Fairview Rolls (Ankle) Into Final

Fairview players embrace after the Knights' Final Four victory Thursday night.

Photo by Mike Laughlin, Mile High Hoops

BOULDER—Suppose for a minute that you are Fairview head coach Frank Lee.  Now suppose, as coach, that you just saw your best player, Darragh O’Neill and his 24 points per game roll his ankle in the biggest game of the season.  What do you do?

Do you throw in the towel and proclaim all is lost?  No, of course not.  So what do you do?  If you were as smart as the real Coach Lee you would turn to Secret Weapon S, who masquerades by day as junior back-up point guard Craig Salterelli.

Saltarelli and the rest of the Fairvew Knights took on the Aurora Central Trojans in a semi final matchup Thursday night at the Coors Event Center on the CU Boulder campus.  Both teams entered the game riding high after convincing wins in the Great 8 at the Denver Coliseum.  

As the game tipped off it was Fairview who was the more aggressive team.  The Knights jumped out to a 14-0 lead to set the tone of the game early.  “Huge,” said Aurora Central head coach Ian Calvert of the early deficit.  “Right off the bat, that was horrible.  That was not the game plan.”

As quickly as the lead was built, it was cut down.  With 2:45 remaining in the second quarter, Aurora Central had battled back to tie the game at 21-21.  Unfortunately, that was also the time when Fairview’s Darragh O’Niell crumpled to the floor with a turned ankle.

Enter Secret Weapon S.  With the mighty Fairview student section momentarily hushed by the shock of O’Neill’s injury, Craig Saltarelli entered the game.  First thing Saltarelli does: bang three-pointer.  Next thing: 2-for-2 from on the free throw line.  Saltarelli followed that up with two more field goals before the end of the half, and was well on his way to Hero-of-the-night status.

“Darragh has gone out a few times this year with fouls, and so I gotta come in and make sure we aren’t dropping off, make sure we keep our play up,” Saltarelli said. His teammates were more willing to shower Saltarelli with praise: “I can’t believe he did that”, said senior Michael Melillo.  “Thats a great game for him.  That was the best I’ve seen him play—just a great performance.”

Even with Saltarelli’s first half heroics there was still two more quarters left to play.  In the third, the Trojans were able to make some runs at the Knights.  By the end of the frame the lead was cut to 43-39 with only the fourth and final quarter left to play.

In the fourth Aurora Central came out rolling.  Senior center DeSe Lee was finally able to get some touches after being held to just two first half points.  The Trojans kept clawing and scratching their way back into the game behind guards Darren Sanders and Aubree Prickett who finished with 11 and 16 points respectively.

When Aurora Central finally gained even footing at 45 points apiece, it was Secret Weapon S who untied the game for the final time with a baseline jumper.  The 10 second half turnovers committed by Aurora Central didn’t help the Trojan cause, and when Michael Melillo jumped a passing lane for an exclamation point steal and dunk to put Fairview ahead by ten, the game was as good as over.  When the final whistle blew the final score was 69-57.

“Tonight was real typical of our team,” said Coach Frank Lee.  “We just grind and grind, and you don’t know who is gonna be stepping up.  You just know somebody is gonna have an opportunity to do that.”

For Fairview this game exorcises some of the demons from last year when the Knights rolled into the Final Four with a perfect 26-0 record, and were bounced by George Washington.  This year Fairview survives to play the Saturday game that really matters.

Waiting for the Knights will be the defending state champion Regis Raiders, who walloped Doherty by 38 points on Thursday night.  Regis and Fairview met earlier this season with the Raiders emerging victorious by eight points.  

Darragh O’Neill is hopeful acupuncture treatments will have him ready for Saturday’s championship game.

Checkout the brackets

Contact the writer at csilverman@milehighhoops.com