STERLING — After qualifying with a young squad in 2011, the Shining Mountain boys basketball team fully expected to return to the Class 1A state quarterfinals.
The Lions just didn’t expect it to take two years.
Shining Mountain pulled away from Otis early on Saturday and then held on late for a 43-28 win in the second round of the Northern Region tournament at Northeastern Junior College.
After drawing a bye through Thursday’s first round, the Lions’ victory earned them a berth in next week’s Great Eight at the 1stBank Center in Broomfield. Seeding for the Great Eight, which runs March 14-16, will be set Sunday.
The trip to the quarters follows a disappointing exit from the regional finals last year when the Lions were upset by Norwood.
“They were pretty focused,” coach Enoch Miller said of his squad. “They focused pretty hard. They knew that this was a big day for us and had been working really hard for it.”
The Lions improved to 21-2 on the season and, for the most part, made it look easy.
Shining Mountain jumped out to a 20-5 first-quarter lead on Otis (18-6) and was never really threatened.
“We kind of matched their runs when they made them,” Miller said.
The scoring effort was a balanced one for the Lions. Colin Cantwell and Andrew Bremner scored 10 points each, while Garrett Johnston added nine and Landon Taliaferro eight.
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Shining Mountain 43, Otis 28
At Northeastern JC
SHINING MOUNTAIN (21-2)
Bremner 3 4-7 10, Ross 0 0-0 0, Beal 2 2-5 6, R. Feigal 0 0-0 0, Johnston 2 3-4 9, Cantwell 4 2-4 10, L. Feigal 0 0-0 0, Cherin 0 0-0 0, Taliaferro 3 0-2 8. Totals 14 11-22 43.
OTIS
Palser 2 2-2 6, Mastalir 0 0-0 0, Perry 4 4-8 12, Pflager 0 1-2 1, Jam. Allacher 0 0-0 0, Natios 0 1-2 1, Schoenfeld 0 2-2 2, Johnson 1 0-0 2, Jas. Allacher 2 0-0 4. Totals 9 10-16 28.
Score by quarters;
Shining Mountain 20 5 8 10 — 43
Otis 5 3 8 12 — 28
3-point field goals — Shining Mountain (4): Taliaferro 2, Johnston 2. Total fouls — Shining Mountain 13, Otis 20. Fouled out — Jam. Johnson. Technicals — None.
