Nobody at Pomona knows for sure, but it’s pretty clear the last time the school’s boys basketball team advanced this far into the postseason none of its current players were born.
“It’s huge,” Pomona senior Stevie Kelley said after the Panthers’ 55-45 victory over Eaglecrest on Saturday afternoon moved Pomona into the round of 16 of the Class 5A state tournament. “We haven’t been there in probably 20 years. It’s huge for our program.”
Junior Alex Welsh was monstrous on the Panthers’ home court against Eaglecrest (14-11 record). Welsh was a scoring machine, posting 33 points in the second-round game. He scored all 13 points Pomona (17-7) had in the second quarter.
“I’ve been shooting a lot and getting a lot of shots,” Welsh said of his scoring streak of 20-plus points in seven of his last eight games. “My teammates are getting me the ball a lot.”
The speedy and athletic Raptors threw everything but the kitchen sink at Welsh in the second half, but it seemed whatever they tried backfired. Even when the 6-foot-5 junior missed, more times then not it worked out well for Pomona.
On one of Welsh’s rare misses with a trio of Raptors on him, Kelley was able to tip the ball in with 3 minutes, 40 seconds left in the fourth quarter. The basket put Pomona ahead 44-40.
“Coach (Brian Zehnder) said during the timeout that Alex was going to be shooting the ball every time he got it inside,” Kelley said. “When I saw him catch it at the high-post I just crashed the boards. I was in the right place at the right time.”
Kelley finished with 15 points. The only other two Panthers to score were senior Jordan Joseph (six points) and junior Nate Olinger (one point).
“Stevie’s tip-in was huge,” Zehnder said. “He was the one controlling the tempo.”
Senior Eric Haviland’s 13 points led Eaglecrest. The major problem — besides Welsh — for the Raptors was their foul shooting. Eaglecrest finished 16-for-31. Pomona in turn was 10-for-15 in the final quarter from the free-throw line to win going away.
“It feels awesome to be a part of this,” Welsh said. “It’s a milestone. We haven’t done this in a long time. Everything is going good right now.”
One of Pomona’s goals this season was to host a home playoff game. The Colorado High School Activities Association’s basketball seeding committee was so impressed with the Panthers’ second-place finish in the 5A Jeffco League it awarded Pomona a first-round bye.
Not only did it get to host, but it hosted in the second round.
“It was a little bit of a surprise,” Welsh said of receiving a bye. “We were excited when we got it. The atmosphere was great today. That helped out a lot.”
Jeffco rival Dakota Ridge wasn’t able to help Pomona host a Sweet 16 game. No. 1 seed and defending state champion Regis (19-5) defeated Dakota Ridge 61-47 to force the No. 4 seed Panthers to travel to Aurora for their Sweet 16 game Wednesday, March 2, after press deadline.
Pomona didn’t shy away from the chance to face the defending state champions who have won six straight.
“It will be fuel to the fire,” Welsh said. “We are looking forward to the next game and try to get another win.”
The winner Wednesday will move into the state quarterfinals Saturday, March 5, at the Denver Coliseum. The only other Jeffco team to advance to the Sweet 16 was cross-town rival A-West.
“It’s a good thing for Jeffco,” A-West senior Sam Porter said after the Wildcats advanced to the round of 16 later in the day Saturday. “I’m happy for Pomona to get this far.”
5A BOYS BASKETBALL STATE TOURNAMENT
Saturday, March 5
Quarterfinals @ Denver Coliseum
Thursday, March 10
Semifinals @ Coors Events
Center in Boulder
Saturday, March 12
State championship game
@ Coors Events Center