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D'Evelyn
outscores fierce rival, Golden, to stay on top of Jeffco 4A
(01/29/10)
by MARTY CESARIO
Once again, the annual D'Evelyn-Golden double bill was one
seriously rockin' evening of roundball. The girls extended the
opener into overtime with D'Evelyn finally winning after giving up a 16
point lead. And that intensity fed right into the fierce competition the
guys showcased in the nightcap.
A colorful and pumped-up
crowd at Golden High watched the Demons jump ahead on their home
court with an early 10 point lead, but the Jaguars blew up the nets
with 12 three-pointers -- four each from senior Mark
Neely and freshman Luke Stratman -- while senior
Alex Bervik piled up points in every way possible as
D'Evelyn outscored their Jeffco rivals, 86-79, to stay on top of the
league standings.
Insane defensive pressure and hustle at the
rim gave Golden their great start. Juniors Rory O'Brien
and Patrick Hart both earned field goals on
offensive put-backs and when star forward Trevor
Evanson converted another Demon pick into a fast break
lay-up, Golden was up 12-2 within the opening three minutes of play.
An early deficit... ain't no thang to the Jaguars. Coach
Troy Pachner, who had already mentioned to me that senior
leadership was a shining attribute for this season's squad, put his
shooters in launch mode and sent Bervik on a stealth mission to a
ridiculously sweet spot at the edge of the lane. Both objectives worked
big-time! Neely drilled a pair of threes. Bervik repeatedly caught passes
and banked in buckets behind the defense. D'Evelyn quickly
retaliated. A 10-0 run to tie. A 17-3 flurry to establish a four
point advantage to open the second quarter. That's when the freshman
stepped in and Alex stepped out. Stratman, Bervik, Stratman.
Bam! Three-pointers on three consecutive possessions trumped
efficient but conventional scoring by Golden. D'Evelyn was up 28-21
at 4:58 in the second period and stretched their lead to nine,
37-28,
just before halftime on another lay-up from Bervik cutting from
his money spot down low.
Coach John Anderson's
kids proved their Jeffco-tough, though. His Demon defenders kept
chasing while his offense kept grinding for ways to even the
scoring. Golden got really close when senior leader,
Ryan Stokes, dropped a scoop shot to cut their
deficit to 46-45 at the 2:31 mark in the third quarter. Then guess
what? Neely again! For three! Same for sophomore Reid
Bervick on the Jaguars' next possession. Thus began another
D'Evelyn outburst also highlighted by another pair of threes from Stratman
and a pretty cut, drop, and one by Alex Bervick. The Jaguars were up
68-53 with 4:30 remaining in the game and now had the Demons'
two best perimeter defenders fouled out of the game.
Fortunately
for Golden, the whistles had been blowing at both teams. After being
defended well by smaller guys throughout the game, the 6'5" Evanson almost
single-handedly earned a double-bonus situation for his Demons and
they were able to slim the Jags' lead in those final four minutes via foul
shots and some gutsy never-die leadership from Stokes. But
defensively, the scoreboard forced Coach Anderson to gamble with more
aggressiveness. The Jaguars -- notably senior point man,
Charlie Basil -- easily broke the Golden press leading to
either long passes up court for easy baskets or free throws by
sure-shooters like sophomore Matt Menard, who scored 10
of his 14 points at the line. (With the clock not ticking too often,
the two teams combined for 59 points in the final quarter.)
By beating their biggest rivals, D'Evelyn upped their
league record to 7-1 and remains even at the top of Jeffco 4A with
Evergreen -- who issued the Jaguars a one point loss
on January
13th. If both squads can stay the course, the February 18th rematch
would offer some tasty
drama.
D'Evelyn (11-6,
7-1) 17 20 20 29
86
Golden (9-9, 5-4)
15 15 19 30 79
DJ: A. Bervik 23,
Neely 20, Stratman 14, Menard 14
GD: Stokes 22, Evanson 22,
Spatz 10, Hart 10
Individual stats may
be unofficial. Feedback via e-mail to: contactus@ispn.tv or martycesario@hotmail.com
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