Arnold, Grizzlies gutsy in win
CO L ORAD O S PRING S » Garrett Arnold waited his whole life for the opportunity that came Saturday night when ThunderRidge played George Washington in the Class 5A boys basketball title game. So there’s no way the senior point guard was going to let a foot injury keep him off the floor.
Arnold played over 30 minutes with a fractured right foot in the Grizzlies’ 68-59 win, which gave ThunderRidge its third title and first since 2003. Coach Joe Ortiz said the gutsy performance was decades in the making, considering this season marked the 25th consecutive year an Arnold played in either the ThunderRidge feeder or high school program.
“Garrett was five years old, on our bench, drawing up plays,” Ortiz said. “And even at five, he knew his stuff — I’ve never seen a kid with that kind of basketball acumen at his age. I joked around when he was in the feeder program that he was the chosen one, and it really ended up being the truth after being our leader on a title team.”
Just like Garrett, his three older brothers — Sean, Class of 2003, as well as David (2009) and Ryan (2012) — were all three-year lettermen for the Grizzles. Sean played on ThunderRidge’s backto-back title teams in ’02 and ’03, and David has spent the past two seasons as an assistant head coach in the program.
The family ties made the championship extra sweet for the youngest Arnold brother.
“With having three brothers that played for ThunderRidge, and with two of them not getting a ring, avenging them was really cool for me,” Arnold said.
Arnold first hurt his foot early in the season, but underestimated the severity of the injury. He played in the Grizzlies’ second game on Feb. 12 against Mountain Vista but could tell something was wrong. When he next played Feb. 20 against Rock Canyon, the last time he’d suit up in the regular season, it was only for a few minutes.
A second X-ray taken shortly before the playoffs began confirmed the fracture. But Arnold returned to ThunderRidge’s lineup anyway, playing briefly against Douglas County and Chaparral before starting in the semifinals against top-seeded Cherry Creek, a game the Grizzlies won in overtime.
David was most impressed with his younger brother’s determination in the final two games, despite Garrett only scoring five points against the Bruins and just two in the final. The senior played with his foot heavily taped and wore a carbon fiber insole in his shoe to help defray the pain.
“He didn’t play perfect but he still able to make plays, still able to handle pressure and run the team,” David said.
Fellow senior Jason Simental, who finished with 16 points, took over the primary ball-handling duties in Arnold’s place. And senior forward Nolan Marold, who had a title-high 17 points, more than made up for Arnold’s inability to score and push the ball up the floor. Arnold wasn’t the only ThunderRidge centerpiece not at full health, as junior center Zach Keller was also on the mend from a high ankle sprain.
“Coming in, we talked about taking the load off (Garrett) by having Jason carry it more up the floor,” Ortiz said. “We let Jason do the workhorse part, and let Garrett be a counter.”