BROOMFIELD — When a basketball team goes on an unanswered scoring run of more than 20 points, it has a 96.7 percent chance of winning.
OK, that statistic is made up, but you get the point. If that scoring run is essentially to start the game, it’s likely that those can’t-miss odds increase a bit more.
Broomfield put on an early display Friday night with a 22-0 spurt, and the No. 3 Eagles went on to clobber visiting Centaurus 73-26 in a Class 4A Northern League game.
“We have a lot of players who can do a lot of things,” Broomfield coach Terrence Dunn said. “They know what they’re capable of and they play together.”
Five Eagles scored in double figures, led by 14 points and eight rebounds by center Dan Perse. Nick Ongarato and point guard Austin Wood contributed 14 each, while Spenser Reeb added 12 and Brandon Little 10.
Broomfield (13-1, 6-0) trailed 3-2 at the outset before embarking on their transition-fueled 22-0 run early in the first quarter. It didn’t stop until Centaurus’ Nate McGinley hit a 3-pointer two minutes into the second. Then Broomfield scored the next seven after that.
“Part of our game is we really like to run,” Perse said. “All our big men are fast, and we just wanted to share the ball really easily and get a lot of layups.”
Centaurus (6-8, 3-3) entered on a three-game winning streak, but never was able to become upset-minded after the disastrous start. It was ugly for the Warriors, who didn’t shoot their first foul shot until 1 minute, 52 seconds remained in the third quarter. Only two players had scored for them at that point.
McGinley managed 13 points but was noticeably off on his outside game as Broomfield made a concerted effort to contain the gifted scorer. But McGinley could have went for 40 and it probably wouldn’t have mattered with the way the Eagles were converting on their end.
“They were firing on all cylinders,” Centaurus coach Andy Horning said. “They’re a darn good team. Then we were missing our shots. We were a little flat and you can’t come out flat against a team like Broomfield.”
Horning told his team to remain forward-thinking and not dwell too much on the loss. Wipe it away, and come back focused for Tuesday’s home game against Niwot.
Broomfield, meanwhile, won’t want to change a thing after winning its 10th straight. The Eagles’ lone loss this season is to 5A Fountain-Fort Carson at the Fairview Festival in December. And if they can put together many more 22-0 runs, they might near invincibility.
“I wasn’t paying too much attention to it, but we talk a lot about getting consecutive stops and consecutive buckets,” Dunn said.
Broomfield 73, Centaurus 26
At Broomfield HS
CENTAURUS (6-8, 3-3)
Giltner 0 0-2 0, McGinley 6 0-2 13, Jordan 2 0-0 5, Tunquist 3 0-1 7, Ellington 0 1-2 1, Esler 0 0-0 0, Puckett 0 0-0 0, Schrader 0 0-0 0, Koch 0 0-0 0, Wilkinson 0 0-0 0. Totals 11 1-7 26.
Broomfield (13-1, 6-0)
Perse 7 0-0 14, Ongarato 6 1-1 14, Wood 5 2-2 14, Jensen 1 0-0 3, Little 4 1-1 10, Roylance 0 0-0 0, Reeb 4 3-4 12, Kihn 1 0-0 2, Jones 0 0-0 0, Macrae 0 2-3 2, Hull 0 0-0 0, Dunn 0 0-0 0, Dupree 1 0-0 2. Totals 29 9-11 73.
Score by quarters:
Centaurus 3 9 7 7 — 26
Broomfield 20 16 22 15 — 73
3-point field goals — Centaurus (3): McGinley, Jordan, Tunquist; Broomfield (6): Wood 2, Ongarato, Reeb, Jensen, Little. Total fouls — Cenaturus 11, Broomfield 11. Fouled out — None. Technical fouls — Centaurus bench.
