Dawson boys earn assertive victory
Lyons girls basketball can breathe a little easier after its 60-48 victory at Dawson on Wednesday night.
The Lions needed it.
Before the Lions stepped foot on the Mustangs’ court, they teetered just on the edge of the RPI bubble at No. 32, according to CHSAA’S calculations. Generally, the top 32 teams in each classification make the state tournaments, but Class 3A operates a bit differently than the bigger schools.
The squads will separate into various district tournaments next week, and whoever wins each tournament will get an automatic bid to regionals, also known as the first round of the state tournament. The remaining bracket spots will be filled with the other top teams in the RPI rankings.
Dawson sat at No. 24 in 3A before the game began and feels prepared for whatever districts may bring.
“I feel like our energy in this game was better than any other game we’ve had in the past and I think that really carried us through,” Dawson senior Ella Stewart said. “In other games this season, we’ve struggled with scoring in the first and second quarters, but this game we kind of just used our energy and took off and I think that came from a really certainly good warm-up. Hopefully, we can take that focus and just kind of get in our own mindset and bring that to playoffs.”
Throughout the contest, two Lions split the bulk of the scoring responsibility, as senior Kylee Roberts netted most of her 26 points in the first half and senior Brooklyn Enny scored most of her 25 in the second half.
On the other side of the court, sophomore Rodas
16-3 run, stunning the Events Center crowd in a 60-59 decision. All of the shortcomings that have led to a disappointing season for the Buffs were on display. CU finished 9-for-17 at the free throw line while the Sun Devils posted a 22-7 edge in points off turnovers thanks to the 20 turnovers committed by the Buffs.
ASU finished just 5-for26 on 3-pointers that night, and the Sun Devils enter Thursday’s rematch with
Tewelde led the charge from deep as she sunk four 3-pointers and 16 total points. Stewart trailed just behind her with 11 points and a couple of full-body blocks.
Lyons improved to 10-9 and 5-7 in the 3A/2A/1A Mile High League and Dawson fell to 9-9 and 4-6.
“We just came off some rough losses, so to get this win, I feel like we’ll have our confidence back for
a .294 mark from the arc in league games that ranks 11th in the Pac-12. Yet in Boulder, ASU made three of those five 3-pointers during its game-closing run.
Three days later, CU recorded 18 turnovers in a loss at Washington, and after that sloppy start to the Pac-12 schedule the Buffs have not spent a single day over .500 within league play. Going an entire season without once being above .500 in league play has occurred just once in next week,” Enny said.
The ladies began their game with high-paced, high-intensity basketball, and Dawson kept the edge throughout the first frame thanks to the 3-point daggers that Tewelde was dropping. Only Roberts outshined her.
The Mustangs led the Lions 18-15 at the end of the first quarter before both offenses began to taper off a bit. Lyons reclaimed the
13 seasons under Boyle — in 2016-17, when the Buffs started 0-7 in the Pac-12.
“I think this league, outside of UCLA, I think on any given night anybody can beat anybody,” Boyle said. “I think that’s true for us. It’s true for Arizona State. It’s true for Utah and everybody. They’ve got a lot of talent, a lot of tough kids, and they play with reckless abandon. We’ve just got to be able to match their intensity and match their pressure.” lead two shots into the second frame, and both squads exchanged blows after that before Lions led, just barely, with a 29-27 score at the midway point. Roberts alone owned 18 points.
The Lions began to create a little separation for themselves midway through the third quarter via an 11-point unanswered streak and — although they closed the gap back down to four points at one point — the Mustangs couldn’t recover. Enny made sure of it.
“During halftime, we just decided we all needed to lock in and kind of change our mindset a little bit to get the win and actually carry it out,” Enny said. “In the first quarter, my shots weren’t really falling and once I got the first one, it just started coming natural.”
Unlike the girls game, the Dawson and Lyons boys played more for district seeding when they met up on Wednesday night. Prior to the beginning of the contest, they sat at No. 40 and No. 39, respectively, in CHSAA’S RPI rankings.
Senior guard Tyler Burridge and junior guard Jackson Parker asserted themselves early for the Mustangs as they — almost exclusively — laid a 28-12 foundation for the Mustangs going into halftime. Burridge took care of business from long range as
Parker brought the pain in the paint and at the line.
Parker and Burridge finished the game with 27 and 12 points, respectively, as sophomore center Peter Ernst — Mr. Putback himself — added another eight. Lyons senior Nate Richardson netted 16 points to lead his boys as sophomore shooting guard Payton Bolkovatz and sophomore point guard Caleb Christiansen each added eight more.
Lyons never recovered from that early deficit, but they certainly made it interesting in the fourth quarter before Dawson went on to win 53-46. The Lions trailed by as much as 27 toward the end of the third quarter before closing the contest with 15 unanswered points.
“We just knew we had to get up in the first half tonight and just do our best,” Parker said. “It was a good game. We ended up slowing down a little bit and getting a lot of turnovers. And they kind of ended up coming back on us a little bit.”
With the win, the Mustangs improved to 7-12 and 5-7 in the Mile High League as Lyons fell to 6-13 and 4-8. Districts will decide their postseason fates next week.
“I think (our comeback) gave us a lot of confidence to see how we can actually play,” Richardson said. “We just need to put everything together that we have. We can play defense. We can shoot. Shots weren’t falling tonight. It happens.”
of be past all of the emotional and mental hurdles that you go through when you first come to college.”
During the recruiting process, Johnson clicked with the players and staff right away.
“I just loved everything about it — the culture, everything,” she said.
Under Payne, CU has developed a culture built on family, but also hard work. So far, Johnson has proven to fit right in.
“I really do just with come in with a positive mindset, ready to learn each day, honestly,” she said. “It’s challenging, but that’s what makes it fun. That’s what the game of basketball is at the end of the day and I love it.”