East earns two tough wins over Montbello (2/14/09)

by MARTY CESARIO

WBB
Montbello 58
Denver East 75    

Ah. Love and Basketball. What a great way to finish off our hoops weekend at Manual High! A Valentine's Day double-header in the Denver Prep League! With more than just city pride on the line.

The East ladies put on quite a show to start game one of our twin-bill. Juniors SHAE KELLEY and CASSIE BROWN along with sophomore KATIE WIESE absolutely ruled the opening eleven minutes with flat-out amazing effectiveness in the lane. It seemed like every early possession for the Lady Angels ended with points from either a gorgeous, money drive by Kelley or a strong post move from Brown or Wiese. On the other end of the floor, that trio of taller girls was equally effective. Kelley, who along with her size is very athletic and instinctive, spent a lot of time at the top of the key intimidating Montbello guards and snagging attempted inlet passes. Back in the paint, Brown and Wiese continually proved that going to the hole or getting an offensive rebound against East wasn't going to happen.

Something else happened, though. Maybe a variety of things. Perhaps the Angels let up or became fatigued after firing out to a very quick twenty point lead by the beginning of the second quarter. It was clear that the Montbello shooters like senior leader, TEMEKIA HUNT, started finding open spots and hitting jumpers. And the impact of junior sub, TE'ASIA FOSTER, was obvious. That girl's slender 5'6" frame was deceptive. She reminded me of a Dennis Rodman. Down low, she kept balls alive for her offense and she became quite a pest for East guards out in the open. Suddenly, the Lady Warriors regained the crowd's attention. A three at the buzzer by freshman, AMBER SMITH, cut the deficit to three points at halftime. A deep ball by junior, MICHELLE RICE, gave Montbello a 41-40 lead at 3:30 in third period. Impressive comeback, ladies! Head coach, WAYNE MCDONALD, had to be very proud. Yet East still had superior personnel and pressure... like Queen Latifah in a Covergirl commercial, they realized they had to reapply.

East coach, DWIGHT BERRY, sicked ball-hawkers RHIANNA BRAME and RAVEN TAYLOR on anybody dribbling a basketball. Steals and forced turnovers led to
easy, fast-break points for the Lady Angels. Wiese reestablished her position in the paint resulting in more lay-ups or foul calls. And once the Lady Angels earned a double-bonus situation early in the 4th quarter, the momentum obviously had been turned back in East's favor. Riding the free-throw shooting of Wiese and freshman forward, JEMESHA BRISCOE, East closed strong for a fairly comfy win. After that point when they lost their lead, East outscored Montbello 34-18, maintained their unblemished league record, and probably ensured themselves the DPL title. 

Final: DEA 75 - MW 58... DEA (11-5, 5-0) Briscoe 15, Wiese 14, Kelley 12 ... MW (8-12, 4-2) Hunt 16, Ransom 16


MBB
Montbello  65
Denver East  75

The Thunderdome was packed by the time the guys began warming up for the finale. Angels and Warriors fans filled the gym with a vibe of anticipation. Believe me, I had the feelin,' too. Everybody was looking forward to watching these two squads relentlessly run at and after each other. A funny thing occurred, though. East and Montbello are so stacked with great athletes that they actually cancelled out each other's ability to pressure, break, dart and dash. My bad. I should've thought of that. 

After both squads proved they could quickly bust the press, each settled into executing half-court strategies. This game was about big men battling and snipers firing.
The shooters establised themselves first as the two teams alternated leads with each possession. Warriors senior, ROBERT HARRISON, would nail a deep ball. Then
East seniors, TROY WIESE or ALEX MERRIEX, would match with their own buckets from behind the arc. Once the slow flow was established, those big guys made some noise. RODERICK TAYLOR was very productive in the paint for the Warriors. And, as expected, Angels all-stater, DEVAUGHN THORNTON started finding spots on the edges of the lane for baseline lay-ups and at least one sweet slam -- which you'll see on our Plays-of-the-Week page. Get the idea? In the first half, outside success opened up the inside opportunities. Eventually, it worked the other way, too. Much to the benefit of coach RUDY CAREY's club. Consecutive three-pointers by Wiese, courtesy of kick-outs from Thornton, gave Denver East a five point advantage at intermission. That was largest lead for either team. And the game would remain tight the rest of the way.  

In the third quarter, Warriors leading scorer, SEAN EDWARDS, began attacking a soft spot in the middle of the Angel's 3-2 zone defense. A shooting foul and a technical gave Edwards four shots from the free throw line. He hit three. Montbello had the lead back for a moment. It didn't last long as East countered quickly with that
outside-inside rhythm on offense. Merriex had another productive flurry from the perimeter and do-all dude, PATRICK HILAIRE, stepped up his inside attack for some very physical lay-ups.

By mid-4th quarter, the Angels were in control and went to their four-corners offense. That tactic might've seemed premature and awkward for some folks. But it worked very well in taking time off the clock in a game where neither team was going to make any ten-zip runs. (Rule of thumb: Don't question Rudy Carey. There's a reason he has more championship trophies than you have fingers.) Sensing some urgency, Montbello switched to a full-court press in an attempt to shake up East before they could settle into their stall sets. The Angels guards easily broke the pressure, found open men at the rim, then walked off the court tired... but victorious. And, once again, Denver East is poised to take another Prep League title and make a serious push through the Class 5A tournament. Watch out.  

Final: DEA 75 - MW 65... DEA (17-4, 6-0) Wiese 21, Thornton 17, Merriex 14, Hilaire 13... MW (12-9, 3-3) Edwards 20, Taylor 13, Cooper 11, Harrison 10