Green Mountain boys basketball powers to Sweet 16

LAKEWOOD — Green Mountain boys basketball might just be hitting its stride at just the right time.

The No. 16-seeded Rams advanced to the Sweet 16 of the Class 5A state tournament Friday night with a 71-62 home victory over No. 17 Frederick. Green Mountain (15-9 record) will now face top-seeded Lutheran (21-3) on Tuesday, March 4.

The Rams aren’t afraid of facing the Lions that defeated Golden 65-59 on Friday night in Parker to advance to the Sweet 16.

“Now we have to go beat Lutheran,” Green Mountain junior Jake Swanson said. “We fully believe we can go beat Lutheran. We are catching our rhythm.”

Friday night was a bit of a microcosm of the season for the Rams. Frederick (12-12) drained a trio of 3-pointers in the first quarter to take a 13-6 lead. 

“We missed some assignment to be honest,” Green Mountain coach Mike Puccio said the Golden Eagles making five 3-pointers in the first half which helped Frederick jump out to an early lead. “We need to lock-in (defensively) a little bit better. I thought they were a little nervous early on.”

Jake Swanson and his twin brother Ben Swanson were key for the Rams to even up things at 15-15 after the first quarter. The Swanson twins combined for all 15 points for the Rams in the opening quarter.

Green Mountain senior Simon Lunsford — Rams’ leading scorer at 17 points per game — was held scoreless in the first quarter, along with sophomore Sam Mielenz (14.4 points per game). Lunsford eventually finished with a game-high 27 points and Mielenz added 7 points, all in the second half.

“I knew I was going to hit one (shot) and from there on out I wasn’t missing,” Lunsford said of going scoreless in the first 8 minutes. “Jake and Ben did an amazing job in that first quarter just keeping us upright.”

Lunsford got it going hitting back-to-back 3-pointers over the span of 17 seconds midway through the second quarter. A steal by Jake led to a thunderous dunk that tied things up at 25-25.

“We are long, athletic and we cause mismatches,” Puccio said.

Green Mountain really put its foot on the gas in the third quarter. The Rams outscored the Golden Eagles 25-10 to take a 20-point lead going into the fourth quarter.

“We couldn’t miss a shot,” Lunsford said of the Rams’ third quarter. “Sam (Mielenz) got one (3-pointer) and from there I knew it was over.”

Mielenz’s lone 3-pointer of the game came with 2 minutes left in the third quarter and extended the Rams’ lead to 57-35.

“We’ve been confident from the start,” said Jake Swanson, who had a double-double Friday night with 18 points and 12 rebounds. “Once we got Simon and JP (Dixon) and a couple of other pieces back we would be OK. We only played six guys against Frederick the first time.”

The Rams and Golden Eagles faces earlier this season before Winter Break. Frederick took a 59-48 home victory. However, Green Mountain was without Lunsford, who was still recovering from a broken leg he suffered on the football field.

In that same game back on Dec. 10. Frederick senior Jovan Aldana suffered a season-ending knee injury. The 6-foot-5 center was averaging 16.3 points and 8.3 rebounds in the first four games of the season before the injury.

Green Mountain had to deal with Lunsford’s injury early, but the Rams look to be at full-strength heading into the showdown with Lutheran next week.

“With Simon’s injury, it is what it is. We are where we are. We are who we are,” Puccio said of Green Mountain’s seeding after starting season with a 5-7 record. “It would be nice to play (Lutheran) in the Final Four, but in the end of the day you have to play them anyways. Let’s get it on.”