East Too Much For George Washington

DENVER—The crowd at the Thunder Dome entered the arena still asleep from the Friday night just passed.  After two minutes of action, they were still asleep.  What finally woke them up was Denver East sophomore Talon Whitaker catching a dish from Chance Moore and powering up for a two handed dunk.

After Whitaker’s monster dunk, one of Colorado’s best and oldest rivalries was under way.  Denver East (13-6, 4-0) entered the game on a four game winning streak, while George Washington (8-11, 2-3) was trying to recover after dropping consecutive league games to Montbello and Lincoln.

Both teams came out of the gate like boxers in a championship fight; staying around the perimeter and feeling each other out.  The scoring was kept low in the first half (24-17 East), but East dictated the pace of the game on both ends of the floor, led by their senior point guard Chance Moore.

At point guard, the key positional matchup of the game, East was far superior.  Moore was too much thunder, and Uriah Carter too much lightning for GW freshman Michael Hudgens and junior Malcolm Jones.  Moore’s scored 19 points and dished out seven assists compared to the young Hudgens’ three points and two dimes.

Of the matchup, Moore said, “(Hudgens) is young minded, so I’ve got more experience.  I’m much bigger than him, and most guards in this league, so its easy to take advantage.”

For the young Patriots team, it was tough to find good shots, and concentration was tough to maintain.  Junior center Tyrone Marshall had trouble catching the ball in the post, and when he did there were plenty of East players willing to send him to the free throw line to earn his buckets the hard way.  GW juniors Odessa Lear and Denzel Johnson finished with 17 and 10 points respectively, but were kept so busy trying to break the East press that good looks were hard to come by.

In the second half East junior Devon Gee scored 18 of his 20 points to maintain and extend the Angels’ lead.  Gee scored four of his nine baskets on pretty assists from Moore, but was even more impressive on the offensive glass.  After the game, Gee described his rebounding strategy. “Coach (Rudy Carey) was telling us all week (Marshall) would come over to help- to try for the block, so I just went into the space where he was at, he said.

In the fourth quarter, East’s experience shone through.  One particular sequence summed up the afternoon for both teams.  GW reserve Danny Paulson came up with a loose ball near mid-court and then double dribbled it over to East.  As the Patriots lamented their turnover, Carter flung the inbounds pass to a completely unguarded Elliott Zettas who stroked a wide open three.  On the ensuing possession Tyrone Marshall caught the ball away from the basket, dipped his shoulder and sent Chance Moore halfway across the gym for his fifth and final foul.

“Being a point guard on the floor, Coach Carey trusts me to play all over, any position,” said Moore.  “If there is a man out there that needs to be guarded, he wants me to get him.  If there’s not, he wants me to stay off and take charges.  If you get (Marshall) out of the game, you get George (Washington) out of the game.”

East’s competition only gets tougher with three out of the next four games against Thomas Jefferson, Montbello and Lincoln.

George has now finished the toughest stretch of its league schedule, and have four remaining regular season games against beatable opponents to gear up for the postseason.  

Contact the writer at csilverman@milehighhoops.com