Green Mountain girls lockdown spot in 5A Sweet 16

LAKEWOOD — Defense is going to determine how far Green Mountain advances in the Class 5A girls basketball state tournament.

“If we are trying to win the whole thing and be one of those elite teams you have to defend at an elite level,” Green Mountain coach Matteo Busnardo said after the Rams’ 66-24 round of 32 home victory over Sierra on Saturday night. “Defense wins you championships. Defense wins you games. That is what we are going to keep following.”

The No. 5-seeded Rams are on a 21-game winning streak where they haven’t allowed over 50 points in 22 straight games. Cherokee Trail put up 63 points against Green Mountain (22-2 record) back on Dec. 5.

“Our identity is defense,” Busnardo said. “Tonight we started out not great in the first half defensively. We talked in the locker room and said allowing 16 points is too much. You can’t give that up.”

Green Mountain got locked in defensively in the second half. No. 28-seeded Sierra (15-10) only scored eight points and made just two field goals after halftime. The Rams outscored the Stallions 33-8 in the second half to cruise to victory and a berth to the Sweet 16.

“We really want to focus on defense first,” said Green Mountain sophomore Ella Cockrum, who led the Rams with 15 points on the night.

The Rams’ defense got off to a good start. Green Mountain scored seven points in the opening 50 seconds against Sierra.

“A couple of steals and (Cockrum) hits the 3-pointer,” Busnardo said. “We were even in shock too. Wow. What a start. It does show you when we are locked in and hitting on all cylinders what we can do.”

Green Mountain had a good scoring balance with Cockrum, junior Kantyn Pearson (13 points) and sophomore Addie Evans (10 points) all finishing in double-digit points. Sophomore Grace Herrig battled foul trouble, but still had eight points off the bench.

Sierra senior Shetara Roebuck led the Stallions with 10 points in their season-ending loss. Sierra did get its first playoff win since 2020 on Wednesday night when the Stallions defeated 5A Jeffco’s Dakota Ridge 57-22.

Green Mountain was a little weary going into one of the final playoff games Saturday. It wasn’t a good afternoon for 5A Jeffco teams with No. 10 Standley Lake, No. 13 Golden and No. 22 Evergreen all losing earlier in the day.

“All those upsets makes things a little bit nervous,” Cockrum said of Golden and Standley Lake losing home playoff games. “We just need to stay confident and composed. We’ll be fine.”

Green Mountain won the 5A Jeffco League title in a conference where the top four teams all had 20-win seasons. D’Evelyn (20-3) drops down to 4A for the postseason and will likely be a top-10 seed when the bracket is released Sunday, March 2.

“We want to represent,” Busnardo said of being the last 5A Jeffco team alive in the state tournament. “Now it is up to us. We’ll go and try to win the whole thing.”

Green Mountain will host No. 12 Palmer Ridge (18-6) on Wednesday, March 5. The Bears took a 50-35 victory over Summit in the round of 32.

“It is right back to work. There is no break for me,” Busnardo said about getting prepared for Palmer Ridge. “We’ll enjoy this tonight and the girls will get back to work on Monday. We’ll be ready to go.”

The Rams have the memory of the tough Sweet 16 home loss last season.

“We have said that we never want to feel like that again,” Busnardo said of the home playoff loss to league rival Standley Lake a year ago. “Somebody comes in here and celebrates on your home floor in the playoffs. It was a terrible feeling last year.”

A win over Palmer Ridge would send the Rams back to the Denver Coliseum for the first time since the 2022 4A state tournament where Green Mountain advanced to the state semifinals.

“This is a new year,” Cockrum said. “We are defintely going to work to get to the Coliseum. That is what we want. That is our next goal.”