4A Second Round Preview: Larry Brunson Region

<p>The first round of the Colorado Class 4A state tournament is in the books and the second round is on tap for Saturday. A total of 16 games will be played, and each of the four teams that received first-round byes in each of the four regions will finally enter the fray.</p> <p>With teams set to play for spots in the Sweet 16, let's take a look at each second-round matchup in the Larry Brunson Region: </p> <p style="text-align: center;"><strong>No. 2 Longmont (23-0) vs. No. 34 Discovery Canyon (11-13), Saturday, 2 p.m.</strong></p> <p>Here they are: the defending champions. Undefeated through 23 regular season games and defeating their opponents by an average over 28 points per game, the Trojans are on a roll. Beck Page (14.2 ppg), Calvin Seamons (12.9) and Brady Renck (11.8) have the Trojans poised for a deep run, and have already defeated Discover Canyon once this season, 62-42 on Dec. 19. Discover Canyon won an overtime thriller by one point over Mountain View in the first round. They’ll need a similarly big night from junior Daryn Whisman (25 points), and then some, to pull off a shocker in Longmont.</p> <p style="text-align: center;"><strong>No. 15 Pueblo Central (14-9) vs. No. 47 Durango (10-13), Saturday, 1 p.m.</strong></p> <p>Durango has a long way to go to get to Pueblo before this game can even happen. The Wildcats, who haven’t hosted a playoff game in a while, will be waiting with seniors Nico Martin (16.1 ppg) and Ben Beltran (11.6). Senior Al Hurworth leads Durango, averaging 10.8 points a game. But if the scoring woes that have plagued the Demons all season arise, this one could be rough.</p> <p style="text-align: center;"><strong>No. 7 Glenwood Springs (18-5) vs. No. 26 Golden (13-11), Saturday, 3 p.m.</strong></p> <p>The Golden Demons were hit hard by graduation this past spring but the Golden boys still have plenty of playoff experience. Ilja Bubukin (14.5 ppg) led the Demons with 17 points in a 68-67 win over Pueblo Centennial in the first round, and David O’Connell scored 15, Kevin Mulligan added 14 and Ben McLaughlin chipped in 10. Glenwood Springs is coming off an excellent regular season and is led by a pair of seniors in Chano Gonzalez (15.6 ppg) and Angel Garcia (12.3).</p> <p style="text-align: center;"><strong>No. 10 Harrison (19-4) vs. No. 23 Alameda (18-6), Saturday, 3 p.m.</strong></p> <p>Both of these teams are having their best seasons in a long time and much of each team’s success is due to one breakout player. For Harrison the player to watch in sophomore Donta Dawson, who averages 16.4 points and 6.5 rebounds per night while shooting 49 percent from long range. For Alameda, that man is junior Luis Miera, who is averaging 15.7 points and 5.6 assists a game.</p>