BROOMFIELD - As a highly touted senior, Andrew Hooper knows the highs and lows of high school basketball. On Friday, he experienced each in the span of 26 seconds.

Hooper had missed the front end of a one-and-one free-throw situation with he and the D'Evelyn Jaguars leading Steamboat Springs by two points.

The Sailors went the other way for a layup attempt by Aaron Calkins, but Hooper rebounded the miss and fired an outlet pass to Mark Schaffer.

Schaffer was in the clear and casually dropped in a layup for a 52-48 Jaguars victory in the third round of the Class 4A state tournament, at Broomfield High School.

Hooper, a 6-foot-9 center, said he thought third-seeded D'Evelyn would get the win despite his errant foul shot. But he admitted the rebound was sweet relief.

"I was sweating the rebound because I thought I'd get an over-the-back call," Hooper said.

Hooper had quite a game for the Jaguars (19-6), with 14 points, nine rebounds and two blocked shots.

But D'Evelyn's driving force was Schaffer, a guard who started things with a couple of three- pointers in the first quarter and also converted many layups.

With 19 points, Schaffer led all players, and he got the Jaguars back on track after a six-point second quarter. Hooper, who has signed with the University of Denver, said Schaffer inspired the rest of the Jaguars during intermission.

A Schaffer three-pointer just before the buzzer gave D'Evelyn a seemingly comfortable 42-31 lead with 8 minutes left in the game. Steamboat Springs (20- 5) was relentless, though, and piled up 12 points during a 3- minute, 37-second span, with Michael Kandahl (10 points) and Aaron Calkins (17) leading the way.

"It wasn't our defense, other than (problems with) rotation," Hooper said. "Those Steamboat guys are studs. They shot the heck out of the ball and made big plays."

D'Evelyn......15	6	21	10	-	52
Steamboat Springs......12	7	12	17	-	48

D - Andrew Hooper 5 2-3 14, Joshua Gesell 1 2-2 5, Jeremy Sullivan 1 0-0 2, James Rader 5 0-1 10, Mark Schaffer 8 0-0 19, Tommy Lepke 1 0-0 2, Jake Lidvall 0 0-0 0. Totals 21 4-6 52.

SS - Colby Kostur 2 2-4 7, Aaron Calkins 7 2-3 17, Michael Kandahl 5 0-2 10, Tanner Stilwell 1 0-0 3, Alex Wood 2 1-1 5, Petet 2 2-3 6. Totals 19 7-13 48.

Three-point goals - D, Hooper 2, Gesell, Schaffer 3; SS, Kostur, Calkins Stillwell.

BROOMFIELD 67, MESA RIDGE 54 - The Eagles boys made the most of their home-court advantage to break open a tense game and record a third-round victory against fourth-seeded Mesa Ridge.

It took awhile for the Eagles (20-5) to get into the game, though. Broomfield missed its first five shots of the game before coach Kevin Boley had seen enough and called a timeout.

Mesa Ridge was no better after two quick baskets by Jamal Dickerson, so the first quarter ended with the Grizzlies ahead by the ugly score of 9-8.

"I think we had a little bit of those (early)-game jitters," Eagles guard Ryan Garren said. "I think we were too worried about their three-point shooters."

The Grizzlies (17-7) got hot in the second period, with more good work from Dickerson, who scored 21 points. Mesa went on an 8-2 run to take a 17-12 lead.

It took three-point plays from Garren for the Eagles to equalize the score at 21 by halftime. Broomfield's backcourt sizzled at the start of the second half.

Junior guard Alex Barthule pumped in a 17-footer and converted a steal into a layup, and Garren, a senior, made two more trips to the line and hit all four free throws.

Barthule ended with 19 points, and with 22 points, Garren led all players, including a perfect 11-for-11 from the line.

Broomfield will play host to D'Evelyn (19-6) at 2:45 p.m. today for a berth in the semifinals.

Mesa Ridge......9

12	15	18	-	54
Broomfield......8	13	21	25	-	67

MR - Tomas Gipson 0 0-1 0, Jamal Dickerson 8 5-5 21, Alex Brunow 1 1-2 3, Thomas Vallejo 3 5-6 12, Emanual Salas 3 2-2 9, Andre Wells 4 1-2 9. Totals 19 14-18 54.

B - Doug Fankell 2 3-4 8, Tim Halliday 1 2-4 5, Alex Barthule 6 6-8 19, Ryan Garren 5 11-11 22, Brian Travis 2 2-2 6, Zac Claeys 1 2-2 5, Luke Stahler 0 2-2 2. Totals 17 28-33 67.

Three-point goals - MR, Vallejo, Salas; B, Fankell, Halliday, Barthule, Garren, Claeys. Technical fouls - MR, Dickerson; B, Barthule.

Back to Top