AURORA — Cameron Cusworth was his own get-well medicine Thursday, in Grandview’s first-round state basketball game.

Cusworth came down with strep throat and had missed a practice leading up to the game against ninth-seeded Sand Creek. It took about three minutes for him to feel better in the 74-61 victory.

A 6-foot-8 senior, Cusworth sank his second shot of the game, a three-pointer. It was answered quickly by Sand Creek’s Julian Mills, but Cusworth hit another long one, two steps inside the arc.

“Once I hit one (three), I feel as if I can’t miss,” Cusworth said. “Everybody just found me (Thursday).”

Cusworth would hit a half-dozen more three-pointers and totaled 29 points. Although 11-13 Grandview won rather easily against a team with a better record (Sand Creek finished up 13-11), the Wolves next have to meet up with No. 1-seeded Fairview, who hasn’t had a close game in its 23 victories.

The Wolves, who finished fifth in the Centennial League, had only four players make a field goal against the Scorpions. But the way, Cusworth’s teammates got him the ball and a couple of great passes from 6-4 senior Justin Small led to some very open shots.

Small, who scored a very credible 16 points, still impressed the most as one of those point forwards as eighth-seeded Grandview found a comfortable tempo. He set up Dillon Moritz’s thunderous dunk with a great alley-oop pass and then showed excellent court awareness with a very quick pass underneath the basket that produced a layup.

Small had a dunk of his own, so he and Moritz both had powerful finishes and several assists.

“I know where (teammates) are,” Small said. “As a team, that was definitely our best game.”

“(Small) really did find holes in the zone,” Wolves coach Gary Childress said. “Where we’ve struggled this season is recognizing when we try to go too fast. We had some people shooting right away when we need to go to our half-court offense.”

The Scorpions also had a problem with recognition, in that their meal ticket is 6-6 senior Nick Fox. Fox came with the loftiest pair of combined averages in Class 5A, getting 22.6 points and 12 rebounds per game.

While he did pretty much hit those numbers against Grandview with 23 and 10, respectively, Sand Creek had many possessions where they didn’t get the ball to the big man.

“That was a huge concern for us,” Childress said. “We didn’t want him to take over the game.”

Fox certainly got off to a fine start, with three baskets in each of the first two quarters. Sand Creek also held three-point leads in the second quarter.

But the Scorpions gave up points in bunches toward the end of the first three periods, committing a foolish foul on a Small breakaway layup just before halftime. Small converted the three-point play.

Moritz also proved to be a physical defender and he got help from Kevin Gausman, who fronted Fox quite aggressively.

Sand Creek looked toward Julian Mills for supplemental scoring, and he responded with 17 points. Still, the Scorpions were hurt when Dammian Terry, who was averaging better than 12 points per game, was declared academically ineligible late in January.

Sand Creek lost five of its final seven games after losing Terry.

Against Grandview, Scorpions coach Aaron Williams saw that Fox was getting double- or triple-teamed when the center did get the ball down low, so he had Fox bring the ball up the floor a few times and also play a bit more on the perimeter.

Grandview put the game away with a 13-5 run early in the fourth quarter. Early in their league schedule, the Wolves scored wins over Arapahoe, Cherry Creek and Mullen, but finished the regular season losing four of their last five.

Thursday’s win over a team with a better record might put Grandview back on track. Also Childress, who said he’s excited about facing Fairview, has been known to have the Wolves well prepared against highly seeded opponents.

Sand Creek . . . 14 15 11 21 -- 61

Grandview . . . 19 15 18 22 -- 74

SC – Anthony Olivera-Saber 3 0-0 7, Virgil German 2 0-0 5, James Pierce 2 0-0 6, Nick Fox 9 3-6 23, Julian Mills 7 0-2 17, Brad Meakins 1 0-0 3. Totals 24 3-8 61.

G – Cameron Cusworth 10 2-2 29, Justin Small 7 2-3 16, Kevin Gausman 4 0-0 10, Austin Miller 0 2-2 2, Dillon Moritz 7 3-3 17. Totals 28 9-10 71.

Three-point goals – SC, Olivera-Saber, German, Pierce 2, Fox 2, Mills 3, Meakins. G, Cusworth 7, Gausman 2. Technical fouls – G, Cusworth.

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