CSS freshman plays key role as Kodiaks stay undefeated

Colorado Springs School had to overcome two players fouling out and a hot start from Evangelical Christian Academy to stay unbeaten.

The Pikes Peak 3A-A No. 1 Kodiaks got 30 points from DeLovell Earls on Saturday and freshman Kyle White pitched in with a strong defensive performance off the bench to lead an 80-62 road win over the No. 5 Eagles.

View a slideshow of photos from the game.

Leading scorer Zach Plating accounted for ECA’s first eight points and had 15 in the first quarter. CSS (11-0, 6-0 District 8) then turned to White for defensive help.

White limited Plating to one 3-pointer over the next two quarters. Plating finished with a team-high 24 points, but the final six came in the fourth quarter with the game out of reach. White scored 11 points and fouled out with 80 seconds to play.

“(White) is one of the best defensive guys on our team, for sure,” Earls said. “He’s so scrappy. He’s quick. He’s something to watch.”

Kodiaks point guard Andre Brown also fouled out while Earls and Chris Dailey (22 points) each were called for four fouls.

“We made silly fouls,” said Earls, who had three dunks, 12 rebounds and five steals. “We knew being down and having high fouls, we had to make up for it on defense.”

They made up for it by forcing the Eagles (9-4, 3-3) into 32 turnovers, including a steal by White that turned into a basket by Earls and a 75-55 lead in the fourth.

Trevor McFarland scored 22 for ECA, which went 9-of-23 from behind the arc.

“Part of the game plan is we wanted to take the game and get them in foul trouble,” Eagles coach Don Bost said, “because they’re in big trouble if they get in foul trouble.”

Instead, CSS outscored ECA 20-11 in the third quarter to pull away, with Dailey hitting a jumper with 2 seconds left in the period to increase the margin to 67-47.

“We knew they were going to play us well,” Kodiaks coach Dave Cortez said. “I think we were just too athletic for them, and we executed in the third quarter and second half.”