Dakota Ridge boys basketball punches ticket to 5A Great 8

LITTLETON — For the third straight season Dakota Ridge’s boys basketball program is heading to the Denver Coliseum.

The No. 3-seeded Eagles defeated No. 14 Palmer 72-51 on Tuesday night at Dakota Ridge High School to advance to the quarterfinals of the Class 5A state tournament. Two-time 5A/4A Jeffco League MVP — Dakota Ridge senior Ethan Berninger — led the way with a team-high 24 points.

“I’m just super happy for this group. For Ethan and the seniors after playing their last home game ever here,” Dakota Ridge coach Sean Kovar said. “To end it like that was pretty special.”

Berninger put the final exclamation point with a windmill dunk just after the buzzer sounded to conclude the Sweet 16 playoff game.

“It’s amazing, but it is just another step,” Dakota Ridge junior Caiden Dixon said of getting a return trip to the Coliseum. “We still have multiple games we want to win. We are hungry.”

Dakota Ridge lost to eventual back-to-back 5A state champion Mesa Ridge in the Great 8 the past two seasons — 2023 and 2024. 

The Eagles (19-6 record) will face No. 6 Windsor (19-6) in the Great 8 on Friday at the Denver Coliseum. Windsor cruised past Longmont 64-31 on Tuesday night.

It looked like Dakota Ridge wouldn’t have much trouble with the Terrors (16-9) on the Eagles’ home court. Dakota Ridge drained three 3-pointers in the opening two minutes to jump out to an early 9-2 lead. 

The Eagles doubled up Palmer 36-18 going into halftime, but the Terrors made a run in the second half to cut Dakota Ridge’s lead to single-digits on a couple of occasions in both the third and fourth quarters.

Palmer seniors Emmanuel Gonzalez (25 points) and J’twane Mike (20 points) carried the Terrors offensively scoring all but six of Palmer’s 51 points on the night.

“We started off hot, but we knew they would make a run. They are too good not to make a run. We knew it was coming,” Berninger said of Palmer’s run in the second half. “We never really panicked at all. We just trusted our stuff. Got good shots and played the best defense we could. We got it done.”

Berninger did most of his damage in the first half with 17 points at the break. It was a combination of seniors Nathan Esau (8 points), Nick Hubert (10 points), Cody Rominger (10 points) and Dixon (12 points) that put the game away.

Dixon had 10 points in the fourth quarter, including a pair of 3-pointers to stretch the Eagles’ lead in the final minutes.

“He (Dixon) has been a dog all year. One of our most improved,” Kovar said of the junior guard. “We always knew he could defend. Now he is really putting it together on offense. He is playing with a ton of confidence.”

Dakota Ridge’s team is playing with a ton of confidence having won 15 of 16 games dating back to Jan. 8. 

“I know what we have and I like what we have,” Kovar said after the Eagles’ ninth-straight victory. “I’m excited to be back there (Coliseum) for the third straight year.”

Also punching their tickets to the Great 8 on Tuesday night were Dakota Ridge’s conference rivals Standley Lake and Green Mountain. No. 7 Standley Lake edged Lewis-Palmer 52-45 and No. 16 Green Mountain knocked off top-seed Lutheran 55-42.

“It shows how tough our league is,” Berninger said after Dakota Ridge was joined by Jeffco rivals Standley Lake and Green Mountain heading down to the Coliseum on Friday.

All eight 5A boys and girls quarterfinals will be played at the Denver Coliseum on Friday, March 7. Games will begin at 8:45 a.m. with the final game scheduled to tipoff at 8:30 p.m. CHSAA will release the time slots after the 5A girls Sweet 16 games are played on Wednesday, March 5.