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Denver East, Rudy Carey make Colorado history with Class 6A title win over Fossil Ridge

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 11:59:05 GMT

At first, D’Aundre Samuels thought it was over. It was the same ankle. The right one. The one he’d injured three or four times already at East, including earlier this season.“Always the same ankle,” Samuels recalled with a bittersweet smile after he’d helped to lead the Angels to the program’s 12th state basketball title Saturday afternoon. “The right leg. Always.”Despite twisting that same ankle during an awkward landing that sent him writhing on the Denver Coliseum floor in pain midway through the third quarter, the senior guard poured in 25 points as East pulled away late from Fossil Ridge, 82-61, to notch the Class 6A boys’ basketball state crown.A gimpy Samuels still finished with eight rebounds and seven assists — including a handful of helpers to teammate Jack Greenwood, who connected on five 3-pointers and finished with a game-high 27 points. Classmates Gil Gonzalez and Austin Mohr chipped in with 11 points and nine points, respectively, to pull East into a tie w...

Kiszla: Prep legends Rudy Carey and Dick Kotte proof basketball wisdom never grows old

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 11:59:05 GMT

The two philosopher kings of Colorado prep hoops, with 17 state championships and nearly 1,800 victories between them, crossed paths in a quiet corner of the Denver Coliseum, far from view of an amped-up crowd buzzing in anticipation of the biggest game of the season.Denver East coach Rudy Carey clasped his hands, bent at the waist like a samurai and respectfully bowed his head toward the heart of Denver Christian legend Dick Katte.Sixty minutes prior to tipoff of the Class 6A championship game between East and Fossil Ridge on Saturday, Katte told Carey: “Go do good, young man.”Then with the calm of a basketball Yoda, Katte reassured Carey: “I know you will do well.”Led by the gravity-defying drives of D’Aundre Samuels and the pure-as-falling-snow jump shot of Jack Greenwood, East then went out and ran a very good Fossil Ridge team into the ground, winning 82-61.Well, could you kindly give me a rewrite of the Colorado prep history book?While eavesdropping on the conversation between...

Cale Makar overtime goal finally dispatches pesky Coyotes after Avs don’t allow shot on goal in third period

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 11:59:05 GMT

The Avs seem to encounter few obstacles more mystifying than a Coyotes team with nothing to lose.They will see Arizona two more times before the end of March. They’ll have those two chances to more convincingly crack the code of a supposedly easy opponent that has refused to give Colorado any cakewalks.The latest in that dizzying saga was the Avalanche’s 3-2 overtime win Saturday at Ball Arena. It took a Cale Makar sudden-death goal to snap a three-game losing streak against the Coyotes dating back to February 2022.“There’s no guaranteed wins. You’re going to have to go win them all, and that’s a good hockey team,” Avalanche coach Jared Bednar said. “I know they are where they are in their rebuild, and whatever. But they are a dangerous team. They’ve beaten some good teams. … You have to play for keeps against them.”Makar usually starts overtime for the Avalanche, but he came off the bench this time while Devon Toews,...

Rockies spring training report: Mike Moustakas goes 1-for-3 in debut

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 11:59:05 GMT

Veteran infielder Mike Moustakas, signed to a minor-league contract last week to shore up Colorado’s infield after Brendan Rodgers went down with a shoulder injury, made his Rockies debut Saturday against Seattle. He started at third base and went 1-for-3 with a run scored.Manager Bud Black was eager to see Moustakas in action.“The thing that I’m excited about is that Mike is excited,” Black told MLB.com. “He came in full of energy and committed to showing that he still has something left in the tank, which I think is awesome. The last couple of years he’s been banged up, but he’s in a good spot physically and he wants to contribute.”Roster shuffle: Right-handed reliever Riley Pint was optioned to Triple-A camp on Saturday but there is still a chance that the fourth overall pick in the 2016 draft could finally make his big-league debut this season. Pint sustained a setback during camp when he was sidelined by a left oblique injury befo...

NCAA Tournament at Ball Arena? Sold out. If you want taste of March Madness in Denver, prepare for Spring Sticker Shock first.

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 11:59:05 GMT

If you want tickets to the first taste of men’s basketball March Madness along the Front Range in seven years, best be prepared for some Spring Sticker Shock first.Mountain West officials told The Post late last week that the NCAA men’s basketball tournament games at Ball Arena have been sold out for months — and that it was one of the first sites to do so.“By the end of January, we had (fewer) than six tickets left,” said MW associate commissioner Javan Hedlund, who served as media coordinator when the league hosted NCAA games at Ball Arena/Pepsi Center in 2016, ’11 and ’08. “Every time we’ve been (the host), Denver has been one of the first to sell out. It wasn’t (first) this year, but we were still one of the first.”If there’s a sliver of hope left for fans, it’ll come after 5 p.m. Tuesday. That’s the deadline for the eight schools assigned to Ball Arena to commit to their ticket allotment for the site.Any tickets returned will be posted for sale via Ticke...

DC man sentenced to 130 years in prison for gang-related murders

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 11:59:05 GMT

A D.C. man was sentenced Friday to 130 years in prison for the murder of two people as part of a “violent gang feud,” prosecutors said.After a nine week trial, Derek Turner, 31, was sentenced for the murders of DeVin Hall and Andrew McPhatter in separate shootings in 2017. His 130-year sentence includes 40 years for each murder count.More D.C. NewsMore Local NewsMore Crime NewsTurner was convicted in December 2022 on charges of first-degree premeditated murder while armed, conspiracy to kill and assault, conspiracy to obstruct justice, assault with intent to kill while armed, and other charges.Along with being charged for Hall and McPhatter’s murders on Jan. 7 and March 1 of 2017, respectively, Turner was also charged with several non-fatal shootings.According to authorities, Turner was convicted of the attempted murders of three men — including McPhatter — on Feb. 17, 2017.Ronnika Jennings, 44, and Duan Hill, 33, of D.C., were tried alongside Turner for offenses s...

Horton-Tucker scores 37 points as Jazz top Hornets 119-111

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 11:59:05 GMT

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) — Talen Horton-Tucker scored a season-high 37 points and had 10 assists and nine rebounds as the Utah Jazz defeated the Charlotte Hornets 119-111 on Saturday night for their second straight win.Walker Kessler added 17 points and 16 rebounds and Kelly Olynyk had 17 points for the Jazz, who outrebounded the Hornets 60-43. Lauri Markkanen had 13 points and 13 rebounds.Kelly Oubre Jr. scored 24 points and Terry Rozier added 22 for the Hornets, who had their two-game win streak snapped.The Jazz (33-35) entered the night a half-game behind the New Orleans Pelicans for the 10th spot in the Western Conference.Horton-Tucker has been pressed into the primary ball-handling role of late because of injuries — and responded in a big way against the Hornets (22-47) while dominating the game from the outset.Nearly everything was falling from floaters to mid-range jumpers to 3-pointers for Horton-Tucker, who finished 14 of 24 from the field.His previous season high was 23 points...

Florida Gulf Coast wins 7th straight ASUN women’s title

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 11:59:05 GMT

FORT MYERS, Fla. (AP) — Tishara Morehouse scored 20 points and distributed six assists as Florida Gulf Coast cruised to an 84-60 win over Liberty in the Atlantic Sun Conference championship game on Saturday night, earning the Eagles their seventh straight and ninth overall tournament title.Florida Gulf Coast (32-3) claims the automatic bid into the NCAA tournament. The top 3-point shooting team in Division I averaging 11.7 made 3s per game, the Eagles hit 14 of 28 from beyond the arc. They now have hit 413 3s this season. Emma List, who had not scored in double digits all season, knocked down 4 of 6 from deep to finish with 16 points, seven assists and five steals.Liberty came into the game seeded No. 2 in the tournament and one of just three teams to post wins over FGCU this season, beating the top-seeded Eagles 88-78 on overtime at Lynchburg, Virginia.The Flames trailed by a point after one quarter but Morehouse, the ASUN Conference Player of the Year, drilled a 3 with 39 seconds ...

No. 7 Texas beats No. 3 Kansas in Big 12 tourney title game

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 11:59:05 GMT

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Dylan Disu overcame early foul trouble to score 18 points, Marcus Carr and Sir’Jabari Rice added 17 apiece, and seventh-ranked Texas silenced a heavily pro-Kansas crowd with a 76-56 romp over the third-ranked Jayhawks in the Big 12 Tournament title game Saturday night.After going more than two decades without a Big 12 tourney championship, the Longhorns (26-8) have won two of the past three.With interim coach Rodney Terry leading the way, the Longhorns built a 39-33 lead by halftime, extended it to 20 down the stretch and coasted toward a shower of confetti during a net-cutting celebration.Jalen Wilson scored 24 points and Joseph Yesufu, pressed into the starting lineup due to injuries, finished with 11 for the Jayhawks (27-7), who had won 13 of their previous 16 trips to the Big 12 finals.Kansas was once again without Hall of Fame coach Bill Self, who went to the emergency room on the eve of its quarterfinal for an undisclosed medical procedure. Self’s longt...

San Diego State beats Utah State for Mountain West title

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 11:59:05 GMT

LAS VEGAS (AP) — Matt Bradley scored 16 points and Jaedon LeDee added 13 to lead No. 20 San Diego State to a 62-57 victory over Utah State in Saturday’s Mountain West Tournament championship game.The Aztecs (27-6) claimed their seventh tournament title, and second in three years. This also was their conference-record 15th appearance in the title game.San Diego State clinched the conference’s bid to the NCAA Tournament, though it was never in doubt the Aztecs would be selected. What kind of seed San Diego State receives remains to be seen.Utah State (26-8) also figures to be headed to the tournament when the selections are announced Sunday.This was the fourth time in the last five years the teams have played each other in the Mountain West championship game. Utah State won the 2019 and 2020 title games, and San Diego State went home with the 2021 trophy. Boise State temporarily ended the monopoly last season by beating the Aztecs 53-52.Neither team shot well Saturday, wit...