New-look D’Evelyn dominates in girls basketball opener

DENVER — Most of the faces are different, but the signature pressure defense that has been a mainstay for D’Evelyn’s girls basketball team remains.

On opening night Monday, the Jaguars cruised to a 53-19 home victory over St. Mary’s Academy. The win featured D’Evelyn holding the Wildcats to four points in the first half and going on a 24-0 run. 

“I’m always nervous on opening night,” said D’Evelyn coach Chris Olson, who has guided the Jaguars’ girls basketball program for nearly two decades.

The graduation of Peyton Marvel (18.9 points and 13.5 rebounds per game) and Macy Scheer (14.3 points and 6.9 rebounds per game) might have had Olson a little bit more nervous this year. However, his young squad calmed the nerves early. 

Sophomore Colleen Monahan poured in 17 points in the first half to help give the Jaguars a commanding 30-4 halftime lead.

“I was a little bit,” said Monahan when asked if she was nervous before scoring her game-high 23 points all in the first three quarters. “I just trusted in all the practice we’ve been doing as a team, our system of running the floor and playing good defense.”

D’Evelyn’s full-court trapping defense caused turnover-after-turnover in the first half. St. Mary’s early 2-0 lead became a 24-2 advantage for the Jaguars a few minutes into the second quarter.

“If our shots aren’t falling we always know we can run the floor and get easy shots,” Monahan said.

Sophomore Lyla Nagy poured in 8 of her 10 points in the first half getting several layup opportunities off of steals. Monahan added a trio of 3-pointers in the opening half.

“I thought we handled it well,” D’Evelyn senior Ellie McMann said of the 34-point win. “We were able to run and get in transition. That is what we always want to do.”

McMann was the lone starting senior for Olson on opening night. Olson started the two sophomores in Monahan, Nagy and a pair of freshmen with Hazel Hermes and Giada Lampert. Hermes finished with 7 points and Lampert had 4 points in their first high school game.

D’Evelyn has had a remarkable three-year run. The Jaguars had a 71-9 record over the past three seasons, along with advancing to the Class 4A state semifinals last year and being the 4A state runner-up in 2023. D’Evelyn made it to the 4A quarterfinals in 2022. 

The Jaguars have a busy week playing four games in six days. D’Evelyn will compete in the Falcon Challenge Tournament hosted by Skyline High School on Dec. 3, 5 and 7. 

“I think it will be a good start,” McMann said of the Jaguars playing four games this week. “A phrase in our program is ‘baptism by fire’. With sure a young team it will be tough to have four games the first week, but I think it will be good and set the tone for the rest of the season.”

McMann’s lone bucket came on a 3-pointer in the fourth quarter, but Olson knows how valuable his senior point guard will be to the Jaguars’ success this season. 

“Olson and I have had several conversations,” McMann said of her role this season. “I’ll be distributing the ball, but I also have to look for my own shot and score. I think what we talked about the most was leadership wise. Because we are so young I’ll be looked at as the vocal leader on the floor.”