George is Great...  gets by Gateway with last surge (3/5/09)

by MARTY CESARIO

George Washington 54
Gateway 52

Hello! Good game. Expected an athletic and competitive run. Got it.

Throughout this Class 5A - Sweet 16 Man-Battle, the scored stayed tight. Points were hard to get in this one. Even for Patriots all-state big man, THOMAS BROPLEH, and Olympians stud, JOSH PLEASANT. There were a few mini-surges for both squads, but they were quickly countered. In the end, a final flurry of quick cuts for open lay-ups by Bropleh gave George Washington a three point lead with under a minute to play then the Patriots survived Pleasant's off shot from the arc at the buzzer. George advanced to the Great 8.

You put a bunch of great athletes out on the floor like this and many might've expected mass point production. Not the case here. All the big boys showcased their power on defense and rebounding. Oooh Lawdy! The war in the paint was fun to watch! And all the fleet guards used their quickness to deny jump shots and delete almost any thoughts of a fast break. Again, the folks who drove to the School of Mines campus in Golden to see some top players puttin' out for top teams... those folks got a prize fight.

The first offensive surge came from the Patriots' 6'5" senior, NOVIAN BALOUS. I've learned G.W. coach, MICHAEL ROGERS, likes to open games with gives to Balous in the post. Why not? It worked again here to get George a quick lead. But Gateway closed that early gap with some deep shots from senior, LARRY RILEY, and sophomore point man, JOHN COLLINS. (Collins nailed five three-pointers in the game.) The next surge was fueled by the effort of Pleasant. In a thirty second span in the second quarter, Josh chased down a loose ball at half-court, turned it into a rare fast-break bucket, ran to the other end of the floor, then leaped into our laps at the press table while diving for another bobbled ball. Immediately I thought, "Oh, now this is personal." Pleasant's effort seemed to pump up the desire in both crews. The frequency of the physical collisions picked up around the boards. The vertical show intensified. Every quarter, though, the Patriots pushed last... when it counted. After leading by two at the end of one quarter and one at the half, G.W. suffered a rush by Gateway blue-collar kid, VINCE ROYBAL, who scored all six of his points on three straight possessions to give the Olys a five point advantage at the 2:38 mark of the third period. Again, the counter-punches from Coach Rogers' crew: back inside to Balous for two field goals; Bropleh for a dunk-and-one; then outside to TYRELLE MILLARD for three... and just like that George was back up up by three going into the final frame. Impressively, Gateway was never phased by the Patriots' constant comebacks. One. More. Time. The Olys got their orange-clad student body standing on the seats with a 7-0 run to get their last lead with under two minutes to play. But, you know, I already gave away the ending. 

For the second consecutive season, George Washington has earned a ticket to the Coliseum.

The Patriots will play the 4th-seeded Arapahoe Warriors who upset the top seed in this bracket, Ralston Valley.   
  

Final: GWP 54 - GO 52... GWP (24-1, 7-1) Bropleh 16, Balous 13, Adams 11... GO (20-5, 10-1) Collins 17, Pleasant 10, Riley 7