Barbara Lawlor, Gilpin County.   The last minute and a half of the Gilpin versus Longmont Christian game on Monday night, took 20 minutes before time ran out. It was a mix of time outs and free throws that would give the Eagles a chance to win the first playoff game. Time was also on the Warriors side as they started the last minute with a 58-43 lead. The Eagles would have to score five 3-pointers in the last 60 seconds, one every 10 seconds to grab a place in the playoffs.

Going into the first playoff game, they were set to keep Antun Maricevic, the 6’ 10” “Croation Sensation,” foreign exchange student from scoring his usual 30 points per game. The Warriors were also out to keep Eagle Chase Boulter from scoring his usual phenomenal amount of baskets.

Antun became less of an issue than the Warrior’s Luke Puchino who was deadly with his three-pointer throws, putting niches in the scoreboard with devastating regularity. The final score was an Eagle loss 64-69, but the close numbers were not representative of how the game went. It was the Gilpin determination that kept them from going down with a 15 point loss gap.

In the first period Boulter scored six points, Jonathan Ramsey scored two and Matt Immordino landed a layup, to make the score 10-17, with Longmont Christian grabbing two three-pointers.

In the second period, the Warriors leaped way ahead, 43-27, with six more three-pointers. Nick Peterson was strong under the basket, with four points; Jonathan Ramsey had two points; Chase Boulter scored four points; Matt Immordino scored two; Will Lorenz hit a three-pointer and two free throws.

The two teams hit the lockers and Eagle fans could only hope that their boys would start hitting their free throws and stop the stream of Longmont long shots.

There was still hope, however. Matt Immordino clawed his way to the basket for nine points; Jonathan Ramsey had two points; Chase Boulter had three points and the period ended with Ned behind 43-58.

At this point, you have never seen a team step up as much as the Eagles did, changing what had been a rather dismal behind game into a heart-stopping last minute possibility. The Gilpin boys were far from down or done.

Matt Immordino put up six points. Chase Boulter played his heart out scoring 12 points and Jonathan Ramsey score three points. By the two-minute mark, Gilpin was behind by 15 points, 43-58, with only one second to go on the clock. The Eagles had closed the gap to five points, but that was not enough, and time ran out. Both teams received a standing ovation as they left the gym.

Gilpin High School boys basketball coach Paul Hanson said, “It has been a great season. and I am proud of the boys.  They have the best record, 13-5  in Gilpin County HS boys basketball history.  We finished 3rd out of 11 teams in our district.  We are blessed with a great group of kids who are also good at basketball.”

The GHS boys went into that final meet after a large win against the Cornerstone Christian Bulldogs last Tuesday, 2/16, at home, 74-51.

Period scores:

29-6, 22-17, 14-14, 9-14

Individual Scores:

Nick Peterson: 5 points, 4 rebounds, 1 block

Alex Wilhelm: 4 points, 2 rebounds, 1 steal

Eryk Lorenz: 2 rebounds, 1 steal

Matthew Immordino: 12 points, 9 rebounds, 2 assists, 3 steals, 1 block

Will Lorenz: 2 points

Jon Gonzalez: 2 points, 1 rebounds, 1 assist, 2 steals

Jonathan Ramsey: 6 points, 1 rebound, 3 assists, 1 steal

Chad Holmes: 2 steals

Chris Burtschi: 1 point, 2 rebounds, 1 assist, 1 steal

Chase Boulter: 34 points, 4 three-pointers, 1 rebounds, 2 assists, 2 steals, 2 blocks.