Photo by Ed Gloor

In a 89-65 lost to Denver East, TJ was unable to overcome a great East frontline and guard Dominique Collier who scored 12 points and had two assists.

“We played well against East actually,” said Head Coach Grant Laman, “They went up 8-0 in the beginning of the game and then at the end of the first half we were only down by eight. We went blow for blow in the middle part of the game.” TJ actually outscored East by three points in the second quarter to give themselves some momentum heading into the locker room for the half. TJ came out strong in the third quarter had a manageable 11 point defect going into the fourth quarter. “We competed with them. They put together a great fourth quarter and that’s part of the reason why we lost by so much. We also got into foul trouble, which seems to be a pattern all this year,” said Laman.

TJ has moved past East and looks towards South on Friday, February 3rd. “I took a look at South the other night and they commit to a full court press, and handle it well. We’ll have to find a way to beat it,” said Laman. South also has a big man in the middle who can terrorize any team. “He’s a rebounding and shot blocking guy who can take over a game. Nate (Brewer), Eric (Andres), and Trey (Andres) are going to have to bottle him up.”

Wins are a premium this time of year as TJ is looking for one final push to make the playoffs. “We’ll need to take care of business and get a couple more wins to make the playoffs,” said Laman.

Photo by Ed Gloor

On Friday January 20th, the Spartan boys lost to George Washington by a score of 59-45 and didn’t have guard Jordan Roland playing.

“Jordan was out with an injury,” said Head Coach Grant Laman. “GW noticed that and quickly took away the outside shot.” Jordan isn’t only the highest scorer on the team averaging 11.5 points a game, but he also has made the second highest amount of three-pointers on the team. Jordan was sorely missed as the offense had its worse outing of the season with a season-low in points. “They collapsed in on (forward Eric Andres) and didn’t let him take over the game. We shouldn’t let this become an excuse though, we had to adapt,” said Laman.

The sequence of events that happened at the end of the game was also a big reason for TJ’s deficit. As the a Patriots player tried to shoot a three-point attempt, he was fouled by a Spartan. This gave George three straight free throws, and Laman called a dead ball timeout. Coming out of the time out, center Nate Brewer said some words to the ref and was handed a technical foul. This was Brewer’s fifth foul and he fouled out of the game, and as he went to the bench he inadvertently vented his anger by slapping a chair. This was another technical foul, but since Brewer fouled out it was handed to Laman. “They got seven straight free throws, made six, and kept the ball. They also scored on the play giving them nine straight points without touching the ball. That was tough on us,” said Laman.

TJ had the weekend off and played Kennedy on Tuesday, January 24, and played a sloppy game to end up losing 68-59 and had multiple players inactive.

“The inactives violated some team rules and didn’t play,” said Laman. “We had some new combinations on the floor and they didn’t have a lot of playing time with each other. Again, we have to adapt to the situation and still win.” TJ played good defense to stay in the game, and was even up by one point very early in the fourth quarter, before Kennedy guard Jordan Hunter took the game over. TJ was forced into fouling at the end of the game, and Kennedy was able to pull away.

The Spartans now sit at 6-11 and needs some wins to guarantee a playoff spot. “In order to get in we’ll need three or four more wins at a minimum with six games left. If we can do that, our strength of schedule should be able to get us into the playoffs. But, then we get in and play a top seed,” said Laman.

TJ next plays East on Thursday, January 26th at East at 5:30 p.m.

Photo by Ed Gloor

TJ lost to Cherokee Trail 71-70 in the second meeting of these teams this season; TJ prevailed by one point in the first match-up, 51-50.

TJ lead at the end of each quarter on Saturday, only to be outscored by eight points in the fourth, and lose by one point. TJ was glad to have forward Eric Andres on the floor after an apparent knee injury, and he lead the team with 20 points and four steals. TJ neutralized the big men of Cherokee Trail, forcing  the issue to the floor for the Cougars, putting their shots away from the basket. The Cougars beat the Spartans from the free throw line, though. They shot 28 free throws and made 20 of them, a great percentage from what TJ has seen before.

Fans and players were disheartened after the loss. Longtime TJ Teacher and Spartan Sports Enthusiast Rose Young said, “I was unhappy. We gave up the ball multiple times at the end, and that is what did us in.” The Spartans shouldn’t be too unhappy after this performance, though. They played the most efficient offense all season, and had a good field goal percentage of 59% and four of the five starters were in double digit scoring.

The next game of the season is arguably the biggest for the team, the home game against George Washington. The last two years, George has jumped out to an early lead against the Spartans, and TJ hasn’t been able to make a comeback. This will be the first time TJ has hosted George in four years.

This year looks to be another fight for these two teams. The Patriots are coming into the game on a six game losing streak and averaging a lowly 39 points during the losing streak. The leading scorer of the Patriots is Guard TreVante O’Neal with 14.5 points and three assists.

This will be a pack the house night for TJ, and they want to fill the stands for not only the Boys’ game at 5:30 p.m. but the Girls’ game as well, which plays right after the boys at 7 p.m.

]]> http://www.tjjournal.com/2012/01/19/spartans-lose-close-one-open-league-play-against-george/feed/ 0 http://www.tjjournal.com/2012/01/16/tj-ends-home-stand-at-1-2-play-two-straight-ranked-opponents/ http://www.tjjournal.com/2012/01/16/tj-ends-home-stand-at-1-2-play-two-straight-ranked-opponents/#comments Mon, 16 Jan 2012 20:23:54 +0000 Matthew Fabian http://www.tjjournal.com/?p=19283 After the rough home opener against D’Evelyn, TJ beat Rock Canyon then lost to Columbine, the Spartans then lost to top ranked Highlands Ranch and beat a ranked Aurora Central team.

Photos by Jeff Coleman

On January 6th, the Spartans won their next home game against Rock Canyon by a dominating score of 82-68, with a huge performance from forward Eric Andres who had a double-double (17 points, 10 rebounds) in the game.

“We had a great team meeting on Thursday,” said Head Coach Grant Laman. TJ suffered a bad loss two days before to D’Evelyn in front of the home crowd were the Spartans appeared flat. “We found some great inspiration from Billy Sprague,” said Laman. The visiting Sprague was a perennial team leader on the basketball team, graduated in 2010, and now attends the School of Mines. TJ beat down Rock Canyon on the boards, out-rebounding them by a behemoth total of 27. Forward Trey Andres was a big factor for the Spartans hitting three of four, three-pointers, all at times in the game when the Spartans needed it most.

TJ also found great games from their bench, like guard Amari Williams who had three points and six assists. TJ’s crowd was a key factor in the game, and seemed to get into the heads of the Rock Canyon players, who became more and more frustrated as each offensive possession came up empty for them. The highest point total from Rock Canyon was by guard Austin Noyles who had 15 points, and really was an outlier compared to rest of his team.

TJ then had to play Columbine on Saturday, and had a rough game losing by a large margin of 74-52, and TJ could produce little to no offense in the game.

The Spartans got a good game from guard Jordan Roland who had 14 points, but was slow in the front court where the starters only combined for 15 points. Forward for the Columbine Rebels Jonathan Snow had the clear height advantage over TJ at 6’7″, and scored 23 points on the Spartans. Laman wouldn’t have any excuses for the team though, saying, “They are a big team, but so are we.”

TJ never hit double digits in the first two quarters, only scoring eight and nine respectively. Another rough point of the Spartans game was shooting beyond the arch. They had only five makes in 21 attempts, and those misses brought up empty offensive possessions.  With TJ unable to find its stroke and not produce a lot of offense, the Rebels had their way inside and scored on high percentage shots.

On Tuesday, January 10th TJ played the top ranked team in 5A in Highlands Ranch and lost 61-53.

The Spartans were hit hard in the second quarter, scoring only two points, and went into the half with only 27 points compared to Highlands Ranch’s 31. Other than that abysmal second quarter, the Spartans scored fairly consistently, and stayed in the game most of the way.

In the end, what really hurt the TJ Hoop Squad was the missed three-pointers. The Spartans only made five three-pointers in 24 attempts, a lowly 20% from beyond the arc.

TJ rebounded well and beat a ranked Aurora Central Trojans team on January 12th by a score of 66-61 with a great effort from Treyvon Andres with 19 points and four three-pointers.

Aurora Central has a great shooting guard in Carlton Hurst, who is averaging 22 points per game this year, and put up 28 against the Spartans. Hurst got 10 of those points from free throws that he earned by driving against this Spartan team. TJ remained persistent though, getting a basket when it was needed most. Going into the half, the score was tied at 33 and TJ knew that they could ride the momentum of the crowd to a win.

Coming out at the half, TJ played a stingy defense and allowed only nine points in the third quarter and scored 13 points. Aurora Central had to resort to intentional fouls at the end of the game to try and stay in it, but TJ guard Antonio Clark would get the ball when fouled, and make his free throws.

The Spartans had a scare at the end of the game when Eric Andres went up for a layup and hurt his leg on the way down. The entire Spartan family collectively held its breath as Andres was helped off the court. Andres should be fine, and will start against Cherokee Trail.

“We have good confidence (going into playing Cherokee Trail). We’ll see where it’s at afterwards,” said Laman.

]]> http://www.tjjournal.com/2012/01/16/tj-ends-home-stand-at-1-2-play-two-straight-ranked-opponents/feed/ 0 http://www.tjjournal.com/2012/01/08/spartans-hit-rough-stretch-drop-home-opener/ http://www.tjjournal.com/2012/01/08/spartans-hit-rough-stretch-drop-home-opener/#comments Sun, 08 Jan 2012 20:01:07 +0000 Matthew Fabian http://www.tjjournal.com/?p=19171 After a loss in the Tip-Off Classic final, TJ went against a tough Chaparrall team and couldn’t find an answer. The Spartans had a tough Holiday Classic at Cherry Creek, but are now ready for the home opener on January 4th vs. D’Evelyn.

Thomas Jefferson Boys' Basketball falls to D'Evlyn in its home opener after a tough fight. Photo by Ed Gloor

After allowing 26 points to Thunder Ridge in the first quarter of the Tip-Off final on Saturday December 10th, TJ couldn’t dig themselves out of the hole they created, and lost 68-55.

“We got into early foul trouble and played very flat. Our defense is usually good in the first half, and it just wasn’t there for us,” said Head Coach Grant Laman. TJ shot a very poor percentage from the floor, only hitting 37.5%, and only 25% from 3-point range. Laman noted on the poor shooting, “When the defense doesn’t play well, nothing seems to come together.”

TJ was down as much as 20 points in the game, but was able to make a charge. “Whenever we would get on any kind of run, (Thunder Ridge) would panic and call a quick timeout and start screaming,” said Laman. TJ scored 31 points in one quarter, and cut the lead down to eight.

TJ leaves the Heritage Tip-Off Classic in second place, and disappointed with it. “We wanted first,” said Laman, “but we played our best game against Grand Junction at the tournament.”

TJ then had the weekend to rest, and had to face a tough Chaparrall team. “Chaparrall has two superstar guards,” said Laman. “One already has three 30 point games this season.” In the game against Chaparrall, TJ couldn’t stop one of these guards, Josh Adams, from scoring 29 points, and TJ lost 74-60.

In the early stages of the game, there were a bunch of lead changes and the Spartans couldn’t keep up. “Chaparrall had great depth; we would double team Adams, and one of the guys off the bench would drain a three,” said Laman. Chaparrall drowned any hopes that TJ had when they hit 10 three-pointers in the game. “Every time we changed the defense, they seemed to get around us,” said Laman.

TJ kept it tight most of the game, going into the fourth quarter with a small deficit, at 44-41. Chaparrall had an offensive outbreak and scored 30 points in a quarter. “If you look at the boxscore, we just couldn’t keep up in the end,” said Laman. Chaparrall has been the best team TJ has played this season and the upcoming schedule will be a big test for this Spartan team, as they will be playing some of the top 5A teams in the state.

TJ next played at the Holiday Classic at Cherry Creek and had a rough time, only going 1-3.

TJ started with an impressive win against Legend on December 19, winning 57-53. The Spartans had a very up-and-down game, scoring as much as 18 in a quarter and little as eight in a quarter. Laman noted on the inconsistent play, “I wish I knew what made us so good or not so good.” TJ had some good elements to the game, mainly having the highest number of assists (13)  in a game, than they had all year. “We played a better team game, and helped each other out. I was proud of that,” said Laman.

TJ then played Arapahoe on December 20, regarded as one of the best teams in 5A. “They were a good team. We had to pressure them and play as a team,” said Laman. TJ wasn’t able to take down the basketball giant, and lost 73-65. The Spartans started very slowly, getting out of the first quarter with a score of 23-9. “We started slow and fought back.” TJ outscored Arapahoe 36-28 in quarters two and three. However, TJ couldn’t overcome its bad start and allowed three Arapahoe players (Tim Haas with 27, Shane Jensen with 19, and Zach Kocur with 16) into double digit scoring.

TJ licked their wounds, and limped to the finish of the tournament against Columbine and Cherry Creek. TJ had a lack of offense in both games, only scoring 49 and 51 points respectively. “We left on a three game skid but, bring on 2012!,” said Laman.

The boys then opened the new year and the new gym at TJ with a loss vs. D’Evelyn with a final score of 81-59, and D’Evelyn point guard Luke Stratman dropped 34 on the Spartans.

The game opened well for the Spartans, going on a 9-0 run to get the crowd into the game.  The Spartans then looked flat for the rest of the game. D’Evelyn went on a 30-13 run to end the half against the Spartans.  Stratman deflated the Spartans when he was able to step back and hit a three pointer from a range that hasn’t been seen in a long time.

TJ kept pace in the third after both teams scored 18 points in the quarter and set up what seemed like a might be a great finish to the game. The Spartans began to play a full court press defense and didn’t succeed. Each time they were able to double up on a D’Evelyn player, someone was left wide open under the basket and made the easy score. TJ ended on a slow pace, and had mostly subs in at the end of the game.

The Spartans next play Rock Canyon on Friday, January 6th, to end the 4 game losing streak. The game is at TJ.

Photo by Ed Gloor

In the final ten seconds of the game, Senior Guard Antonio Clark got a mid-court steal and an easy lay-up basket to give TJ the win 51-50 against Cherokee Trail.

“It was a sloppy, sloppy game,” said Head Coach Grant Laman, “But it was just a dog fight that we found a way to win.”

A sloppy game seemed to be an understatement for the team in the first half. They only scored 19 points, and had double-digit turnovers. Senior Guard Amare Williams said, ” We were taking the right shots and getting good looks, but the ball just wouldn’t fall.”

Going into the half TJ was down 21-19 and had to find a way to get more high percentage shots. “The only real adjustment we made at the half was to get the ball inside (the paint),” said Laman. That game plan seemed to pay off as Sophomore Trey Andres, Junior Eric Andres, and Senior Nate Brewer had significantly better offensive second halves.

TJ then played Grand Junction on Friday, December 9th and beat them 58-44.

TJ clearly played the best game of the year against Grand Junction, by cutting down on turnovers and playing a tight zone defense. “The switch to a zone defense worked as (Grand Junction) got cold from the outside,”said Laman. Junction fell behind too far in the second half and had to take over 10 shots from the three-point range. The Spartans held Junction to 16 points or under each quarter, and blocked high percentage shots that Junction took.

TJ’s offense also took off in this game. “We finally played better on offense with a little more movement,” said Laman. Trey Andres led the front court again with seven points, Brewer had five points and rebounds that kept the possession alive, and Eric Andres scored five points with the biggest defensive game.  Clark had the biggest offense game of all for the Spartans with twelve points.

TJ plays in the final of the Heritage Tip-Off classic vs. Thunder Ridge on Saturday, December 10th at 3 p.m.

Artwork by Ed Gloor

TJ Boys’ Hoop Squad won the first game of the season against the Green Mountain Rams, 54-53, after a last second three pointer made by Sophomore Forward Trey Andres.

TJ is excited to get the first win of the year, in the first game of the year, but they had a hard time pulling it off. “We had 20 turnovers in the game,” said Head Coach Grant Laman. TJ had a good defensive start to the year, by holding Green Mountain to under 13.5 points per quarter. Laman said of the defense, “It is not as good as it needed to be or will be. We have got some work to do.” Junior Eric Andres led the defensive charge with five steals and Senior Nathan Brewer lead the team with two blocked shots.

But in the end it was offense that won the game for the Spartans. Senior Antonio Clark lead the team with 13 points, and the “Twin Towers” (Eric and Trey Andres) both had 11 points. But none was bigger for Trey than the three to ice the game for the Spartans. Spectator Junior Alan Regulski said, “Those final moments were intense, and as soon as the ball went up I knew that it was in.”

TJ has the day off on Tuesday, December 6th, and their next game is at the Tip-Off Classic at Heritage when they take on Cherokee Trail on December 7.

Artwork by Ed Gloor

After some scrimmages over the weekend, and another week of practice upcoming, TJ Boys’ Basketball is getting ready for their season opener on Monday, December 5^th against Green Mountain.

TJ looks to compete again in the 4A DPL (Denver Public League), after coming close in last year’s campaign. Head Coach Grant Laman said about this year’s league, “It’s always fun to play in this league. We stay right in the mix each year.” But according to Laman, winning league will be no easy feat for the Spartans. “East is the favorite, and they are a big team. Lincoln just added a seven-footer, and George puts out a good team each year,” said Laman

For the Spartans to win league, it all starts with – of course – the play of the team. The lineup is still in the works for the Spartans, but will be decided before the season starts. Laman says, “Honestly, we are going to have some talent. We have returning starters that got some great varsity time last year. It just depends whether or not all that talent mixes.”  Laman is also hoping to set the defensive tone of the games. “Great defense creates good offensive opportunities. It’s proven that defense wins games,” says Laman. TJ will also keep the pace and momentum of the game up with the substitutions on the Varsity bench. “The overall strength of this team is depth. Everyone can keep up on our team, and that’s a bonus,” said Laman.

The Spartans will also have to take advantage of league games that fall on their home court. TJ has a spirited student section at each basketball game at TJ thus gives the Spartans the true meaning of a home court advantage. But with the new gym in need of some corrections, TJ won’t have a home game until January. However, with a slew of road games at the start of the season, TJ will host five home games in the first two weeks of the New Year. “We’ve get South, George, and Montbello all at home, and we need the students for those big rivalry league games,” said Laman. “But the biggest home game that the school is getting everyone hyped up for is the Rock Canyon game on Friday, January 6^th , and we want it to be like the Homecoming basketball game,” said Laman. TJ will be bringing back alumni and getting students pepped for the game.

TJ always keeps hopes high for the basketball team, and this year is no exception. TJ will have to start fast on the road in order to be in a good position coming back to TJ’s new basketball court.

Photo by Mia Nogueira

After an up and down regular season with some dominating wins and devastating losses, The Spartans entered the 2011 4A playoffs with the 13th overall seed. The Spartans won the first game against #20 Glenwood Springs 50-33, but lost the next day to #4 Pueblo West in overtime 48-42.

In the Glenwood Springs game, the Spartans started off their playoff run at a fast pace and never looked back. Glenwood Springs came into the game with a better regular season record than the Spartans, and going nearly undefeated in their conference with an 11-1 conference record. However, because of TJ’s difficult schedule, the Spartans were considered the home team with the higher playoff seed in the matchup.  The game started out nearly neck and neck as the scoring went back and forth between the Spartans’ and the Demons’ offenses.  At halftime, Glenwood Springs led on the scoreboard by just a hair with a score of 22-21. In the second half, the Spartans changed up the game plan and clearly took control from the second half whistle until the end. The Spartans’ press defense forced the Demons into many turnovers that led to nearly 30 points for the Spartans in the second half. In the end, the Spartans were onto the next round with a winning score of 50-33.

In the next round, the Spartans had to come face to face with the top seed in the Ron Shavlik division in #4 Pueblo West. The Cyclones came into the game with an impressive 22-3 overall record and went undefeated in their division. The Spartans went up early against Pueblo West leading by 10 points at halftime and dominated the defensive side of the ball, holding Pueblo’s high-powered offense to only 15 points in the first half with a suffocating press defense. The Spartans led in scoring for the first three quarters and seemed to be in the driver’s seat onto the next round of the playoffs. However, with the beginning of the fourth quarter came a monumental change in the pace of the game and the Spartans seemed to falter at the end. “ We just seemed to run out of gas. We played three quarters of really great basketball, and just couldn’t close out the game,” said Head Coach Grant Laman.

As the final seconds ticked away and the score was dead even, the ball was in the hands of Senior Jordan Roland who put up a Hail Mary shot, but was unable to repeat the glory from the Chaparrel game during the season, and couldn’t get the ball to sink. Since the score was deadlocked as the final buzzer rang, the game had to be decided in extra time. At the end of the game, the Spartans had three players (Jordan Roland, Ian Melnicoe, and Sir Michael Boston) who fouled out in the last few minutes of regular time and beginning of OT, which put them in a tough spot in overtime. The Spartans had lost their momentum and the Cyclones just kept building off of their enormous crowd’s support to rise above the Spartans. At the end of the game, and the season, the Spartans went out with a fight, but lost to Pueblo West with an OT final score of 48-42.

With the end of the season, comes the end of the Seniors’ tenure as Spartan Basketball players. “I’ve really enjoyed my time as a player here at TJ. It’s been great and I’m glad I got to go out on a good playoff note in a hard fought and close game,” said Senior Captain Ian Melnicoe.

Another Senior, Wesley Price, says this about the end of the season: “Personally it was sad for me to have to sit from the sideline with my injury and miss the end of the season; but, overall, my time on the team has been great and I don’t regret a minute of it.”

Even though the seniors’ time with TJ basketball is over, the team has high hopes for next season, and Laman thinks that the success they accomplished this season is only the start to more success for seasons to come. “We [TJ] will miss our Senior leadership, but we have a lot of returning young talent and several of our young guys have developed this season into assets for the team. To say the least, I am very excited for next season,” said  Laman. With returning players such as Eric Andres, Sir Michael Boston, Antonio Clark and Nate Brewer, the Spartans have much to look forward to for years to come.

*Playoffs

Photo by Mia Nogueira

TJ’s basketball team had two games last week, losing to Lincoln on Tuesday in a last minute rally, and defeating North handily on Friday with a final score of 68-45.

In the game against Lincoln, the Spartans started off on fire, leading the charge in scoring against the Lancers in the first and second quarters. At halftime, TJ went into the locker room leading the game with a close score of 34-33. When the teams re-entered the gym after the halftime break, it was obvious that something had changed in the Spartans’ game. The Spartans looked sluggish in the third quarter, scoring only eight points and giving up 23 to Lincoln’s offense. They also put the Lancers on the free throw line many times in the quarter, which placed several players in foul trouble. In the 4th quarter, the Spartans made a rally to bring themselves back into the game, but the deficit was simply too much to recover and the final score was 73-69 in favor of Lincoln.

The next game on Friday against North was a completely different story from the Lincoln loss. The Spartans led the scoring from start to finish and at multiple points in the game led the Vikings by double their points total. Regular season Spartan scoring leader Eric Andres continued to rack up points in this game with 16 and Ian Melnicoe returned to the floor with a vengeance scoring nine. At the end of the game, the Spartans remained on top with a final score of 68-45.

Up next for the Spartans is the first round of the 4A State Playoffs where they were labeled as the 13th seed in the division. The Spartans’ first game will be against 2oth seed Glenwood Springs High School on Friday, February 25th at Pueblo West High School at 4:00. “Now that the regular season is over, it is time to really turn up our game and show up to play. We have a good team this year, so hopefully we can continue the tradition of glory that previous teams have given TJ,” said Senior Captain Ian Melnicoe.

Tip off for this game will be at 4:00 pm so make sure to drive down to Massari Arena at Pueblo West and support your Spartan Hoop Squad.