Lakewood senior Gabby Carbone, left, secures a rebound during the first half Wednesday night. (Dennis Pleuss)
LAKEWOOD — It’s no secret what Lakewood’s girls basketball team is going to bring defensively night-after-night: pressure, pressure and more pressure.
“That’s what we do. We butter our bread and hang our hat on defense,” Lakewood coach Chris Poisson said after a 61-42 home victory Wednesday against Class 5A Jeffco rival Dakota Ridge. “We get a lot of points off it. That’s how we try to win.”
The Tigers (14-1, 8-0 in league) jumped out to an early 8-0 lead by forcing turnovers that led to breakaway layups. Lakewood never trailed and limited Dakota Ridge (10-5, 6-2) to 5-for-22 shooting in the first half.
The Tigers held a comfortable 33-14 lead through two quarters.
Lakewood senior Jessica Brooks looks over the shoulder of Dakota Ridge senior Jae Ferrin (33) under the basket Wednesday night. The Tigers took a 61-42 Class 5A Jeffco League victory. (Dennis Pleuss)
“I’ve got to give Lakewood all the credit. They stick to their plan,” Dakota Ridge coach Doug Maier said. “Their 2-2-1 (press zone defense) is excellent and Chris (Poisson) does a great job coaching them up.”
Lakewood had a good scoring balance in the first half with sophomores Mackenzie Forrest, McKenna Bishop and senior Jessica Brooks combining for 22 points at halftime.
“Our plan tonight was defense and rebounding,” said Brooks, who finished with 11 points. “We executed really well.”
Dakota Ridge seniors Lauren Wood (15 points) and Jae Ferrin (13 points) combined to score 24 points in the second half. The Eagles cut Lakewood’s lead to 15 points late in the third quarter.
However, the final quarter belonged to Forrest. The sophomore guard had a stretch of eight straight points to keep Lakewood’s lead in double-digits.
“I just felt (Dakota Ridge) was getting too close and I didn’t want to put that on my team,” said Forrest, who finished with a game-high 23 points. “I wanted to put in my own hands. If someone else was open I would have passed it.”
The majority of the sophomore’s buckets were layups or arching floaters in the lane.
“(Forrest) was on tonight and got a lot of points off her defense,” Poisson said. “We have a lot of weapons. We didn’t shoot incredibly well, but (Forrest) did.”
Lakewood is now securely in the driver’s seat of 5A Jeffco after completing a sweep through the first go-around against conference opponents. The Tigers will put their 13-game conference win streak, dating back to last season, on the line against Arvada West on Friday. Tipoff is scheduled for 7 p.m. at Lakewood High School.
Lakewood sophomore Mackenzie Forrest (33) directs traffic while being guarded by Dakota Ridge senior Ashley Mages on Wednesday night. Forrest had a game-high 23 points in the Tigers’ 61-42 victory. (Dennis Pleuss)
“I feel awesome. It feels great to know that we are halfway there and halfway to achieving our goal of a league championship,” Brooks said. “We can just taste it.”
The Tigers’ lone loss this season came last week in a non-league game against No. 5 Castle View. Lakewood held a halftime lead at home against the Sabercats, but eventually fell 55-46.
Dakota Ridge gets a chance to end its two-game losing streak when it hosts Pomona at 7 p.m. Friday. The Eagles suffered a tough 57-56 loss to Ralston Valley (10-3, 6-1) last week.
“They are going to be must-win games at the end of the year,” Maier said of getting another shot at Ralston Valley and Lakewood. “This team knows how to win. We’ve got a good stretch of games coming up here in the conference. We’ve got to get focused. We are still in it. Anything can happen.”
While a league title is the goal at the moment, taking a deeper run in the postseason is in the back of the Tigers’ minds.
“Last year making the Sweet 16 was nice. Now we expect it,” Poisson said. “This is a really good group and fun to coach. I’m not taking this for granted. I’m riding this wave with these great kids.”
Lakewood senior Gabby Carbone (15) looks to pass the ball while being covered by Dakota Ridge junior Jessica LeBaron (35) during the Tigers’ 61-42 victory Wednesday night. (Dennis Pleuss)Lakewood sophomore Marisela Perez, left, forces Dakota Ridge sophomore Caitlin Navratil to pass the ball during the first half Wednesday night at Lakewood High School. The Tigers’ defensive pressure help them to a 61-42 victory over the Eagles. (Dennis Pleuss)Lakewood sophomore Mackenzie Forrest, far right, pulls up in the lane as Dakota Ridge senior Lauren Wood guards the paint Wednesday night. Forrest had a game-high 23 points as the Tigers won their 13th straight Class 5A Jeffco League game dating back to last season. (Dennis Pleuss)
Ralston Valley junior Andrew Wingard, left, traps Dakota Ridge senior Cambrian Antrillo near the sideline Tuesday night. (Dennis Pleuss)
ARVADA — Tuesday night in Ralston Valley’s gym was a microcosm of how tight the boys basketball competition is atop the Class 5A Jeffco League.
Ralston Valley needed to erase a four-point deficit with 14.5 seconds left in the fourth quarter before scoring a 66-62 overtime victory against conference foe Dakota Ridge. The Mustangs were 11-for-13 from the free-throw line in overtime to upend the Eagles, who entered the CHSAANow.com 5A poll at No. 9 this week.
“Two gutty performances from both teams. You’ve got to give Dakota at lot of credit. They battled us to the very end,” Ralston Valley coach Mitch Conrad said after his Mustangs extended their winning streak to six games. “This is one you hate for either team to lose.”
Dakota Ridge (9-3, 4-2 in league) used a 20-point second quarter to grab the lead at halftime and pushed its advantage to as many as eight points midway through the third quarter before Ralston Valley (11-3, 6-1) rallied. Senior Bryn Finnefrock and sophomore Dallas Walton both went down with injuries in the second half, but returned to the court. Both were key in the come-from-behind victory.
Dakota Ridge junior Mason Grothuesmann (31) looks for an open teammate while being covered by Ralston Valley senior Johnny Weber. Grothuesmann led all scorers with 30 points in the Class 5A Jeffco League game Tuesday night. (Dennis Pleuss)
Finnefrock was fouled shooting a 3-pointer with 12.7 seconds left on the clock and the Mustangs down four. The senior made the first two of three free throws to cut Dakota Ridge’s lead to 53-51, but missed the third. The unintentional miss actually worked out to the Mustangs’ advantage.
“I had confidence in my first two. The last one I was trying to make, but it didn’t go in,” said Finnefrock, who finished with 15 points. “Then I looked up and saw Jonathan (Gillespie) sky and get the rebound. That was a great play.”
Ralston Valley called timeout to set up a game-tying play. Walton caught the ball near the free-throw line and was fouled when taking a fade away jumper. The sophomore calmly made both free throws to tie the game at 53-53 with 10.2 second left.
“We didn’t take care of the ball like we should have and we didn’t rebound,” Dakota Ridge coach Curi Yutzy said. “Ralston Valley is an awesome rebounding team and they found a way to make a play when it counted.”
The Eagles failed to find the bottom of the basket on a last-second shot as the game went into overtime.
Ralston Valley took a 58-53 lead with 1:54 left in overtime on a 3-point play by junior Andrew Wingard. Senior Rane Hornecker was a solid 6-for-8 from the free-throw line in the 4-minute extra session.
Dakota Ridge senior Ian MacDonald (21) splits through Ralston Valley defenders Dallas Walton and Zac Stevens (5) during the first quarter Tuesday. (Dennis Pleuss)
“I’m really proud of my team,” Finnefrock said. “When the pressure was on Rane (Hornecker) made his free throws and made my free throws. Dallas (Walton) came up big and Jonathan (Gillespie) had the big rebound. It was a team effort out there and we came up with the win.”
Fittingly, Finnefrock sealed the victory making a pair from the charity stripe with 5.7 second left to make the final score 66-62.
Dakota Ridge got a monster game from junior Mason Grothuesmann in the loss. The Eagles don’t have a player averaging double-digits, but Grothuesmann had a season-high 30 points Tuesday.
“We’ve talked as a (coaching) staff that we need to get (Grothuesmann) going,” Yutzy said. “He is a heck of a ballplayer. Hopefully this is stepping stone for him to take another step forward.”
Dakota Ridge gets back into its gym to face Lakewood at 7 p.m. Thursday. The Tigers (9-5, 4-3) have been on a bit of a roll since coming back from winter break. Lakewood will enter Thursday’s game at the Eagles Nest with a five-game winning streak.
Ralston Valley will complete its first go-around with its conference foes when it hosts rival Arvada West (9-4, 5-1) at 7 p.m. Thursday. The Mustangs actually faced the Wildcats in the championship game of the Ralston Roundup Tournament on Dec. 13, when Ralston Valley held off an A-West rally to take a 48-45 victory.
The important week of league games will end for Ralston Valley with a 4 p.m. tilt Saturday at Chatfield. The Chargers (10-3, 5-1), defending 5A Jeffco champs, handed the Mustangs a 73-57 loss on Ralston Valley’s home court in both teams’ league opener before winter break.
Ralston Valley senior Rane Hornecker, left, guards Dakota Ridge senior Jacob Flores during the first half Tuesday at Ralston Valley High School. The Mustangs scored a key 66-62 overtime victory against the No. 9 ranked Eagles. (Dennis Pleuss)
Steamboat Springs returned to the CHSAANow.com hockey ranking this week. (Mark Adams)
Bishop Machebeuf, coming off of consecutive wins last week and 5-1-0 over its past six games, has joined this week’s CHSAANow.com hockey poll.
The Buffaloes, ranked No. 9, were joined by No. 10 Steamboat Springs as new teams in this week’s poll.
Ralston Valley maintained its grip on the top spot, which the Mustangs have occupied since the first ranking. Mountain Vista returned to the No. 2 spot this week. Monarch is third.
Denver East is back in 5A’s No. 1 spot this week. (Kevin Keyser/KeyserImages.com)
Denver East is back on top of CHSAANow.com’s 5A boys basketball ranking. The Angels overtook Fossil Ridge by one overall point to reclaim their spot.
Fossil Ridge, which remained unbeaten by going 2-0 last week, had a one-week stay atop the poll. Denver East got 11 first-place votes to Fossil Ridge’s nine.
Denver East beat Denver North 94-31 in its lone game last week.
Dakota Ridge joined this week’s 5A boys basketball ranking. (Dennis Pleuss)
Regis Jesuit remained in the No. 3 spot and Cherry Creek in No. 4. Eaglecrest bumped up one place to round up the top 5.
Mountain Vista moved up two places to sit in sixth this week. Arapahoe is No. 7 and Overland fell three spots to No. 8.
Dakota Ridge is the lone newcomer to this week’s 5A ranking. The Eagles (9-2) have won eight of nine games, and are No. 9 this week.
Monarch fell one place to No. 10.
The poll’s other No. 1 teams — Valor Christian (4A), Holy Family (3A), Ignacio (2A) and Caliche (1A) — all stayed the same, as they have since the preseason.
The 3A ranking added Centauri (No. 9) and Bishop Machebeuf (No. 10), while 1A added Briggsdale (No. 10).
There were no newcomers in either the 4A or 2A polls. However, Pueblo South made a big jump in 4A, going from seventh to fourth.
