Scott Kaniewski
Dave Arnold won’t ever forget it. Missing the game-tying 3-pointer at the buzzer of the 2008 state championship game is etched in his mind.
Maybe he can also thank that experience.
Arnold, in his senior season at ThunderRidge High School, showed how much that experience is driving him when he scored 27 points and hit two free throws with 2 seconds remaining to upset No. 1 Eaglecrest 57-56, putting the Grizzlies back in the final four.
“We see that all the time,” Grizzlies coach Joe Ortiz said. “But never on a bigger stage. I was so glad because we’ve seen it, that you got to see it, and everyone else got to see it.”
Arnold, “Mr. Basketball” according to Ortiz, did everything he could to will the Grizzlies past the Raptors. ThunderRidge will travel to the Coors Events Center on March 12 at 7 p.m. to take on another No. 1 seed in Regis Jesuit.
When Arnold’s 3-point attempt fell short against Denver East in the 2008 championship game, he left the gym floor with tears streaming down his cheeks. He shouldered the responsibility for the loss, though one shot can’t be to blame for an entire game. That night follows Arnold constantly.
“That image is burned in my mind,” he said. “That score is burned in my mind. That game is burned in my mind. That motivates me everyday I play.”
Ortiz saw how painful that missed shot was for Arnold.
“It drives him,” Ortiz said. “He plays that hard all the time.”
Last season, Arnold had plenty of talent and size around him. His responsibilities as a point guard then were to make sure he got the ball into the hands of the four other players around him. This season Arnold’s responsibility is to do everything. Sometimes he runs the point. Often he sets up as a shooting guard. He rebounds, passes and in general, makes the team go.
“Dave is everything you can ask for,” said teammate Troy Noser, whose 15 first-half points kept the Grizzlies in the game until Arnold got hot. “He’s the perfect point guard.”
Whether he likes the responsibility or not, it’s his. And against Eaglecrest he thrived on it. Arnold scored the Grizzlies’ first 11 points of the second half and their final nine. He shot 81.8 percent from the field in the second half, going 9-for-11. Of his 27 points, 22 came in the second half. Only two other Grizzlies scored in the half, putting up five points. Only one other player took a shot in the half. And the Grizzlies didn’t mind.
Arnold showed off his talent against Eaglecrest. With one high dribble, a quick move and a great layup, Arnold had the Grizzlies tied at 46 and the crowd at the Denver Coliseum oohing and ahhing.
With time down under 2 minutes and ThunderRidge down 54-50, Arnold’s 3-point attempt bounced off the rim. But the senior rushed hard to the lane, grabbed his own rebound and put it up and in.
And with ThunderRidge trailing 56-52 and 1:10 on the clock, Arnold hit his final field goal, a 3-pointer to pull the Grizzlies to within one.
“I wanted it,” Arnold said. “I was not letting anything go. I wanted the ball.”
But Arnold thought he’d cost the game for the Grizzlies with 8 seconds remaining. After a strong defensive stand by ThunderRidge, Arnold had the ball back in his hands and tried to drive. It was knocked away and Eaglecrest pounced on it.
“I thought we’d lost the game,” Arnold said. “I was pretty [upset] at myself. But I couldn’t just indulge in that, in my mistake.”
With a chance to secure a three-point lead, Eaglecrest’s Gage Wooten missed the front-end of a 1-and-1. Arnold saw his chance. He pulled down the rebound and raced the length of the court. Eaglecrest fouled him before he could shoot, putting him on the line. Arnold wasn’t about to miss another game-ending opportunity.
“I knew I was going to make those,” he said.
He did.
Awaiting his team’s turn in the Great 8, Arapahoe coach Dan Snyder watched the end of the Grizzlies’ win. Snyder saw Arnold’s performance and wasn’t surprised. Snyder has seen the three-year letterman and four-year varsity player the past four seasons, including in a scrimmage days before the playoffs began.
“What I love about his game is the smoothness of his shot,” Snyder said. “There are not a lot of high school kids … that can raise up and take the man off the dribble and take a true jump shot. Boy, was Dave tremendous tonight. Dave really carried that team.”
Listed at 6-foor-2, Arnold doesn’t have the size of some of the state’s other great players, though he grabbed four rebounds against Eaglecrest. He doesn’t have nearly the supporting cast that most others have, but he finished with a game-high five assists. And when the team needs him, he does whatever they ask.
“I love Dave with everything I have,” Ortiz said. “I’m just glad I get to coach him for one more week.”