|
Dakota Ridge
banks a big rivalry win over #8 Chatfield
(01/22/10)
by MARTY CESARIO
The Chargers have the been the squad positioned in our Top 10
throughout the season. The Eagles, though, had been on my
radar. The Dakota hoopers had 11 wins! But considering
Jeffco isn't believed to be strong this season, Dakota's date
with neighborhood rival, Chatfield, was the
chance to validate that nice record.
Done. Nailed it.
In a tightly contested game at Dakota Rige High, the Eagles
pestered their bigger opponents with pesky defense while senior
Brandon Wilson's three-point shooting and clutch makes at
the free throw line helped his squad take the lead and finish with a
20-9 run in the last seven minutes as Dakota Ridge upset 8th-ranked
Chatfield, 51-42.
The quick hands and quick feet of the
Dakota defense had Chatfield bothered from the tip as the Chargers
committed five turnovers and were called for three fouls in the opening
four minutes of the game. On the other end, Wilson and
talented junior, Danny DiFolco, started hot
from long range. Regardless, Chatfield muscled through
their early miscues with size, talent, and the kind of bull-headed
effort I like to see from a group that seemed "off" for most of the night.
A baseline floater from hustle guy, Kyle
Evans, and a pair of free throws from star
center, Trevor Wages, put the favorites up 18-13 at
3:30 in the second quarter. Immediately, though, Wilson and reserve
junior, Brent Terrell, sank three-pointers on consecutive
possessions to stop a four minute scoreless drought then Wilson hit
another three from his perch in a baseline corner as Dakota Ridge
exploded into intermission with a 23-20
halftime advantage.
In a third quarter that lacked any
rhythm and offered little point production, Chatfield climbed back into a
tie with a three-point shot by senior point guard, Dean
Wright. At that point -- the 6:12 mark in the third-- the
score was even 25-25. The board read 29-29 by the end of that period.
That's eight points in six minutes, Einstein. Yawn. Dakota's perimeter
shooters were now misfiring. Chatfield's offense was still unable to get
in sync and gain any momentum.
Four straight free throws by Wright
did give the Chargers a 33-31 lead at 7:06 in the
final period, but then the Eagles attacked a softened middle and
regained some outside touch to begin their drive to
victory.
With the 6'8" Wages sitting on the
opposite bench with four fouls, Coach Curi
Yutzy, sent his scorers to the lane. Nice call,
Coach. DiFalco hit a fade shot in traffic then Wilson tossed in a short
runner putting Dakota back on top, 35-33. Wilson
then stepped back out and drained another three-pointer -- his fourth
of the game. DiFalco continued dribbling inward. Danny banked in a
ten-footer, he hit three free throws, and he drew Wages fifth foul on a
fast break with 1:57 remaining. (I feel compelled to cut Wages
some slack for fouling out. It seemed to me he was forced to
cover a whole lotta space in order to help beaten teammates or rebound on
his own.)
Senior Jordan Carter gave
Chatfield one last glimpse of hope when he banked in a
three-ball to cut the Dakota Ridge lead to five points, 45-40, with 46
seconds remaining. But the Eagles made their free
throws-- Wilson with four in-a-row followed by the
final pair by DiFalco.
What a huge win for the Dakota
Ridge kids! They knocked down a Top Ten squad which happened to be
their local rival. You know how it is. They get to puff their
chests at the mall, the pizza joint... wherever they feel
like it, right? (Careful. These two teams will meet again on February
11th.) The Eagles have now won 11 of their last 12 games and sit on top of
the Jeffco-5A standings. Coach Yutzy will have to tame his players'
emotions, though, and keep them sharp. Their next run is
at Pomona, who is also 4-1 in league, coming up
this Wednesday.
Chatfield (10-4,
4-1) 10 10 9
13 42
Dakota Ridge (12-3,
4-1) 10 13 5 22
51
CC: Wright 15, Wages 10, Carter 10
DRE:
B.Wilson 18, DiFolco 16, VanderVelde 10
Individual stats may be unofficial. Feedback via e-mail
to: contactus@ispn.tv or martycesario@hotmail.com
|
