2 1, Wayne Wallace 1 2-5 4, Vince Dowd 1 0-1 3, D.J. Wagner 0 0-0 0. Totals 14 17-33 48.

TR - Scott Day 4 1-2 13, Chris Gaiter 1 1-3 3, Dave Arnold 1 6-8 8, Zach Tiedgen 1 5-8 7, Justin Becker 3 8-9 14, Jesse Stender 0 7-8 7, Larry Riley 0 2-2 2, R.J. Jelniker 2 2-2 7, Austin Foote 0 0-0 0, Matt Stern 3 2-4 8. Totals 15 34-46 69.

Three-point goals - WR, Nelson 2, Dowd; TR, Day 4, Jelniker. Fouled out - WR, D. Orms, Wright, Rouzon, Wagner; TR, Day, Tiedgen. Technical fouls - WR, bench, D. Orms.

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