Once a college-level instructor of future NBA ’ballers Chauncey Billups and Chris Copeland during his lengthy stretch as a University of Colorado assistant, Terry Dunn surely savored the flavor of his fifth season at Colorado Springs’ Sierra High School ending with a Class 4A ‘Final Four’ appearance inside CU’s Coors Events Center back in March.
And though SHS’ season then ended there with a seven-point loss to eventual State Championships runner-up Longmont, Dunn’s Stallions, which went 23-4 overall this winter, might not have advanced as far if not for guard Tevion Thompson’s 16.6 points-per-game production.
2A Rye’s Jim Hale and 3A Buena Vista’s Scott Crites will hope to benefit as well, in their shared opportunity to count the six-foot senior amongst a one-off company also including Ignacio’s now-graduated Adison Jones on Saturday, June 13, at Adams State University in Alamosa.
“He’s a tough player, he’s an All-State player,” IHS head coach Chris Valdez emphatically predicted for the senior forward after the Bobcats’ 23-3 campaign and third-place finish at the 2A State Championships in Pueblo.
“We’re losing ten rebounds a game, eighteen points a game,” he noted, in reference to what Commencement 2015 was going to take from the program. “The biggest thing … is we’re going to have to figure out how to rebound the ball. And of course, make up for those points!”
Chosen to hoop at the 59th Annual Colorado High School Coaches Association All-State Games, Jones will join Thompson on a roster heavy on talent from CHSAA’s small-school ranks, with 4A Colorado Springs The Classical Academy’s Will Ball the only other participant from its upper divisions.
McClave’s T.J. Trujillo registered per-game averages of 18.5 points and nearly seven rebounds during the 2014-15 season, and Genoa-Hugo/Karval’s Wyatt Vick put up 14 and almost eight an outing, but the 1A representative sure to score the most applause will be Mosca Sangre de Cristo’s Ethan Caton.
The now-graduated 6-foot 3-inch senior helped Wade Mortensen’s Thunderbirds go 25-1 overall in 14-15, and third place finish at the 1A State Championships held at the Budweiser Events Center in Loveland.
BV’s Kenneth Schell will provide Crites with a known go-to option, while 2A Akron’s Jared Clarkson, 2A Byers’ Jacob Imber and 2A Swink’s Josh Rocha complete the crew.
The boys’ semifinals will be played on the Saturday June 13 at 9 a.m. and 10:30 a.m. at nearby Ortega Middle School, before third-place (slated for 2:30 p.m.) and first-place battle commence inside ASU’s Plachy Hall.