Man, what a great game.  On one side, you have the defending 4A State Championship  Lewis-Palmer, and on the other side you have Wasson High School from Colorado Springs.  Wasson went undefeated in league play and went into the tournament with only one loss on the season to Poudre in the Fort Collins Tournament back in December.  Lewis-Palmer came into this game with 3 losses overall…one in the regular season, and two losses back to back in preseason play.

My strobes were more dialed in, but not perfect.  As you can see above, there is a a little ghosting on the ball.  But my light coverage was much better than the day before during the girls games.

Not being here last year, I knew little about some of the teams in the tournament.  I had shot Valor Christian earlier in preseason, but I had not seen either one of these teams.  I was excited though to see that Lewis-Palmer, who won the State Championship last year with Josh Scott (now a freshman starter for the University of Colorado Buffaloes) on the team, had two of his brothers playing.  Senior Jordan Scott, and freshman Jonathan Scott.

Wasson took a 1 point lead in the first quarter with a 17-16 score.  Honestly, I was expecting to see Lewis-Palmer wipe the floor with Wasson.  Wasson seemed to play a more streetball type of game, and Lewis-Palmer appeared more refined.  But the streetball seemed to work for Wasson.

In the second quarter, Lewis-Palmer was able to hold the Wasson offense at bay some, and out scored the Thunderbirds 14-10 to take a 30-27 lead into the locker room at halftime.

In the third quarter, it looked like Lewis-Palmer was not going to make a return to the Championship game.  Wasson came out of the locker room and started the third quarter on a mission.  The Thunderbirds outplayed and out scored the Rangers of Lewis-Palmer 19-12 to take a 46-42 lead over the defending State Champs.

With a four point lead, all Wasson had to do was match Lewis-Palmer shot for shot in the fourth.  Instead, Lewis-Palmer woke up and out scored Wasson 19-8 to win the game 61-54.  Lewis-Palmer would face Valor Christian for the State Championship on Saturday night.

I am not a fan of a pure streetball game in high school.  Streetball, is something you play without coaches, with your friend, showing off.  The NBA is a version of streetball, but with plays thrown in.  Back in the late 1980’s and early 1990’s the UNLV Running Rebels played a streetball style of basketball.  But in high school, fundamentals rules, and while Wasson played some good basketball, it appeared they were missing some discipline and that is what ultimately cost them the game.

To view or purchase photos from this game, please visit Maxpreps.