Lewis-Palmer boys clinch spot in 4A state semifinals

GOLDEN – Josh Scott has grown accustomed to double teams. He showed Friday there’s a reason for that.

Facing just one defender a majority of the time, Lewis-Palmer’s star sophomore buried Sterling with 28 points and 16 rebounds in a 50-38 victory that sent the Rangers back to the Class 4A state semifinals for the second-straight year.

“They decided to play behind him and that really worked out for us,” Lewis-Palmer coach Russ McKinstry said. “We could get the ball to him any time we wanted to. Once we got the ball to him you could see he’s a very talented young man.”

Scott scored the first eight points for the Rangers, who didn’t trail after the opening minutes. The first bucket Scott didn’t score came courtesy of an assist from the 6-foot-8 center.

Thanks to Scott, Lewis-Palmer (21-5) provides opponents with a pick-your-poison alternative: Double him and risk someone else putting up big numbers like Kyle Engelhardt did last week, scoring 30 points in a 29-point win over Pueblo South. Try just one defender and, well, Sterling (23-3) found out the hard way.

“This is an amazing experience for me,” said Scott, who transferred from Discovery Canyon after his freshman year because he wanted a challenge from seniors in practice. “This is everything I came here for.”

Scott’s contributions weren’t limited to the offensive end. He also altered several shots on defense, where Lewis-Palmer limited Sterling – which averaged 63.8 points before Friday – to just 13 points in the second half.

Engelhardt was a key to that effort, holding Sterling’s leading scorer, Bobby Lebsock, scoreless.

“Defense is where it starts for us,” Engelhardt said. “That’s always our focus. Especially in practice, I can’t tell you how many hours we spend on that.”

After dispatching of Sterling, Lewis-Palmer’s focus immediately switched to Sierra, which they will face for the third time this season in Thursday’s semifinals in Boulder.

Sierra knocked Lewis-Palmer out in the semifinals last year on the way to a title and has topped the Rangers twice this year. The first came by 13 at Sierra, the second in overtime at Lewis-Palmer.

The Rangers have had the defending champs off-balance, but they haven’t knocked them over.

“They’re a tough bunch of guys, we know that for sure,” Engelhardt said. “That’s what the last few weeks have been about for us, getting tough enough to face them.”

Now, bring them on.

“I can’t wait,” said Scott, who has only faced the Stallions once – the overtime thriller on Feb. 11. “I’m ready to go now.”