Rudy Carey is going for history one more time.
Denver East is heading back to the CHSAA state basketball title game for the first time in almost a decade after smothering Mountain Vista, the top seed in Class 6A, for an 86-67 win at Denver Coliseum on Friday.
“It means so much for us to go out on top for us, and for him,” said senior forward Austin Mohr, whose 15 points and 12 rebounds helped fourth-seeded East keep control of the game while stars De’Aundre Samuels (16 points) and Gil Gonzalez (20 points) sat out much of the middle of the tilt with foul trouble.
“It’s not his last season, but he’s at the end of his career …”
It’s not?
“I can’t say for sure,” Mohr laughed. “But I doubt it.”
A win on Saturday against Fossil Ridge in the 6A title game would tie East (25-2) with Manual, Carey’s old school, for the most boys hoops championships in Colorado history (12). It would also give Carey the most state titles of any boys coach in state history. He’s currently tied with Merino’s Ron Vlasin at nine
It’s East’s first trip to a title game since 2014.
Carey made history earlier this season by passing Dick Katte as the state’s all-time winningest coach on Dec. 13.
The Angels haven’t lost since.
Truth be told, East hasn’t lost since Dec. 2, when it took a 23-point shellacking at the hands of … Fossil Ridge.
“New game, new season,” chuckled Samuels, whose six assists and seven boards helped East pull away late. “We’re coming (in) different.”
Friday’s finish was a lot different from the Angels’ trip to the Final Four a year ago, when a last-minute tip-in by ThunderRidge sealed a soul-crushing 55-54 defeat in the state semis.
“I think what changed (this) game (was) our defense,” Mohr said of the Angels, whose full-court press forced 19 Eagles turnovers.
“I think we’re just a really persistent team … so I think causing those turnovers and getting some easy lobs, it’s really disheartening for another team.”
East notched 29 points off Vista turnovers and outscored the Eagles on second-chance points, 20-10.
Caden Stevens led Mountain Vista with 16 points, 12 coming in the second half for the Eagles (24-3), who took advantage of East’s handsy press by going to the free-throw line 16 times but wound up converting on just eight of those tries.
After opening the game 0-for-7 from behind the arc, East drained 4 of 5 3-point attempts in the third quarter and made good on 6 of 8 in the second half, with two makes coming from guard Jack Greenwood (12 points).
“I think that we were able to space the floor a lot more,” offered Mohr, who was 1-for-3 from beyond the arc. “In the first half, we got to the basket a lot, so in the second half they were defending more packed — and then we were able to get it out to our shooters to make some threes.”
Want more sports news? Sign up for the Sports Omelette to get all our analysis on Denver’s teams.
