DENVER – Mountain Vista’s one-punch has to be one of, if not the best in the state.

Whether the Golden Eagles want to get physical in the post with Oliver Junker or let Cal Baskind do his thing from perimeter, it’s going to generate solid results.

The result on Saturday at the Denver Coliseum was a 71-57 win over league rival Chaparral and a return trip scheduled for next weekend’s Final 4.

Having already faced, and beaten, the Wolverines earlier in the year, coach Brian Wood was comfortable with whatever way his guys were going to attack the game. At least, as comfortable as a coach can be going into the game.

“I don’t know if a coach is ever comfortable before a game,” Wood said. “What if we losing by 20? We go through all the stuff. We feel like our tandem is as good as anybody and they just happen to play inside and out. We feel like Ollie is dominant force inside. I think he only had 15 points, but he had another 15 or 20 rebounds. And Cal is Cal. The fact that Cal Baskind does not have a college basketball scholarship is a high-level tragedy because that kid can go.”

And Baskind went. He finished with a game-high 27 points and was 5-for-9 from 3-point range. Junker added 17 points according to the CHSAA stats online.

The Golden Eagles took a nine-point lead into the second half and maintained that cushion into the fourth quarter. Although the Wolverines did cut into the lead and get as close as two thanks to a Christian Williams 3-pointer. But Junker converted an old-fashioned 3-point play in between Duncan Crespo and Carlos Arocho-Gonzales field goals.

Looking ahead to next week, the Golden Eagles will face either Eaglecrest or ThunderRidge, two teams that handed them losses in the regular season.

But there is no fear in Vista. If anything, there’s a level of excitement for what next week is going to bring.

“We’re a hard team to beat twice,” Wood said.

(2) Eaglecrest 70, (7) ThunderRidge 54

(Eric Brown)

By Courtney Oakes

The Eaglecrest boys basketball team is used to playing ThunderRidge in the deep stages of the state playoffs in recent years and has thrived on it, unlike many other teams.

For the second time in the past three seasons, the Raptors knocked out the Grizzlies, as they avenged a heartbreaking semifinal loss last season with a 70-54 victory Saturday night in the 6A Great 8 finale at the Denver Coliseum.

Senior Anthony Nettles knocked down a pair of 3-pointers in the fourth quarter to finally give second-seeded Eaglecrest some separation and it held on to advance to a Final 4 matchup against No. 6 Mountain Vista.

“Obviously ThunderRidge is a top program in the state year in and year out, so to come in and beat those guys is pretty special,” Eaglecrest coach Jarris Krapcha said.

Eaglecrest — which stretched its winning streak to 17 games — looked like it might run away with the game early, as it built a double-digit lead towards the end of the first quarter.

ThunderRidge cut that deficit in half by halftime and took two more points off the Raptors’ advantage through three quarters to set up an intense fourth quarter finish.

Nettles — Eaglecrest’s leading scorer — had only one point through the first 10-plus minutes of the second half, but knocked down a 3-pointer with 5:23 remaining to push the lead back to 10 points. He connected on a corner triple a minute later to make it a 13-point edge and take most to the drama out of the final minutes. Seniors Lucas Kalimba and Garrett Barger also were big in the paint during the deciding run for the Raptors.

“It’s a game of runs and they finished the third quarter really well,” Krapcha said. “But we got them right back to start the fourth and blew the game open. I feel like with our depth, we’ve had really good fourth quarters and that’s something that we lean on.”

Eaglecrest next will take on Mountain Vista, which it defeated 69-66 during the regular season, with the winner set to move into Saturday’s state championship game.