Holy Family boys upset 4A top seed Kent Denver
Tigers turn up the heat against Sun Devils
The Holy Family boys basketball team may have had a rough final month of the regular season, taking some tough losses in league play to close it out, but things certainly are looking up over the past week.
After kicking off the Class 4A state tournament with a first-round comeback win over DSST: Green Valley Ranch on Wednesday, the 17th-seeded Tigers turned around and pulled off a stunning 80-53 win over top-seeded Kent Denver on the road in the Sweet 16 on Saturday.
“We knew that as long as we stuck together and we used everything we’ve built through the challenges that we’ve faced in all those losses and channeled that into this game, we couldn’t lose,” Tigers senior Eric Quintana said. “Coming in, we knew that we were a family, we knew that we had more guys and we knew that we just had to stick together throughout the game no matter what.”
The Tigers (14-11) showed early on that they were ready at the defensive end, jumping out to a 14-2 lead against a Kent Denver (20-5) squad that averages 83.3 points per game. The 53 points the Tigers allowed on Saturday were the fewest the Sun Devils scored all season long.
“Defensively, it was 100% energy,” Quintana said. “We have this philosophy that every time a shot goes up, everyone’s yelling, ‘shot’ and we’ve got to get a board. We knew that they’re a good team and they’re going to make some. But if we challenge 40 of their 3s that they take and we get out, we’re going to come out on top.”
Still, Holy Family trailed 3932 at halftime. That is, until they outscored the Sun Devils by an incredible 31-5 in the third quarter to take a commanding lead that they would not relinquish. The Tigers held the Sun Devils to just nine points in the fourth quarter.
“That was the best version of us right there,” Tigers head coach Pete Villecco said. “Our kids believed and they’ve been through a lot the last few weeks, getting our noses bloodied by the Meads, the Windsors, the Longmonts of the world. They just kept coming back. We’d take a loss and they’d come back. We’ve always believed that we can beat anybody and the time was now.”
Tigers senior and leading scorer Rocco Bridges led Holy Family with 20 points. Junior Gabe Tafoya scored 18 points.
Sun Devils leading scorer Jay Royal (17.3 ppg) finished with just five points.
The Tigers, who last won a state championship in 2014, will face No. 8 Colorado Academy in the Great 8 at the Denver Coliseum on Friday.