Buzzer-beat lifts Green Mountain girls hoops over D’Evelyn

DENVER — Green Mountain junior Kantyn Pearson drained probably her most significant 3-pointer of her high school career Friday night.

Facing possible overtime on the road against D’Evelyn, Pearson threw in a 3-pointer as the buzzer sounded to give Green Mountain a dramatic 46-43 road victory.

“I didn’t look at the clock at that moment, but I knew there was less than 3 seconds,” Pearson said of her game-winning 3-pointer. 

The Rams (19-2 record, 7-0 in Class 5A/4A/3A Jeffco League) inbounded the ball with 9.9 seconds remaining in a tied game. Sophomore Ella Cockrum had the ball knocked way as she dribbled near the free-throw line, but fellow sophomore Grace Herrig was able to grab the loose ball and shovel it to Pearson. 

“I was just praying,” Herrig said of the game-winning shot. “She (Pearson) has hit those before. She hit one like that in a summer camp. It went it. It was really crazy. I love her for it.”

Pearson squared up, took the shot from 3-point range and hit nothing but the bottom of the net. 

“Sometimes you just have to let your best player made a play,” Green Mountain coach Matteo Busnardo said of the game-winning shot by Pearson. “I’m super proud of the girls and that was a big shot.”

The victory was the 18th straight win for the Rams and put Green Mountain one victory away from winning the conference title. D’Evelyn (17-2, 4-2) was hoping for a 3-peat, but the loss ended those hopes for the Jaguars.

“It feels so good,” Pearson said about the Rams being one win away from a conference title. “We wanted it so bad last year. I’m so glad we beat D’Evelyn this year.”

Green Mountain closes out the regular season at home against Conifer on Tuesday next week, followed by over a week break before wrapping up its league schedule at home against Wheat Ridge on Feb. 19. A win over Conifer or Wheat Ridge would clinch the league title. 

D’Evelyn and Green Mountain have combined to win the past five conference championships in the lowest Jeffco League classification. The Jaguars have captured the past two 5A/4A Jeffco titles. Prior to D’Evelyn’s run, the Rams won three straight 4A Jeffco titles in 2020, 2021 and 2022. 

“We had two goals this year. Win the league was No. 1,” Busnardo said. “Then go win a state title.”

D’Evelyn had a 17-game winning steak heading into this week, but a 61-31 home loss to Wednesday ended the Jaguars’ undefeated run.

“I think the hardest thing in sports is to get your butt kicked one night and then turnaround in two nights to play a team just as good,” D’Evelyn coach Chris Olson said of facing the Rams after the Jaguars suffered the 30-point loss to Golden. “We responded great I thought.”

The Jaguars jumped out to a 14-9 leading after the first quarter with sophomore Colleen Monahan lead the way a 7-point opening quarter. Green Mountain responded in a big way with a 13-0 run to start the second quarter.

“I told the girls before the game that D’Evelyn is one of the best teams in our league and one of the best teams in 4A. We knew that,” Busnardo said. “I think Chris (Olson) is the best coach in the league. He has been around awhile. He knows what he is doing. We knew he would have his team ready to play.”

Green Mountain held a 37-25 lead going to the fourth quarter, but D’Evelyn senior Ellie McMann poured in 9 points in the final quarter to get the Jaguars back in the game. 

“We have talked about her leadership and how she is the glue for us,” Olson said of McMann. “For Ellie put us on her shoulders like that, she had some pressure being a holdover from those Final 4 teams.”

Monahan hit a 3-pointer with 18 seconds remaining to tie the game at 43-43. However, the Rams had the final answer to bring Green Mountain’s student section into a frenzy after the buzzer-beater by Pearson.

“It was really magical playing in this kind of atmosphere,” Herrig said. “Every player and coach really gets riled up. It only makes us better.”

D’Evelyn is on the road for its final three league games. The Jaguars are at Wheat Ridge (Tuesday) and Standley Lake (Thursday) next week. Olson was still upbeat despite the back-to-back losses.

“The strength of our schedule is we got these guys (Golden, Green Mountain and Standley Lake) all in a rush here at the end of the season,” Olson said. “For us it will hopefully help us peak at the right time.”

The Jaguars do drop down to the 4A classification for the playoffs. Those playoff brackets are scheduled to be released on March 2. 

“Everyone says it. You want to be playing your best ball come the end of February and into March,” Busnardo said of the Rams’ 18-game winning streak as the postseason nears. “I think we have a good chance to go deep.”