DENVER – Ralston Valley senior Zeke Andrews proved late Friday night at the Denver Coliseum that he can do it all.
The all-state quarterback that is heading to the University of Northern Colorado powered his way to the basket for the game-winning basket at the buzzer in the final of eight Class 6A Great 8 state tournament games.
Ralston Valley took a dramatic 54-53 victory over George Washington to punch the No. 2-seeded Mustangs’ ticket to the Final Four next week.
“It was supposed to go to Caiden (Braketa), but obviously (George Washington) took him away with the player that he is,” Andrews said of the final play. “I just got my opportunity.”
With 4.2 seconds left and the Patriots up 53-52, Ralston Valley senior Cole Pfeifer had the option on the inbound pass at the baseline to get it to Caiden Braketa, who was coming of a screen. However, Andrews rolled toward the basket and powered through George Washington senior Ke’Von Taylor for the game-winning layup.
“We ran that same set earlier and got Caiden that open 3-pointer,” Ralston Valley coach Chris Braketa said. “They doubled it on that one. It was a great job by Zeke reading the slip. He was fantastic.”
Andrews finished with 17 points, including going 9-for-10 from the free-throw line. Braketa finished with 12 points and senior Alec Sungy had a solid game with 9 points.
George Washington (17-9) was led by junior Jordan Dotson, who finished with 18 points. Dotson made a pair of free throws with 13.7 seconds left before the heroics by Andrews.
Ralston Valley (25-1 record) was able to atone for losing in the Great 8 to rival Valor Christian a year ago. The Mustangs will face No. 3 Rangeview on Friday, March 13, back at the Coliseum next week in the Final Four.
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Chaparral 65, Mountain Vista 45
The first game of the year between Chaparral and Mountain Vista went down to the wire with the Wolverines getting a one-point win.
In Round 2 between the Continental League rivals, Chap had no desire to make things that stressful. The Wolverines jumped out to a 9-point lead after the first quarter and only padded that lead to get a 65-45 win over the Golden Eagles, setting up a Class 6 Final 4 showdown with another league opponent in Rock Canyon.
“It was building that confidence right away,” Chap guard Christian Williams said. “That’s what that does is build confidence right away. We just kept going on runs and they didn’t a lead the whole game.”
Williams scored a game-high 21 points. Luke Howery had 17 and Derek Jensen had 11.
Hudson Rooney led the Golden Eagles with 11.
Chaparral and Rock Canyon met in their league game on Jan. 23 where Chap got a 54-50 win.