Fruita Monument’s Daniel Thomason often delights the Wildcats fans with his high-flying dunks but it is his all-around game — shooting jumpers, dribble-drive ability, passing and rebounding — that he hopes will get him on the radar of college coaches. The sophomore is averaging 14.2 points per game this season for Fruita, which is off to a 15-1 start.
Fruita Monument’s Luke Collins scores on a layup Saturday for two of his 12 points in the Wildcats’ 72-27 victory over Rifle at the Warrior Challenge at Central. Fruita went 3-0 in the tournament. Seven different Wildcats scored at least five points against the Bears.
Fruita Monument’s Luke Collins scores two of his 12 points Saturday in the Wildcats’ 72-27 victory over Rifle at the Warrior Challenge at Central. Fruita went 3-0 in the tournament. Seven different Wildcats scored at least five points against the Bears.
Fruita Monument’s Daniel Thomason often delights the Wildcats fans with his high-flying dunks but it is his all-around game — shooting jumpers, dribble-drive ability, passing and rebounding — that he hopes will get him on the radar of college coaches. The sophomore is averaging 14.2 points per game this season for Fruita, which is off to a 15-1 start.
Fruita Monument’s Luke Collins scores on a layup Saturday for two of his 12 points in the Wildcats’ 72-27 victory over Rifle at the Warrior Challenge at Central. Fruita went 3-0 in the tournament. Seven different Wildcats scored at least five points against the Bears.
Fruita Monument’s Luke Collins scores two of his 12 points Saturday in the Wildcats’ 72-27 victory over Rifle at the Warrior Challenge at Central. Fruita went 3-0 in the tournament. Seven different Wildcats scored at least five points against the Bears.
If Max Orchard has the ball outside, doesn’t have a shot and sees an opening at the basket, his next move is simple — set Daniel Thomason up for a dunk. Sometimes the alley-oops are spur of the moment, other times they’re planned. But the result is always exhilarating.
“I just see Daniel in the alley or I think, ‘He’s there somewhere’ and I throw it up to him,” Orchard said.
That strategy has been a product of chemistry and unselfish play from the Fruita Monument High School boys basketball team. That led to flashy plays and a 72-27 win over Rifle on Saturday to secure a sweep in the Warrior Challenge.Fruita beat Castle View in overtime to open the tournament on Thursday and beat Moffat County on Friday.
“I am liking the energy that we’re starting out with — we gotta work on carrying it through the entire game — but I thought everybody is contributing well,” said Thomason, a sophomore. “We’re playing well as a team.”
Three games into Jake Higuera’s second season, the Wildcats (3-0) appear to be executing his system more efficiently than last season. Part of that has to do with the improvement players naturally make from year to year, and part of that has to do with players making the most of increased roles.
Orchard falls into the latter and Thomason falls into both.
Orchard was on varsity last season but saw few minutes because of a roster full of juniors and seniors.
“He has stepped into a leadership role. He’s one of our captains and it’s because of his heart, his character and his love for the game. The dude just loves basketball,” Higuera said. “He has worked so hard. Everything you guys have seen has been from the hard work that kid has put in. He believes in himself and he believes in his team … We were down in that first game (against Castle View) and he was getting his guys to truly believe that they could win, and that was spectacular. That’s the kind of kid he is … You’ll make me cry if I keep talking about him.”
Orchard, a junior, was the Wildcats’ leading scorer this weekend as he averaged 19 points and got his baskets from a mixture of slashing into the lane and taking jump shots. He had five 3-pointers over the three games.
Thomason, meanwhile, is now a regular in the starting lineup and is showing the results of an offseason of travel ball.
He used his size to haul in rebounds and deter drives to the lane on defense and, of course, sneaked in more than a few dunks over the weekend. His highlight reel featured some two-handed dunks, a couple of alley-oops from Orchard and a one-handed jam against Rifle.
Just as impressive as his above-the-rim play to Higuera is Thomason’s leadership.
“He just keeps getting better, he’s a monster. The stuff he does, God gave him a lot of gifts, but a lot of that is hard work,” Higuera said. “DT doesn’t care who the leading scorer is, he just cares what the final score is. He’s all about winning for his guys. I feel like this is a group that wants to win more than the coaches. We got them, we just need to keep plugging away.”
Higuera stresses unselfish play and that was on display on Saturday when seven different Wildcats scored five-plus points. Orchard (15), Luke Rollins (12) and Thomason (11) each scored in the double digits. Austin Reed, the guard opposite Orchard, thrived all weekend as a playmaker and was selected to the All-Tournament team alongside Thomason.
Higuera isn’t totally satisfied with the team but did like what he saw this weekend. He pointed to the Wildcats’ transition game, offense — when it’s flowing well — and defense over the past two games as highlights.
“(On defense) we could see them communicating with each other. The energy and effort on that side of the floor gets us started on offense,” Higuera said.
米oving forward, Thomason and Orchard said they want to see the team sustain its energy throughout an entire game.
“Our game against Castle View, we were up by 15 at halftime and were slow in the third quarter,” Orchard said, referring to Fruita’s season-opening overtime win. “That came back to bite us in the butt, so we need to keep our energy up and not overlook any team we play.”
Castle View 56, Grand Junction 55:Cold shooting doomed the Tigers (1-2), who allowed a Sabercat comeback on the final day of the Warrior Challenge.
Grand Junction scored 17 points in the first quarter thanks to five free throws and a pair of 3-pointers by Cameron Ochoa. The Tigers were trying to build a double-digit lead entering halftime but Castle View scored some quick baskets to make it 31-25 at the break.
The Tigers led 44-39 entering the final quarter but struggled to score on the Sabercats’ stifling defense. Castle View (2-1) scored 17 points in the final frame, most of which came from the free-throw line.
Will Applegate led the Tigers with 12 points.
Palisade 77, Basalt 52:A blazing third quarter and another stellar game from Luke Fay gave the Bulldogs (1-2) their first win of the new season.
The Bulldogs struggled to put the Longhorns away in the first quarter as both traded blows en route to a 37-32 lead for the Bulldogs at the break. But Palisade clamped down on both sides of the ball after halftime. The Bulldogs scored 24 points in the third — none from Fay — and limited the Longhorns (0-2) to eight points.
Fay scored 28 points on Saturday and averaged 23.6 points per game over the weekend. Fred Moore was second on the team in scoring on Saturday with 12 points.
All Tournament Team
Each local school had at least one player make the All-Tournament team at the Warrior Challenge.
Fruita was represented by Reed and Thomason, Central by Braylen Scott, Grand Junction by Applegate and Palisade by Fay.
The other players on the team were Castle View’s Owen Clarke and Vitorio Dante, Bryant Carlson of Moffat County, Logan Gross of Rifle and Emlio Jain of Summit. Clarke was the tournament MVP.
