Cherry Creek senior Jana Van Gytenbeek was named the Colorado girls basketball player of the year by Gatorade on Friday just as her team prepares to compete in the Class 5A Great 8.
Van Gytenbeek, who will play basketball at Stanford next season, is averaging 18.3 points, 7.7 assists, 3.9 rebounds and 3.2 steals for the Bruins (22-2). She is a two-time first-team all-state selection (so far). Earlier this season, she set the state record for career assists.
“Jana does it all,” said Mullen coach Frank Cawley. “She can score at will. She is unselfish. She is a lock-down defender and can handle the ball so well that she will single-handedly break almost any full-court pressure. Most importantly, she is a floor leader.”
Van Gytenbeek is the first girls basketball player from Cherry Creek to ever win the Gatorade award. She is the school’s 19th overall winner.
Van Gytenbeek has a weighted 4.07 GPA. She volunteers locally with Project C.U.R.E., which raises money to benefit hospitals and clinics in the developing world. She has also donated her time on behalf of the Salvation Army and as a youth basketball coach.
George Washington is moving on to the Denver Coliseum. The No. 19 Patriots stunned No. 3 Ralston Valley 62-52 in the Class 5A boys basketball Sweet 16.
MONTROSE — No. 25 Lincoln boys basketball beat Montrose on the road in the Class 4A Sweet 16 on Wednesday.
“I thought the guys handled the hostile environment pretty well,” Lincoln coach Dre Calloway said. “Montrose played a great game. It’s hard to try and beat a team in an elimination game two years in a row, but I was pleased with the team’s effort and focus.”
Lincoln held a slim 11-8 lead after the first quarter, and pushed that lead to 20-13 at the break. It was 29-19 through three quarters, and Lincoln built up a 38-24 advantage with 2:11 to play. They won 43-32.
“What led to the win was our mentality to staying disciplined,” Lincoln senior Ty Foster said. “We stayed together as a family and everyone knew their role as we’ve all accepted our role on this team.”
Foster led Lincoln with 17 points. Tijani Bamba had 13, and Emiliano Rodriguez had seven.
Montrose was led by Trey Schwerdtfeger, who had eight points. Luke Hutto and Jordan Jennings had six apiece. Sean Alex and Trey Reese each had five.
“Proud of my team’s effort and fight tonight,” Montrose coach Ryan Voehringer said. “I thought we played extremely well defensively to hold a great team in Lincoln to 43 points. We just couldn’t get any shots to drop on the offensive end. Credit Lincoln and it’s defensive pressure. That had a lot to do with us not making shots. I wish Lincoln all the best as they move forward in the tournament. Proud of my guys for the great season we had.”
Pueblo East senior Darnell Kindred (20) drives on Golden senior Carter Thompson (44) during the second half Wednesday night at Golden High School. No. 13 seed Pueblo East took a 65-62 victory over No. 4 Golden in the Class 4A Sweet 16 game. (Dennis Pleuss/Jeffco Athletics)
GOLDEN — Pueblo East continues to have success against familiar foes during the Class 4A boys basketball state tournament.
“When we saw them (Golden) on the bracket we knew it was revenge time,” said Pueblo East senior Darnell Kindred, who poured in 20 points for the Eagles on Wednesday night in the Sweet 16 game at Golden High School.
Pueblo East opened its postseason run defeating rival Pueblo Central for the third time this season.
The No. 13-seeded Eagles upset No. 4 Golden Demons 65-62 in what was a rematch from earlier this season. Golden got the better against Pueblo East the first time around with a 62-59 win Dec. 7 during the Golden/D’Evelyn Preview Classic.
Golden senior Kevin Mulligan takes a jumper over Pueblo East senior Darnell Kindred (2) during the second quarter Wednesday night. The Demons suffered a 65-62 home loss to end their season in the Sweet 16 of the state tournament. (Dennis Pleuss/Jeffco Athletic)
Pueblo East (18-7 record) flipped the script to come out on the winning end during the round of 16 state playoff game.
“We knew it was going to be tough. It was a very similar game from the first time,” Pueblo East coach Mike Massaro said of the second go-around against Golden. “I think we got the breaks this time. The things that hurt us last time were turnovers, shot selection and rebounding. We really tried to focus on those three things.”
Golden (18-7) and Pueblo East were tied 33-33 at halftime, but senior Ben McLaughlin buried back-to-back 3-pointers to give the Demons a 6-point lead early in the third quarter. McLaughlin scored a game-high 24 points, including going 15-for-18 from the free-throw line to go along with a trio of 3-pointers.
“Weather the storm,” Massaro said of McLaughlin’s back-to-back 3-pointers. “We knew we were going to take their hits. We just had to answer back. You keep plugging away and they did.”
The Eagles did answer with a 9-0 run to take the lead. Junior Kyle Miller hit a big 3-pointer and Kindred had a pair of buckets in the paint during the run.
“We knew we had the size,” Kindred said of the Eagles pounding the ball inside for the majority of the second half. “We knew if we could get in the paint we would have a good opportunity to win this game.”
Pueblo East senior Marvin London, right, takes it hard to the basket on Golden senior Kevin Mulligan (32) during the fourth quarter Wednesday night. (Dennis Pleuss/Jeffco Athletics)
Junior Brenden Harding had a solid fourth quarter pouring in eight of his 14 points in the final eight minutes before fouling out late. The Eagles closed the game making nine free throws in the final minute.
However, a missed free throw by Pueblo East junior Jaxson Herring gave Golden the ball and one final chance to tie the game with a 3-pointer. With 11.5 seconds left the Demons had the ball. However, they never got off a shot as a pass to senior Kevin Mulligan was low and went out of bounds.
“We were looking to put a shooter in the corner, have a little dribble penetration and get the kick out,” Golden coach Lou Vullo said of the play drawn up in an attempt to tie the game in the final seconds. “I think it was a bit of a bad pass, but those things happen.”
For the second year in a row, Golden bowed out of the state tournament in the Sweet 16.
“Back-to-back Sweet 16 appearances and a league title this year, this team exceeded expectations,” said Vullo, who had guided the Demons to a 32-19 record over two seasons.
Pueblo East — having won 11-of-12 games — continues its revenge tour. Next up for the Eagles is No. 5 Northfield. The Nighthawks defeated Pueblo East 54-51 before winter break.
“Another revenge game,” Kindred said about heading back to the Denver Metro area Saturday to face Northfield. “We lost to them in overtime in a close game at our house. We are going to go to their house and do the same thing.”
Golden senior Ben McLaughlin (2) splits Pueblo East juniors Jaxson Herring (22) and Kyle Miller (23) during the first quarter Wednesday night. McLaughlin scored a game-high 24 points, but it wasn’t enough as the Demons lost 65-62. (Dennis Pleuss/Jeffco Athletics)
HIGHLANDS RANCH — Sometimes games befitting of an atmosphere that the Denver Coliseum is sure to offer in the coming weeks happen before teams can even reach the building. Playoff basketball has a way of bringing out thrilling moments and gut wrenching outcomes and that’s even in the early rounds.
Happiness, heartbreak and jubilation were all on display at Valor Christian High School for the Class 5A boys basketball Sweet 16. Valor started fast. Eaglecrest rallied. The teams exchanged blows late.
But a 60-52 win ensured only the Eagles will advance to this weekend’s Great 8 just northeast of downtown Denver.
The beneficiaries of a 7-0 run to start the game, the Valor Christian put belief in themselves and their teammates that they could live to fight another day.
“I think our guys have been pretty focused on coming out and being ready to go from the beginning,” Valor coach AJ Kuhle said. “When you start well, usually you finish well.”
That was certainly the case. The Eagles (19-6 overall) scored 15 points in the first quarter and 23 in the fourth. In the final eight minutes of the game, the team shot 11-for-13 from the free throw line.
(Dan Mohrmann/CHSAANow.com)
That’s a big difference in an eight-point game.
“We’ll get in practice and we’ll be tired after running and we’ll come out and Coach makes us shoot free throws,” AJ Kula said. “He tells us to make them both.”
Kula scored a team-high 12 points, eight of which came from the charity stripe. Amondo Miller, Talin Unruh and Roger Rosengarten also scored in double figures.
As balanced as the scoring was, the defensive effort for the Eagles was arguably more impressive, specifically in the first half. Ty Robinson came into the game averaging 13.3 points per game for the Raptors (17-8) but was held to one in the first half.
“It was a big thing for us,” Unruh said. “Our coach did a great job with the scouting report and it was an awesome thing to see all of our guys defend him.”
But a kid like Robinson can’t be held down every minute he’s on the floor. He came out firing in the second half, scoring 10 of his game-high 16 points in the third quarter.
“I probably should’ve gone to him one or two more times down the stretch,” Eaglecrest coach Jarris Krapcha said. “He had a big momentum dunk, but the momentum got lost pretty quick.”
With Robinson’s intensity dialed up, the Raptors jumped right back in the game. Zion Rickard sank a pair of free throws with three minutes, 29 seconds left in the third quarter to give Eaglecrest a 30-29 lead, its first lead of the game.
But the Eagles refused to let down. Each time Eaglecrest took the lead or got close to retaking the lead, Valor stretched it back to five or seven points.
And that was good enough to keep the game out of reach.
“It’s a group that’s played a lot of basketball together and they care about each other,” Kuhle said. They know that in the games there are ups and downs and they just have to be consistent in their behavior.”
The Eagles will meet George Washington in the Great 8 following the Patriots’ win over Ralston Valley.
Valor and GW met earlier in the year so there is some familiarity with each other heading into the weekend.
“We beat them by (11),” Unruh said. “We just have to play as a team like we did tonight and we’ll be fine.”
