After a scare in the first round, the Fossil Ridge Sabercats showed their dominance by defeating the Doherty Spartans 72-43 in the sweet sixteen. 

The Sabercats trailed by ten points during their first playoff game against Chaparral, forcing the team to fight from behind. But this time they flipped the script, opening the game with an 18-0 run to end the game before it even got going. Ty Brown was lighting it up early in a well-needed scoring run, with eight points during that opening quarter.

“[Brown] set the tone…attacking the basket and hitting the threes,” says head coach Matt Johannsen.

Brown finished with twelve points as one of four Sabercats in double digits for the game. 

Leone finished another playoff game with double digits at ten points, and nearly racked up a triple double with eight rebounds and seven assists in an all around game.

Another major standout was Drew Larson, who rose to the occasion once again with another injury to Matthew Boldt. Larson was Fossil’s second leading scorer with 13 points, and crashed the boards by adding seven rebounds. Luckily Boldt is expected to be back for their elite eight matchup, but Larson will continue to be a glue piece for the Sabercats whether with the starters or off the bench.

However, the lead scorer and dominant force was Nick Randall, per usual. Randall put up a standard 25 points and 16 rebounds, leading the Sabercats to the win with ease. 

“It really all comes down to confidence,” Randall said.

Fossil Ridge has now made the elite eight at the Denver Coliseum for the second consecutive season. Now, the only thing that stands in the way of another final four is a rematch against archrival Fort Collins. 

The Sabercats will look to avenge their loss from earlier this season when the two meet up in Denver on Saturday, March 4 at 1:15 p.m.