Red Devils' basketball knocks off top-ranked Laramie

Josh Hall
Posted 1/6/18

Thursday’s loss to Ft. Collins in the opening round of the Cheyenne Invitational was a hard one to swallow for the Evanston High School boys’ basketball team.

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Red Devils' basketball knocks off top-ranked Laramie

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CHEYENNE — Thursday’s loss to Ft. Collins in the opening round of the Cheyenne Invitational was a hard one to swallow for the Evanston High School boys’ basketball team.

While it was a defeat, it could pay dividends throughout the rest of the season for the Red Devils, ranked fifth in Class 4A.

“Ft. Collins was a tough one,” Evanston coach Lex Cornia said. “I think we saw when we don’t do things right, when we don’t execute, we can be very, very bad. But when we lock down and make it very hard for teams to score against us, we’re as good or better than anybody.”

The Red Devils proved that the next day when they claimed a 64-56 win on Friday against top-ranked Laramie.

“I was really encouraged by our performance after a game that was just full of mistakes,” Cornia said. “Our game against Laramie showcased a great mistake response.”

Evanston trailed the Plainmen 44-43 with 6:32 to play in the fourth quarter. Braxton Hiatt hit a jumper a minute later to spark an 11-3 run to give the Red Devils an eight-point lead — their largest of the game — with 3:56 to play in regulation.

Evanston didn’t trail the rest of the way.

Hiatt scored a game-high 27 points after going 10 of 15 from the field with seven rebounds and six steals. But it was the junior guard’s ability to find the open man that helped Evanston put the game away.

“He was huge, and actually, some of his best plays towards the end were dishes and drop downs to Lance Evans and some other guys around the rim,” Cornia said. “You have to respect what that kid can do. He’s just a magnet for defenders because he just has such great length. He’s really coming along. He had some plays down the stretch that just sealed it.  He’s playing phenomenal right now.”

Senior Chase Critchfield scored 19 points after going 3 of 5 from beyond the arc.

“He’s our rock,” Cornia said. “He’s just very steady for us. You can just watch the guys. When the ball is in his hand, they kind of relax. He just has a calming influence on the floor, which is huge for us. There hasn’t been a moment too big for Chase. He’s doing great things for us on both sides of the ball. He’s an extremely talented leader, just like he’s an extremely talented basketball player.”

While Hiatt and Critchfield were putting up points for Evanston, Cornia said it was Evanston role players that had a major hand in the win against Laramie.

Chandler Anderson and Lance Evans both scored eight points apiece.

But it was Brendan Mathson and Hunter Groll’s defensive effort that might have been the biggest factor in the game. The duo was responsible for guarding Asa Williams, a 6-foot-4 senior guard who averages just over 15 points a game.

“(Williams) was frustrated, and no one has been able to do that to him yet,” Cornia said. “Even our offensive-minded guys were like, ‘Man, we win it on the (defensive) side of the floor.’

Mathson and Groll held Williams to 12 points, though he did put the audience in awe with some of his high-flying dunks.

“Down the stretch, Laramie is trying to get the ball to the best athlete in the state — Williams,” Cornia said. “We doubled him with Brendan and Hunter. Laramie could not get the ball to the best athlete in the state. Brendan and Hunter said, ‘No, you’re going to have to throw it to someone else.’ That’s huge.”

Evanston led by as many as eight points midway through the fourth quarter, but Laramie got the spark it needed when Williams threw down a one-handed dunk following an Evanston turnover to make it a four-point game with 1:33 to play in the fourth quarter.

Critchfield fouled out with 1:20 to play, and a pair of free throws by Williams made it a two-point game.

The Red Devils managed to hang on to the ball on the ensuing possession before Groll was fouled with 39.6 seconds left and Evanston still holding on to a two-point lead. Groll missed his first attempt, but made the second.

Evans wasn’t going to give Laramie another offensive opportunity. At half court, he stole a pass and made both free throws to give the Red Devils a 61-56 lead with 28.54 seconds to play to seal the game.

“That steal was huge,” Cornia said.

Now the Red Devils are anxious to get back to business.

“I think they feel very good about the win, but they put it in the rear-view mirror, and said ‘OK, we’ve got work to do,”’ Cornia said. “They plan on having many more big wins in the future.”

Evanston will take on Cheyenne East, the No. 2 team in Class 4A 1:30 p.m. today.

“This is a game we really want to go get,” Cornia said. “It’s a huge statement game for us. Today will be very interesting. It will tell us a lot about who we are and where we want to go.

“There’s a lot of talented teams around the state. What’s going to make the difference for us is how comfortable will we be in the roles we’re asked to do. This weekend has been really solid. Guys are willing to do whatever it takes to win. It’s going to take a lot of work to be that last team in March.”