East High Sports: Slam Dunk
East Wins 12th State Basketball Title
Story and photos by Reid Neureiter
For the GPHN
The Denver East Angels faced monumental challenges bringing home the high school’s record-tying 12th state basketball title.
First was the dark emotional cloud hanging over the close-knit East Colfax campus after the death of 16-year-old schoolmate junior Luis Garcia following a Feb. 13 shooting just yards from the school’s front door. The playoff bracket, too, posed a massive hurdle. The 4th-seeded Angels were to face top-ranked Mountain Vista in the semi-finals. An upset win would see them confront No. 3-seeded Fossil Ridge for the title. Fossil Ridge’s Sabercats had given the Angels a 63-40 thrashing back on Dec. 2, forcing Coach Rudy Carey to make some significant tactical adjustments for his height-challenged Angels.
But the Angels were undefeated since that Dec. 2 loss. They entered the final four weekend riding a wave of emotion and a 24-game win streak. The team warmed up in T-shirts with the slogan “Angels Against Gun Violence” on the front, and Garcia’s #11 soccer jersey number and signature on the back.
A ring for every digit
In the March 10 semi-final, the explosive, sharp-passing Angels treated Mountain Vista as little more than a molehill, overcoming a 0-5 early game deficit to eventually run away in a 19-point 86-67 rout. The game was punctuated in the final minute by a looping alley-oop pass from senior star guard D’Aundre Samuels to fellow senior Gil Gonzalez for a thunderous dunk that sent Angels fans into a frenzy.
The championship game the next day versus Fossil Ridge at Denver Coliseum proved to be a historic encounter. Earlier this season, Coach Carey eclipsed Dick Katte’s all-time Colorado prep career wins mark. The 2023 title game presented Carey with the chance to break the record for state championship wins by any coach, at 10 — one ring for every digit. It also allowed East to tie Manual High’s record for state basketball titles at 12.
The Angels were seemingly destined to victory: A victory for schoolmate Luis Garcia, for Coach Carey, and for a school community that had endured so much this year. The team did not disappoint, jumping to a 13-9 lead in the first quarter and extending that lead every quarter to eventually triumph by 21 points and a final score of 82-61.
Senior starting point guard (and Park Hill resident) Sam Scott, who had marched with the entire basketball team to the State Capitol to protest gun violence, told the Greater Park Hill News, “The whole Luis situation was very tragic. The East community needed a win, something to cheer about. We gave them some hope.”
The victory, says Scott, was “not just for our team, but for the whole school.”
‘We capitalize on our speed’
One moment did give the otherwise passionate East fans pause. While leading by 10 in the the third quarter, East’s talisman, the electric Samuels, went down with what appeared to be a game-ending ankle sprain.
Samuels is the fulcrum of East’s offense. He has precise fast break passing, coupled with slashing moves to the basket that result either in a bucket, a defensive foul, or open up East’s three-point shooters to hit from beyond the arc. In obvious pain, Samuels hopped the length of the floor to the East bench, where East athletic trainer Lisa Smith examined his injured limb.
“We all know he is the best player in the state,” said Scott. “It actually made my stomach hurt to see him injured. But we had to trust our team. We are capable of winning without him.”
Trainer Smith did her magic, taping the ankle tight. Minutes later, Samuels, limping heavily, returned to the floor to chants of “MVP, MVP,” from the raucous East student section.
The Sabercats never had a chance.
Samuels finished with 25 points, eight rebounds and seven assists, while senior wing sharpshooter Jack Greenwood led all scorers with 27 points, including five for seven from 3-point range. It seemed that whenever Fossil Ridge hit a basket, East would hit a 3-point shot to extend the lead. For the game, East shot 50 percent from beyond the arc, hitting nine of 18.
East was effective on defense as well. Lacking the height of Fossil Ridge’s front line, East pressed for most of the contest, forcing 17 Sabercat turnovers, which included 13 Angel steals. Point guard Scott, who will attend Notre Dame University in the fall, was an instrumental part of the Angels’ smothering defense, registering four steals. “The other teams are bigger than us,” Scott said. “We have to get them out of their comfort zone. We capitalize on our speed.”
Said Coach Carey: “The reason this is so good is because this is a special group of kids. We did not have a center. [Our biggest player is] only 6 ‘3”. But these kids worked extremely hard.”
Player Of The Year
Senior Star Guard D’Aundre Samuels Honored For Athletics, Academics, Exemplary Character
D’Aundre Samuels has been described by his teammates as the best player in the state. That observation was confirmed on March 15 when the East senior star guard was named the 2023 Colorado Gatorade Boys Basketball Player of the Year.
The award recognizes the nation’s most elite high school student-athletes in each state for three criteria: athletic excellence, academic achievement and exemplary character. The press release announcing the award highlighted Samuels’ performance in the state championship, and also his season average statistics of 21.8 points, 7.5 rebounds, 6.6 assists and 4.9 steals per game.
Samuels has volunteered locally on behalf of two Denver-area youth basketball camps and maintains a B average. He remains undecided about a collegiate destination. This is the fourth time an East basketball player coached by Rudy Carey has won the award. Guard Brian Carey (who, yes, is Coach Carey’s nephew) won in 2015 and Dominique Collier won in both 2013 and 2014.
— Reid Neureiter
