The Jhett Wells Game: Fruita junior goes off in playoff win

By JAMES BURKY

James.Burky@gjsentinel.com

Someone give the public address announcer from the Fruita Monument High School boys basketball team’s playoff game a throat lozenge.

He was calling Jhett Wells’ name with regularity, igniting a packed school gym to count out “One!

Two! Three!” after each of Wells’ eight 3-pointers in Fruita’s 73-40 win over Liberty in the first round of the Class 6A playoffs on Friday.

Wells finished with 36 points — 19 in the third quarter. Each bucket drew smiles from his teammates and deafening cheers from the fans. Guys even gave up decent shots to feed the junior. It was just one of those nights.

“After I hit that first 3, I thought ‘Alright, this could be a pretty good night.’

After I hit three I thought, ‘Alright, it’s going to be a pretty good night.’” Wells grinned. “... It’s a blessing to be able to play with my teammates. I’m thankful for everything they’ve done and to have the confidence in me to take those shots.”

The 10th-seeded Wildcats (20-4) entered the game one year removed from a Cinderella-like run to the 6A Great 8. A slow start doomed them in their last playoff game and fueled the naysayers who think the Western Slope can’t compete in basketball.

At full health — injuries to Wells and Daniel Thomason affected the team in its four losses this season — Fruita put on a show.

“I hate losing and the rest of the team does.

We had a big chip on our shoulder and people don’t think we belong on the 6A bracket anywhere and they don’t think we can win any games,” Wells said. “So I think that chip on our shoulder helps us win those games in those situations.”

The Wildcats jumped to a 15-4 first-quarter lead thanks to a pair of 3-pointers from Wells and another from Gavin Bradshaw, who finished with eight points on the night.

The levee hadn’t broken but it sure as heck was swelling. It burst open just moments into the second quarter.

Wells scored eight points not even two minutes into the quarter. When the Lancers (17-7) keyed in on him, Thomason and

See JHETT, page 13A ➤

Fruita Monument’s Jhett Wells shoots a 3-pointer during the Wildcats’ 73-40 first round playoff win over Liberty on Friday night. Wells made eight 3-pointers and scored 36 points to carry Fruita into the Sweet 16 of the Class 6A playoffs.

Photos by LARRY ROBINSON/ The Daily Sentinel

The Fruita Monument High School boy’s basketball team celebrates Friday in the locker room with team supporter Jackson Steele after the Wildcats’ 73-40 first round playoff win over Liberty.

. Continued from page 10A

Bradshaw had open lanes to attack the paint. Wells’ third 3-pointer of the quarter gave Fruita a 33-16 lead at halftime.

Wells bulked up a bit in the offseason. That’s a lot of change for scorers like him, so he had to get his groove back to account for the weight. That was on display in Fruita’s season- opener. Twenty-three games later, it looked like he figured it all out.

“It was like I was watching Steph Curry,” Fruita coach Michael Wells said of his son, just one day after Steph dazzled with a dozen 3-pointers. “...Early (in the season) it was a struggle. He was dealing with a lot of changes in his body, a lot of new things and stuff. He had to shoot through it, shooters shoot.

“He puts in a ton of time. The shooting gun we have in there is broken. If it’s not that, one of the coaches is rebounding for him and he’s staying after. I never know what time he’s going to get home because he’s still here shooting shots. Eventually that stuff pays off.”

The No. 23 Lancers opened the second half on a modest run but it was effectively moot and they couldn’t stop the kid who was outsourcing their entire team.

Jhett hit a 3-pointer to make it 38-20 early in the third. Thomason then dunked in transition. After getting a stop, a teammate gave up a decent shot and passed back to Jhett for a shoulder 3-pointer. Liberty called a timeout, players and coaches visibly (and audibly) frustrated.

The Lancers couldn’t score to save their lives and the defense was holding on for dear life.

“I don’t think anyone on that side of the mountain plays defense quite like us,” Jhett said. “Our defense is pretty special and I feel like that helped us win the game.”

Coming out of the timeout, the Wildcats simply twisted the knife.

Jimmy Hawkins found a truck-sized hole to the basket for an easy layup. Jhett was then fouled on a deep two and hit the and-one.

“I would think that’s a film that we probably need to get out,” quipped Michael Wells, who is in his second season coaching the boys after he guided the girls for nearly a decade.

Jhett took his first long rest of the night with Fruita leading 57-27. He had a couple more buckets in him and had some chances at a 40-point performance, but his night was all but done with the game in hand.

Performances like that have a way of igniting a team just like a crowd.

Thomason tomahawked a dunk in the fourth quarter and scored eight points in the third.

“I feel great just watching (Jhett) do that because we’ve been playing together since, gosh, like fourth grade maybe,” said Thomason, who finished with 14 points. “...To see him succeed like that and shoot like that, it’s really cool and I’m glad I get to be a part of that.”

On paper, Liberty had the size advantage on Fruita. Most teams on the Front Range do. But Michael pointed to a five-hour road trip and raucous gym as being x-factors for Fruita.

“It feels good to come in here and have the community here supporting us,” said senior Thomason, who will play for MSU Denver in college. “No. 22 on the other team, London (Praytor), was saying ‘Your guys’’ crowd is crazy.’” Now the Wildcats face No. 7 ThunderRidge (19-5). The Grizzlies finished second in the 6A championship game in 2024 on the strength of 247Sports four-star prospect and Colorado-commit Andrew Crawford.

The Grizzlies simply reloaded, as to be expected with legendary coach Joe Ortiz. ThunderRidge averages more than 66 points per game and is led by junior Drew Paine, who averages 19 points and eight rebounds per game.

“The big challenge is we gotta do what (Liberty) just did. We’ve got a fourhour bus ride over there, they’ll have an environment similar to this,” Michael said. “Coach Ortiz is a legend in Colorado. He’s won more games than I’ve coached and I used to recruit his players when I was a junior college coach. Every opportunity for adversity is going to be there and we’re going to have to be able to handle that and make some plays.”

No. 9 Cheyenne Mountain 50, No. 24 Palisade 44 (OT): The Bulldogs kept the Red Tailed Hawks on upset watch in the first round of the 5A playoffs and had a slim lead entering the fourth.

Palisade missed a last-second heave to force overtime, and Cheyenne Mountain’s Cayden Cooper scored six of his team’s eight points in overtime.

This was Palisade’s fifth overtime game of the season.

No. 11 Longmont 41, No. 22 Grand Junction 34: The Tigers led 11-9 after the first quarter and trailed 20-19 at the break. But a slow second half doomed them in the firstround playoff game.

No. 4 Montrose 46, No. 29 Thornton 39: The Red Hawks overcame a slow first quarter and pulled away for the win.