Tuesday night, January 24, Fossil Ridge took the court against 7 time League Champions Broomfield High School (7-9), and ended the night on top with a 77-74 win. In a very close game, with a handful of equally talented players, senior Colby Pipher (21 pts) couldn’t help but draw eyes, as the Sabercats defeated one of the best 5A teams in the league.
After an interview with Pipher he commented, “I knew that Broomfield was a good team, but there best player was out. That being said, I thought we had a good chance to win if we went out and did what we needed to do.” In the first few minutes of play, Bertolette hit a three point shot, and Pipher made a shot along with two free throw shots, putting the SaberCats in the lead 8-4 early.
The Eagles tied the game 10-10 with 1:50 left in the first quarter; junior Sam Foster (21 pts) of Broomfield lead their team into the second half of the game with confidence in not only himself but the team as a whole, and believed they could make a comeback.
The SaberCat defense held their own, stuffing a handful of Eagle drives, and kept the ball in the hands of Braxton Bertolette (22 pts) and Andrew Schimmels (9 pts).
In an interview with Foster after the game, he said, “We all knew Braxton was one of the best players in the state, so we knew we were going to have our hands full with him, but our coach also mentioned Schimmels to us knowing he was one of the stronger competitors too. When it came to our offensive play, Colby was basically a brick wall, he made it hard for us in the paint in the first half.”
Fossil was sitting thirteen points ahead of Broomfield, with a 59-46 lead, at the end of the third quarter. However, in the last 4 minutes of the game, the Eagles shortened the score gap, then trailing the SaberCats 69-63.
In the last minutes of play, the energy was heightened between both teams, and each player was working to get down and up the court; ultimately Fossil came out on top, 77-74. After the game Pipher mentioned, “I think overall there were glimpses of good play for us as a team, but what allowed us to win was our mental toughness to continue to play hard even when the other team would go on runs.”
Foster was frustrated after the game saying, “I felt good going into the game, I really did. Our team knew it was going to be tough so we were prepared to play until the final whistle. We were playing well offensively up until the second half, but our defense wasn’t where it needed to be and that is what hurt us in the long run.”
Come out to Greeley West High School tonight as the boys take on Greeley West at 6:30.
