LITTLETON — If there were any nerves for Dakota Ridge’s boys basketball team Wednesday night in its playoff opener they sure didn’t show.
The No. 7-seeded Eagles soared to a 71-30 victory over No. 26 Pueblo County in the opening round of the Class 5A state tournament at Dakota Ridge High School.
“It is normal for all of us to get nervous before the game, but we trust each other,” said Dakota Ridge senior Cole Holloway, after Dakota Ridge’s 20th win of the season. “We all know what we are capable of. We have been playing together for multiple years. We trust each other and trust the process.”
The senior-laded Eagles showed they are capable of taking a game over early and dominating from start to finish, something Dakota Ridge did through its 10-0 run in the Class 5A/4A Jeffco League during the regular season.
Dakota Ridge (20-4 record) raced out to a 41-6 halftime lead against the Hornets (14-10). Five different Eagles combined for eight 3-pointers in the first half.
“With our personnel we are at our best when we share it,” Dakota Ridge coach Sean Kovar said of the Eagles great ball movement in the first half. “I think the guys have bought in that they don’t need any accolades. They don’t care about themselves. They just care about getting the next guy the open shot.”
A dozen different Eagles scored in the fifth straight victory for Dakota Ridge. Sophomore Ethan Berninger led the way with 12 points. Holloway was the only other Eagle to finish in double-digit points with 11.
“That ball movement was awesome,” Holloway said. “Everyone was touching the ball. The extra pass creates open shots for everyone. We don’t have one guy who does it all. I think that is why we are so unselfish and finds success most of the time.”
Dakota Ridge’s defense kept Pueblo County senior Braxton Vail in check. Vail came in averaging a double-double — 11.8 points and 10 rebounds — per game. Vail was held to just six points and fouled out late in the third quarter.
“They continued to contain and grab rebounds. That was really big for us in this game,” Kovar said of his team. “We needed to keep (Vail) off the boards and we did a pretty good job of that.”
Next up for Dakota Ridge is a rematch against No. 10 Thomas Jefferson (15-9). The Spartans edged No. 23 Palmer Ridge 42-41 on Wednesday to get another shot at the Eagles. Dakota Ridge took an 81-53 victory over TJ in the Eagles’ season opener back on Nov. 29.
Despite the 18-point win already over the Spartans, the Eagles won’t be overlooking the 5A/4A Denver Prep League champions.
“We don’t get any second chances from this point,” Holloway said. “Every game is ride or die for us.”
Of Dakota Ridge’s four losses this year, two came against a pair of Texas powerhouses and the other two were against Class 6A’s Denver East and Mountain Vista. Denver East is the No. 4 seed for the 6A tournament and Mountain Vista is the No. 1 seed in 6A.
The fact does remain that a win Saturday, Feb. 25, over TJ will advance Dakota Ridge to the state quarterfinals that will be played downtown at the Denver Coliseum next week.
“As much as we would like to think about that we really aren’t,” Kovar said of the Eagles one win away from advancing to the Great 8. “We’ll see who we get on Saturday and worry about that one game.”
Holloway talked about how special it is just to be on this journey with his teammates.
“It would mean the world to all of us,” Holloway said of playing down at the Denver Coliseum. “Our goal at the start of the season was to go win state, but we are playing one game at a time. You have to go win the next one.”