Green Mountain girls basketball dancing to the Denver Coliseum

LAKEWOOD — History did not repeat itself Wednesday night at Green Mountain High School.

A year after losing on its home court in the Sweet 16 of the Class 5A girls basketball state tournament, Green Mountain was determined to not let that happen again. The No. 5-seeded Rams dominated the second half against No. 12-seeded Palmer Ridge to eventually roll to a 48-24 victory.

“We knew we weren’t losing,” Green Mountain sophomore Addie Evans said after the Rams outscored the Bears 32-10 in the second half. “We want to go far. This is where our run is starting. The competition is just going to get harder. We just need to keep preparing.”

Green Mountain will play No. 4 Roosevelt in the 5A state quarterfinals Friday, March 7, at the Denver Coliseum. Roosevelt — two-time defending 5A state champion — defeated George Washington 60-37 in another Sweet 16 game Wednesday night.

It will be the first trip down to the Coliseum since Green Mountain advanced to the 4A state semifinals in 2022. It will also be the first time the Rams have made it to the state quarterfinals under head coach Matteo Busnardo, who is in his third year at the helm of the program.

“It will be my first time coaching down there,” Busnardo said of the Coliseum. “I’ve always watched it, even as a little kid. My Dad used to call me out of school when they played up in Boulder. We would stay the night up in Boulder and watch all the games.”

Not getting upset for the second straight season was a little in doubt after the first half against Palmer Ridge. Green Mountain held just a 16-14 lead at halftime as both teams struggled shooting the ball.

“We were 0-for-5 from 3 (point range) in the first half,” Busnardo said. “I told them at halftime to stay confident. We were taking great shots. Shots were going to fall. They started falling in the second half.”

Evans broke the ice for the Rams draining a 3-pointer on Green Mountain’s opening possession of the second half. Sophomore Ella Cockrum proceeded to make back-to-back driving layups as the Rams started to pull away.

“In the locker room at halftime we were like, ‘Our shots are going to fall. Our shots are going to fall.’ Ella and I talked about how we needed to hit our shots,” Evans said of the 13-0 run to start the second half. “It was our time. Hitting the first one was big.”

Green Mountain (23-2 record) outscored Palmer Ridge 20-4 in the third quarter. Evans opened up the Rams’ biggest lead when she nailed a 3-pointer in the opening seconds of the fourth quarter to put Green Mountain up 39-18.

“We knew we could do better. We needed to come out strong,” Cockrum said. “We wanted to make it to the Coliseum.”

Cockrum and Evans finished with 10 points each. Junior Kantyn Pearson scored a game-high 13 points for the Rams. Sophomore Grace Herrig came off the bench for 9 points.

Green Mountain’s defense held Palmer Ridge (18-7) to just two made field goals in the second half. Freshman Madison Curtis and junior Addison Steenland both had 7 points each to lead the Bears.

“There was defintely some nerves in the beginning. There is a lot on the line,” Busnardo said after the Rams’ 22nd straight victory. “We just had to buckle down and defense won us the game, again.”

The Rams held Sierra to just 8 points in the second half in Green Mountain’s round of 32 victory last Saturday.

Busnardo switched between his 2-3 and 1-3-1 zone defenses in the second half against Palmer Ridge to punch the Rams’ ticket to the Great 8. 

“I don’t think there is any pressure,” Busnardo said. “I think we have proven ourselves this year with playing a hard schedule. We’ve done the work and now we are just going to keep playing. Go on to the next challenge.”

Green Mountain’s girls will have some company with the Rams’ boys basketball team advancing to the 5A boys state tournament quarterfinals after upsetting No. 1 Lutheran on Tuesday night. 

“I think it is really exciting that our girls and boys teams are making it. Both of us haven’t made it in a while,” Evans said. “Going down there together and watching each other’s games is really going to help us all play our best.”