Columbine senior Cash Boykin goes over 1,000-point mark in win over Dakota Ridge

LITTLETON — Midway through the second quarter Thursday night, an emphatic dunk by Columbine senior Cash Boykin put Rebels’ basketball star into an elite fraternity.

The slam put Boykin at 1,001 points for his career. 

“It meant a lot. I’ve put in a lot of work in these past few years,” Boykin said. “It was a special moment for sure. Getting it with a dunk was extra special and with a nice crowd too.”

Columbine cruised to a 67-43 victory over area-rival Dakota Ridge on the Rebels’ home court. Cash and his sophomore brother Dyson Boykin both had 20 points to spearhead the Rebels to victory.

“Congratulations to him,” Columbine coach Kevin Chester said of Cash Boykin going over the 1,000-point mark. “I’m super happy for him with all the hard work he has put in through these last four years at Columbine. I just hope we can send him out the right way.”

The Rebels (2-1 record) were able to get the bounce-back victory after a 75-65 home loss to Mullen earlier in the week. Columbine opened the season with a victory over a tough Denver South squad.

“I think we got a little too high after beating a great Denver South team,” Cash Boykin said of the loss Tuesday against Mullen. “We are just going to work on being stable. This was a nice win before we head off to Florida.”

Columbine will play in the KSA Pre-Holiday Tournament in Florida next week before Winter Break. 

The Rebels’ win over Dakota Ridge was much different than Columbine’s thrilling 64-63 road victory on the Eagles’ home court a year ago. 

The Boykin brothers combined for 30 points by halftime Thursday night as the Rebels lead 37-18 at the break.

“Dakota Ridge plays tough all the way through,” Chester said. “We just made a few more shots than they did.”

Senior Brody Burkhalter (10 points) and junior Rudd Harker (8 points) pitched in nice nights in support of the damage done by the Boykin brothers.

“We have 11 guys on the team and we need to be able to count on any of them at any time to go in be aggressive, be assertive and make sure we play the Columbine way,” Chester said. 

Chester is in his second year at the helm of Columbine’s boys basketball program. The Rebels had a bit of a roller coast season last year going 12-12, 5-7 in 6A Jeffco. Columbine made the playoffs, but suffered a first-round exit in a loss to Denver East.

“I believe we have the pieces to make a far run,” Cash Boykin said. “I think we can make it to the Coliseum.” 

Dakota Ridge has had plenty of experience playing at the Denver Coliseum recently. The Eagles have advance to the 4A state quarterfinals that past three seasons. 

Ethan Berninger — finished with over 1,600 career points has graduated — but Dakota Ridge coach Sean Kovar said it isn’t a ‘rebuilding’ process for the Eagles that are off to a 1-6 record early this season.

“I would never use the word rebuild,” Kovar said. “I’m excited for every group that comes through. They are all special. They are all different. This group has a great chance to compete. We’ve got a couple more games against good teams and then we’ll be ready for league.”

Dakota Ridge will attempt to win a fourth straight 5A/4A Jeffco League title when its gets into conference play in the third week of January. 

The slow start for the Eagles can also be attributed to the long and successful football playoff run by Dakota Ridge. The Eagles won the 4A football state title last Saturday at Canvas Stadium in Fort Collins. There are a handful of football players just getting back on the basketball court.

Senior Caiden Dixon had a team-high 18 points for the Eagles. Senior Kellen Behrendsen — Dakota Ridge quarterback that was named the Most Valuable Player in the 4A championship game less than a week ago — had 11 points against Columbine.

“These are the type of games we want to play,” Kovar said. “That’s a really good team. We are trying to get better. We saw our guys grow up tonight and that is all we are looking for, to get better every night.”