EDWARDS \u2014 The beard continues.<\/p>\n
Vail Christian boys basketball knocked off Dolores Huerta Prep, 72-57, on Friday night at the Wheeler Athletics Center during the first round of the Class 2A Region 8 Tournament, advancing to today\u2019s\u00a0showdown at 1 p.m with Fowler with a bid in the Elite Eight on the line.<\/p>\n
And that means that Vail Christian assistant coach J.C. Moritz keeps the playoff beard for another day.<\/p>\n
\u201cI love the beard,\u201d said junior Alec Moritz, who helped keep his dad from shaving with 29 points. \u201cI\u2019m envious of the beard.\u201d<\/p>\n
In addition to the Vail Christian fan section whiteout, several students\u00a0were sporting fake beards in the stands.<\/p>\n
\u201cNo playoff beard,\u201d joked\u00a0Saints coach Sheldon\u00a0Kuhns, who\u00a0has the stubble of a goatee. \u201cThat\u2019s all\u00a0J.C.\u201d<\/p>\n
Vail Christian (17-6) got off to a nice start with a 17-8 first quarter, powered by three steals from Moritz, Alec, that is. Senior Tommy O\u2019Neil was also emerging as a\u00a0force on the glass. O\u2019Neil finished the night with 11 points and 14 rebounds, nine of which were on the offensive end.<\/p>\n
\u201cTommy was beast,\u201d Kuhns said. \u201cThat was key for us in the first half.\u201d<\/p>\n
The hiccup came in the second period as the Scorpions (15-8) threw a matchup zone at Vail Christian. The Saints couldn\u2019t get Zach McKeever to the high post. With Vail Christian not getting to the paint as often as it would like, the Saints didn\u2019t have sustained possessions and let Dolores Huerta back into the game.<\/p>\n
While the Scorpions closed it to 29-21 at the half, Saints junior Jamison Lee provided some spark by charging to the hole and drawing fouls. He went 4-for-4 from the line during the final minutes of the second quarter.<\/p>\n
At halftime, the strategic wheels turned and Kuhns had McKeever start up high in the key and slash to the paint, and the Saints got moving.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf we got Zack to the middle, that\u2019s when the\u00a0defense would breakdown,\u201d Moritz said. \u201cThat\u2019s when I got a couple of 3s on Zack\u2019s passes.\u201d<\/p>\n
As if to illustrate the point, McKeever had no points during the first half and 17 during the second. (For those of you counting at home, McKeever finished with 17 points.)<\/p>\n
Also, in the second half, Dolores Huerta briefly tried a press against Vail Christian. The Saints had a simple answer to that as McKeever threw long passes to a streaking Moritz for easy layups.<\/p>\n
And that made for much merriment for\u00a0the Saints, hosting regionals for the first time in school history. Most of the Vail Christian crowd was bedecked in\u00a0white T-shirts made this week for the occasion.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s all the things of playing at home \u2014 sleeping in your bed, playing on your home court, seeing all the white,\u201d Kuhns said. \u201cWe\u2019ve been going to the Front Range and all of the state for years. To be here is a lot of fun.\u201d<\/p>\n
By the fourth quarter, McKeever was going off, along with Moritz who inserted the dagger with a 3 with 5:19 left in the game for a 63-42 lead.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt feels really good,\u201d Mortiz said. \u201cIt\u2019s also a feeling of having more work to do for tomorrow.\u201d<\/p>\n
In the nightcap, Fowler tattooed Clear Creek, setting up today\u2019s anticipated Sweet 16 matchup. The general consensus in the Vail Christian camp was that Friday night\u2019s win was nice but more is needed for the Grizzlies (19-4).<\/p>\n
\u201cThey\u2019re going to be right up there with the best teams we\u2019ve played all season,\u201d Kuhns said. \u201cFrom what we can tell, they\u2019re a man-to-man team. They\u2019re tall and long and really disciplined on offense and defense. We\u2019re going to have to execute.\u201d<\/p>\n
Vail Christian watched Fowler\u2019s game as a team preparing for today\u2019s game.<\/p>\n