Five Takeaways: Mountain Vista outlasts Smoky Hill
The “Great 8” of the CHSAA 5A playoffs came and went, but not without a dogfight between two of the top teams in the state. Here are my five takeaways from a close battle. Back and forth first half In…
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Continue ReadingThe “Great 8” of the CHSAA 5A playoffs came and went, but not without a dogfight between two of the top teams in the state. Here are my five takeaways from a close battle.
Back and forth first half
In what I expected to be a defensive minded first half that seen each team try and feel each other out it was the very opposite. Both teams were off to the races. Neither team let up and kept pushing the pace at each other and at the halftime intermission it was 37-31.
Mountain Vista smothered Smoky Hill players with hardnosed man to man defense that forced everyone but Kenny Foster to beat them. While the Golden Eagles had multiple players get into a rhythm early led by Ben Grusing with eight points and Spencer Thomas with seven at the half it was a team effort that got each other involved.
Smoky Hill on the other hand started out extremely hot with Mountain Vista answering back each time before making their push but it was only Kenny Foster that could get going. He had 15 points at the half and was also leading the game in rebounds as well. Smoky Hill did not get their usual allotment from others that they are accustomed to, especially on the defensive end and that ended up hurting them.
Mountain Vista as a whole
Mountain Vista showed that they can play with the pace of their competition and answered back every time that Smoky Hill made a run.
Mountain Vista legit has six or seven players that they can go to that could be their top player and that depth is why they are in the Final Four.
Ben Grusing was who we pegged as the player of the game because his ability to score was the difference in the game. He finished with 20 points on the night and when Smoky Hill was forced to foul he made them pay at the charity stripe where he went 10-12 for the day.
Alongside Grusing was Simon May. May had 14 points which were all big time but it was the 10 rebounds that went with it which made him one of the biggest standouts in the game. He was all over the glass and giving his team opportunities to get out and run while slowing Smoky down.
Spencer Thomas had solid play in the first half as he finished the game with 10 points and gave great energy off of the bench and Luke Boeyink’s 11 points with nine of those coming from the 3-point line was pretty big as well.
Kenny Foster finishes off strong
It is pretty shocking when you think about it the type of career that Kenny Foster had. Kenny had quite the year and will surely be Mr. Basketball this year to add to an incredible four years.
In the game it was the University of Wyoming commit Foster that made sure that he went out with a bang.
He started the game with the first seven points for the Buffaloes and ended it scoring nine points straight for the final 44 seconds of the game to give his team a chance. It did not matter how it got done but he was going to make sure there was a fight.
Foster finished the night with 30 points and had some huge defensive plays as well. He is a player that does everything and the Cowboys are getting the state’s best this year.
Takes over in the fourth quarter
Rock was not having a good game. His shots were not falling, he had a bad pass and did not show the confidence that we are used to seeing from him, but something clicked for him in the second half. He pushed some energy in the game with back to back 3-pointers, started getting to the rim and you started to see the confidence that he typically plays with translate onto the defensive end where he really made his mark in the game.
Rock is a pass first point guard with a quick trigger. When he is in a zone not many guards can affect the game in ways like he can and he single handedly brought the Buffaloes back in the game with a huge third quarter.
Heading into the fourth it was a very close game that seen the offenses explode for both teams. There were dunks, 3-pointers and tough finishes at the rim that seen both teams sustain a push but, in the end, it was Mountain Vista that prevailed as they executed late, but it did not come easy.
Foster was dealing in the fourth quarter as he hit multiple 3-pointers to keep Smoky Hill in the game but the Mountain Vista took care of the basketball despite there being a great decision by Coach Hardin to get a lineup in that was just fouling and Rock and Foster switch in for offense only.
Grusing and Corban Gamble went to the charity stripe confidently and sunk their shots and Mountain Vista had built such a good lead and did just enough that they were able to win the game.
Up Next
With the win Mountain Vista will be up against a Range view team that beat last year’s state champs at Grandview. Range view is a deep unit with solid guard play that has five guys that can all switch at any moment and it not be a mismatch. They play well together and are a very unselfish bunch that is willing to sacrifice and that leads to open buckets. They can shoot the ball on the perimeter, get inside and finish also have a second unit that can go up with anybody.
What Mountain Vista will have to do if they want to make it to the championship is rebound, rebound, rebound. Mountain Vista will have the size and will surely attack inside of the paint on their end. On the opposite end Range view is a team that loves to penetrate and scores well off of second chance points as they kick it out to the open man. Mountain Vista has to keep the Raiders from getting inside, force shots on the perimeter and rebound anything that goes up. Mountain Vista must control the pace if they want to keep a magical run alive and all come together for another game, if they do those things they will make it to the championship game where anything could happen.