Third quarter burst propels Chatfield men into the Sweet 16 (2/28/09)

by MARTY CESARIO

Fort Collins 51
Chatfield 63

A couple of gritty groups on the floor at Chatfield High tonight. I wrote gritty... not dirty. The referees let these boys bump and grind for two-and-a-half quarters without a  whistle. At least, it seemed that way. But two critical infractions called out halfway through the third quarter inspired Chatfield to make their deciding move towards a trip to the Class 5A Sweet 16.

For those who weren't aware, both squads immediately revealed their identities through their offensive game plans. Fort Collins intended to patiently move the ball around until they absolutely had an open perimeter shot. (They found those great looks, by the way. Just didn't hit enough of 'em.) Chatfield, on the other hand, is on the D.L. -- as in, the Down-Low. Gone are the days when coach STEVE SCHIMPELER had to run-and-gun because of a lack of size. The Chargers have big dudes now! And their success starts with 6'7" junior, TREVOR WAGES.

The home squad repeatedly fed Wages in their first several possessions and went back to him late in the game. Nothing unexpected there from Chatfield. No need to be tricky. Trevor has a very impressive post game. Why not ride him?! His technical moves for easy buckets helped the Chargers jump to an early lead they never gave up and his ability to find free space in the lane led to the final few of his 16 points that officially finished off the Lambkins. Now... I must counter my obvious hype for the big center with this: Fort Collins did force Wages into foul trouble. In fact, he wasn't even on the floor during that crucial, Chatfield run I previously mentioned.  

Thanks to some timely three-pointers from junior point guard, NATE McAULIFFE, the Lambkins creeped to within a point in what was a very low-scoring game until midway through the third quarter. That's when we heard the whistles. A technical foul call awarded Chatfield their first free throw attempts of the game at the 4:05 mark. Chargers junior, LANDON VERMEER, sank both shots. Then another whistle blew. An intentional foul call during TYLER ROGERS' break down the court following a steal. Rogers nailed both free throws. Then Vermeer drilled a long ball... and slashed his way for another field goal. (Landon scored nine of his game-high 17 points in just over two minutes here.) 6'6" junior, JORDAN CARTER, completed the 12-0 run with a pretty baseline jumper and a three-ball on consecutive possessions. The clock then read :50 in the third. Thus, in three minutes following that technical, Chatfield transformed a tight, one point lead into a spacious, 13 point gap. How big was that? Huge. And I'm not saying the referees determined the outcome. No drama here, Shirley. I'm simply describing how the Chargers were blessed with a moment of opportunity and milked it
like a poor farmer on his only cow.

Although AUSTIN MAAG and CODY SPICER shot Fort Collins to within seven at 6:10 in the final period, the overall momentum Chatfield had gained was just too much to overcome. That, and like I said, Wages went back in to return Schimpeler's crew to full strength and show why they deserve to move on to a match-up with the Doherty Spartans.     
  

Final: CC 63 - FCL 51... CC (18-6, 9-4) Vermeer 17, Wages 16, Ty. Rogers 13, Carter 9... FCL (17-8, 7-4) Maag 15, Spicer 14, McAuliffe 11, Svitavsky 7