BOULDER - Denver East and Lincoln had to share the Denver Prep League championship with Montbello this season. Before a record-setting crowd of 8,371 fans at the Coors Events Center Saturday, the Angels and Lancer both came away with their own state basketball titles.

East completed a scintillating Class 5A playoff run with a 60-41 victory over previously undefeated Aurora Central. The Angels entered the postseason only as a No. 2 seed, but no team looked better during the stretch run.

Central was the only 5A team without a blemish on its record during the regular season, but East's perimeter defense and the incredible shooting of guard Donell Wells put an end to the Trojans title hopes.

The Angels (24-3) thoroughly outplayed the Trojans (27-1) and took 34 foul shots compared to only six for Central. Wells' 31 points, his season high, punctuated the team's fourth state title under head coach Rudy Carey.

"This team was just so determined," Carey said. "When the ball went up, they weren’t going to lose. I love this team as much as any I've ever had."

That is a remarkable sentiment, as Carey has now won seven state championships, including the three he had at Manual before moving over to East. So Carey racked up lucky No. 7 and he counted himself just as blessed with his staff.

"(Seven titles) means that I've had great coaches and great players," Carey said.

Wells, a 6-foot senior, was an obvious choice as the Rocky Mountain News' most valuable player of the state tournament. He had scored 24 in East's semifinal win over Doherty, but topped even that standout performance.

Wells started the game with a forced shot that missed, but ended up hitting 5-of-8 three-pointers and 10-of-12 free throws.

"I had to carry my team," Wells said. "I'm the leader and captain of this team, me and Blake Swain, and we had to get it done for our team. It's about this team that we call a family and that crowd up there that comes through for us every day and gives us heart, too."

Wells and junior forward Mookey Gilbert supplied almost all the field goals for the Angels in the first quarter, but the Angels did not neglect their defense, either. East successfully harassed Central’s ball-handlers and its 3-2 zone also kept the Trojans from hitting outside shots.

"We wanted to make them shoot a lot of outside jumpers, because they're not a jump-shooting team," Wells said.

East trailed for the only time three minutes into the game. The Trojans never made any kind of serious run.

"We came in mentally prepared," Swain said. "We all had to rebound, nobody was releasing early."

Gilbert was all over the court for East, scoring 11 points and blocking two shots. Angels forward Jordan Martinez, who turned into a tremendous sixth man this year, also capped off a solid tournament with six points and four rebounds.

"It was the best game of my life," said Martinez, who had grabbed 15 rebounds in the semifinals against Smoky Hill. "Anything short of this (title) would have meant nothing. We had motivation. Their record meant they were the best team in the state and we beat them, so we are the best."

Central point guard Sean Cunningham was the only Trojan to have any kind of success with his shooting and finished with 10 points and four steals.

Two of the Trojans known to get hot from the perimeter never did. Guard Davy Johnson missed both his three-point tries and star senior Stephen Franklin went 0-for-6.

Franklin, a 6-foot-6 Colorado State recruit, had been subpar in the tournament, but finally unleashed his game in the third quarter. Franklin hit for nine points in the period and led the Trojans with a total of 13 points.

"I think we needed to get the ball to him," Trojans coach Bob Caton said. "I told the team, there's a lot of games where we don't have the need to do that. But you do when it's tough games. Probably, we should have done that two games ago, or three games ago. We should have demanded that he get the ball somewhere."

Franklin made a few nice passes, but he also committed five turnovers in the first half, another tribute to East's defense. Caton also acknowledged the Trojans (27-1) couldn’t stop Wells.

"Their player got hot and ours did not, that’s the way it goes," he said. "East is a quality team. They beat three league champions in Smoky Hill, Doherty and us. I'm glad we were the last ones and I'm not upset about losing to them. We had a great season."

pearcea@RockyMountainNews.com or 303-954-5352.



Denver East 12 11 17 20 -- 60

Aurora Central 7 6 14 14 -- 41

DE -- Jamiko Verner 1 0-2, Quentin Hildreth 0 0-0 0, Koree Ross 1 0-0 2,

Troy Weise 0 0-0 0, Jordan Martinez 1 4-4 6, Blake Swain 0 4-6 4, Donell Wells 8 10-12 31, DaVaughn Thornton 1 0-2 2, Mookey Gilbert 4 3-6 11, O’Brian Brooks 0 0-0 0, Aris Molock.0 2-2 2. Totals 16 23-34 60.

AC -- Renelson Archelus 0 0-0 0, Davy Johnson 0 0-0 0, Sean Cunningham 4 0-0 10,

Stephen Franklin 5 3-3 13, Thomas Stephenson 0 0-0 0, Josh Bond 5 0-1 10, Antonio Bonds 0 0-0 0, Brock Veasley 0 0-0 0, Caston Mabin 1 1-2 4, Chris Kelly 2 0-0 4. Totals 17 4-6 41.

Three-point goals -- DE, Wells 5; AC, Cunningham 2, Mabin. Fouled out -- AC, Franklin, Bond.

Class 5A All-Tournament team

Player, school Ht. Yr.

Sean Cunningham, Aurora Central 6-2 Sr.

Garrett Fiddler, Doherty 6-10 Sr.

Mookey Gilbert, Denver East 6-6 Jr.

Jordan Martinez, Denver East 6-2 Sr.

Donell Wells, Denver East 6-0 Sr.

Most valuable player – Donell Wells, Denver East

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