WHEAT RIDGE — No question that this week is critical for Golden’s boys basketball team.
The Demons (10-6, 6-3 in Class 4A Jeffco) are a pair of games in the loss column behind league-leading and No. 6-ranked Green Mountain in the conference standings. However, Golden has the opportunity over the next five days to claw right back into the conversation for a league title.
“We knew coming into this week was going to be a big week,” Golden coach Lou Vullo said. “We have three huge games in three days. It’s a gauntlet. We can be excited about this, but we have to turn by around and play well on Wednesday.”
What the Demons were excited about was edging rival Wheat Ridge 48-39 in a low-scoring affair Monday night on the Farmers’ home court. Golden took a 25-point win over Wheat Ridge back on Jan. 7 in their first league meeting.
The Farmers (4-11, 3-7) hung tough for the majority of the game, even cutting Golden’s lead to 45-39 in the final minutes.
“I got to take my hat off to Wheat Ridge. I thought they played really hard,” Vullo said. “Coach Dowd (Farmers’ coach Tommy Dowd) did a tremendous job tonight. They played us in that zone and kind of muffled us up. We couldn’t get shots to fall and it kind of frustrated us.”
Golden was held to under 30 percent shooting from the field, including 3-for-19 from 3-point range. Seniors Richie Pruett (17 points) and Luke Anderson (10 points) were the only two Demons to reach double-digit points.
“Once we realized our shots weren’t falling we were just focused on getting to the middle and beating the zone,” Pruett said. “When the shooting isn’t coming you have to work on other things. Eventually a few shots will fall and you’ll get momentum off of that.”
Pruett even struggled from the free-throw line early missing two of his first three from the charity stripe, but rebounded with making his final seven free throws.
“The kids know if they aren’t score they have to help us out in other facets of the game,” Vullo said. “Richie did a really good job of rebounding and played some great defense for us tonight.”
A microcosm of the game came in the final minute. Golden sophomore Luc Chevalier missed a free throw, the Demons tried to grab the rebound but the Farmers eventually got the ball. Wheat Ridge sophomore Estevan Montoya was fed the ball up the court and had a one-on-one opportunity against Pruett. Montoya put a floating layup, but Pruett swatted the ball away.
“We did put a long of energy into our defense,” Vullo said as his Demons held the Farmers to under 40 points for the fifth time this season. “It allowed our defense to dictate some of our offense. That really helped us out.”
Wheat Ridge junior Sam McCune (14 points) and senior Devon Zurcher (10 points) gave the Farmers a fighting chance in front of the always spirited student crowds.
“It’s great to play in this environment,” Pruett said of the longest standing rivalry in Jeffco. “It’s a privilege to play in a game like this.”
Golden turns it attention to home games against D’Evelyn (13-4, 9-2) on Wednesday and Green Mountain (13-2, 8-1) on Friday. Victory over both won’t get the Demons back into the conference championship picture heading into the final stretch of league play.
“It’s always good to beat the Wheat,” Pruett said. “It’s definitely a great start to the week. Hopefully we can carry over this momentum into the rest of the week.”
Wheat Ridge in on the road against Evergreen (10-8, 7-4) on Wednesday.