Lewis-Palmer holds off Pueblo South to earn fifth Class 4A state championship

When Lewis-Palmer last won the state title in 2019, the program’s current seniors were freshmen with an up-close view at the first team in state history to finish 28-0 in Class 5A or 4A.

That freshman class included now star senior Cameron Lowe, who helped catalyze Lewis-Palmer to a 61-53 win over Pueblo South in the 4A championship Saturday at the Denver Coliseum. The Air Force commit had 15 points and 13 rebounds.

“We saw the blueprint of how to win a title in 2019,” Lowe said. “I was on the J.V. team that year so the varsity players, they were mentors to us, giving us life lessons but also showing us how to do this — build a program, prepare for every game correctly, get to the top.”

The Rangers used a 15-3 run in the third quarter to break open a tight game en route to the program’s fifth state title. Junior small forward Eli Robinson starred alongside Lowe with 19 points and 15 rebounds. Not a bad finish to Robinson’s first season with Lewis-Palmer after moving from Qatar, as his dad is in the Air Force.

“We don’t view it as we need Cam to score 30 points a game, even though he does it a lot because he’s a great player,” Robinson said. “We just go to who’s open.”

Lewis-Palmer coach Bill Benton said his team’s balanced performance wasn’t a surprise. Sophomore guards Cohen Edmondson and Damarion Jelks had 12 and 10 points, respectively.

“When you look through all 28 of our games, we’ve had those nights where it’s his night, or it’s that guy’s night, or it’s another guy’s night,” Benton said. “Nobody worries it wasn’t ‘my night’; it was always ‘our night.’ That’s why we have this (trophy).”

Lewis-Palmer leveraged mismatches in size and length to keep the Colts from easy drives into the paint. When Pueblo South did drive, the Colts were forced into tough finishes and floaters but Lewis-Palmer rarely fouled. The Colts were 0 for 1 from the free-throw line while Lewis-Palmer was 19 of 30.

“There were some areas where we were mismatched a little bit on defense, and we missed some shots, too,” Pueblo South coach Shannan Lane said. “Early on, we left about eight points out there off lay-ups that we should’ve had when they went zone.

“Their size dictates a lot of things, they’ve got shooters, they’ve got great post play. There’s nowhere to lay off defensively. They’re a great all-around team. Hats off to them.”

Pueblo South sophomore point guard Maurice Austin led all scorers with 25 points, while his brother, senior Terrance Austin, had 12 points. Lewis-Palmer’s victory spoiled Lane’s chance at history, as she was vying to become the first female coach to win a Colorado boys basketball title.

Both teams finished 27-1.

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