Urynowicz, Elliott lead Rocky Mountain past Poudre

There’s no flashy nickname.

Joe and Joe.

They’re just “the Joes” to their teammates.

A common name for uncommon game.

Joe Urynowicz and Joe Elliott can be destroyers on the court, scoring from everywhere.

The Joes of the Rocky Mountain High School boys basketball team often send teams home shaking their heads.

The latest victim is Poudre after Joe and Joe combined for 43 points in a 57-35 win over the Impalas at Rocky Mountain Friday night.

“It’s so fun,” said Elliott, who scored 21. “Me and him have been playing together since like sixth grade and we’ve always dreamed of big games like this.”

Joe and Joe are the scoring power for the Lobos (8-9, 5-2 Front Range League) every night. Urynowicz averages just shy of 18 per game while Elliott is at 15 per game.

The Lobos sometimes struggle to find the depth of scoring needed to win, but that wasn’t a problem Friday.

The pair were electric offensively and the team was sensational defensively against Poudre (8-8, 3-3 FRL).

The Impalas were limited to 13 first-half points, including just five in the second quarter.

At the same time the Joe duo took off. Urynowicz hit back-to-back 3-pointers early in the second quarter, pumping his fists to rile up the big crowd after the second as the Lobos built a big lead.

They never relinquished it and the game wasn’t close in the second half. Urynowicz led all scorers with 22 as the pair outscored Poudre on their own.

Elliott and Urynowicz combined for seven 3-pointers.

“Whenever one of us has a lot of the attention, the other one has an opportunity to score. He can do everything, post up, drive, shoot. I’m more of the distributor, shooter. We definitely complement each other,” Elliott said. “Man, it was so fun. Nothing more I could ask for, honestly. It was great.”

The two teams reflect each other in a lot of ways. Both have solid talent, but have struggled to be consistent.

Friday just wasn’t Poudre’s night. The Impalas beat Rocky Mountain in December and have more wins this season than the last three combined. They’re likely to reach double-digit wins this season for the first time since the 2012-13 season.

Damian Forrest scored a team-high 18, but Poudre just ran into a buzz saw Friday.

Both teams now enter the home stretch of the season. Both are likely to make playoffs, but are desperately fighting to improve seeding.

The Joes hope this is the start of something special.

“I think we can be consistent. We can play better than we played tonight,” Urynowicz said. “I think we’re an awesome team. I think we can only get better from here and we’re only going to be better from here.”

Follow sports reporter Kevin Lytle at twitter.com/Kevin_Lytle and at facebook.com/KevinSLytle.

ROCKY MOUNTAIN 57, POUDRE 35

Poudre 8 5 7 15 — 35

Rocky Mountain 16 13 13 15 — 57

Poudre (8-8, 3-3) — Forrest 18, Fisher 4, Wells 4, Luna 3, McFadden 3, Wood 3.

Rocky Mountain (8-9, 5-2) — Urynowicz 22, Elliott 21, Fisher 5, Heinze 3, Young 3, Lovell 3.