The Jefferson boys basketball team did a good job of running with Greeley West for the first eight minutes of Wednesday's Class 4A first-round tournament game.

After that, the Spartans ran the Saints out of the building.

Reed Miller scored 18 of his game-high 30 points in the third quarter and the Spartans used a second-quarter scoring surge to pull away from the Saints in an 88-71 victory.

"It takes an especially good effort to put up 88 points in a high school basketball game," Greeley West coach Bill Whitehead said. "What makes it even more special is that a majority of those points came in three quarters."

The Spartans scored 31 in the second, and Miller took advantage of some mismatches under the basket to help Greeley West pull away.

Alex Seier added 17 points and Alex Mendibles scored 13 for the Spartans, who led 75-45 after three quarters.

"We had a big size advantage," said the 6-foot-4 Miller, who teamed with Seier for more than half the Spartans' final tally. "They didn't have anyone who could physically match up with Alex or I."

The Spartans forced 25 turnovers, 14 in the first half, when the Saints were trying to beat Greeley West down the floor nearly every possession.

Greeley West (19-5), the No. 6 seed in the Jim Baggot Region, advanced to a second-round matchup at third-seeded Pueblo East (15-7).

Jordan Martinez led Jefferson (21-3) with 21 points, with six of his seven three-pointers coming in the fourth quarter.

Jefferson proved it belonged in the postseason in the first quarter.

A three-pointer from Alex Gore followed by a three-point play off a reverse layup from Duane Waters, gave Jefferson a 12-8 lead late in the first.

West answered, though, and took a 16-14 lead into the second quarter. Jefferson took the lead briefly in the second before a six-point Greeley West run gave it the lead for good.

Jefferson 14 18 13 26 - 71

Greeley West 16 31 28 13 - 88

J - Jordan Martinez 7 0-0 21, Alex Gore 4 7-9 17, Jacob Chapa 1 4-4 6, Nathaniel Martinez 3 0-0 6, Duane Waters 2 1-1 5, Chris Butler 1 2-3 4, DeShaude Patterson 2 0-0 4, Mike Aragonez 2 0-0 4, Joe Martinez 1 0-0 3, Jesus Ornelas 0 1-2 1, Nick Gallegos 0 0-0 0. Totals 23-50 15-19 71.

GW - Reed Miller 13 3-4 30, Alex Seier 7 3-6 17, Alex Mendibles 3 5-5 13, Jordan Rockwell 3 4-4 10, Robert Hawkins 3 1-1 7, Juan Contreras 1 2-2 4, Ben Neimann 1 0-0 2, Lee Sogge 1 0-0 2, Sean Blackmer 0 1-2 1, Grant Buchanan 0 0-0 0, Grant Gattis 0 0-0 0, Billy Williams 0 0-0 0. Totals 33-60 19-24 88.

Three-point goals - J, Jor. Martinez 7, Gore 2, Joe Martinez; GW, Mendibles 2, Miller.