Dakota Ridge boys basketball flips the switch in win over TJ

LITTLETON — It’s no secret that Dakota Ridge is a contender to be in the mix for the Class 5A boys basketball state championship title.

Ethan Berninger — returning Class 5A/4A Jeffco League MVP — is back for his senior season after helping the Eagles to back-to-back 5A/4A Jeffco League championships. Dakota Ridge have gone 20-0 in conference play the last two seasons and were ranked No. 2 in the Colorado High School Activities Association’s 5A boys basketball preseason coaches’ poll.

“It was great to get out there again. I was so excited coming into the game,” Berninger said after the Eagles’ 86-54 home victory against Thomas Jefferson on Tuesday night . “I’m glad we got to execute well and get the ‘W’.”

While Berninger poured in 20 points, it was senior Nathan Esau who was the Eagles’ high-scorer. Esau had 26 points as Dakota Ridge pulled away in the second half in impressive fashion. The Eagles outscored the Spartans 31-6 in the third quarter.

“I think we settled down, played with a little more confidence and calmness,” Dakota Ridge coach Sean Kovar said of the Eagles coming out after halftime on a quick 8-0 run to push their lead back to double-digits. “We made a couple of adjustments and wanted to attack their defense. We started getting some touches in the paint and worked inside-out. That worked out better for us.”

TJ trailed 23-10 after the first quarter, but went on an 11-0 run in the second quarter and trimmed Dakota Ridge’s lead to 28-27 midway through the second quarter.

“We knew we were better than that. Our coach let us hear it in the locker room,” Esau said about the Eagles leading 39-34 at halftime. “We just started rebounding better and being in the right position on defense. It worked out for us.”

Berninger led the way with 13 points in the third quarter. Berninger and Esau both took a seat on the bench with the Eagles holding a comfortable 30-point lead to start the final quarter.

“I feel like when we move it around and play as a team we don’t need to take the first open shot,” Esau said. “We can take the best shot and that is what we proved in the second half.”

Seniors Cody Rominger (12 points) and Nick Hubert (9 points) had solid games and junior Kellen Behrendsen led the scorers off the bench with 7 points.

“We can all go. It is nice when any opening look we get we think it is going in,” Berninger said of Dakota Ridge’s scoring depth. “I’m really excited about this year. We’ve got a great squad.”

Senior Shane Curry led the Spartans with a team-high 26 points, but TJ was held to just 20 points after halftime.

“We know it all starts on defense. That is where we score a lot of our points,” Berninger said of the Eagles picking up the defensive intensity in the third quarter.

Dakota Ridge heads to Austin, TX to play four games in three days from Dec. 5-7. Last year, the Eagles went to the same tournament and came away with a 2-2 record against all teams from the Lone Star state.

“It’s great. I love it. It’s a different brand of basketball,” Kovar said of heading to Texas later this week. “It is so good for us. One, it’s team bonding. Two, you get to see teams you don’t see here (in Colorado). We’ll see some athleticism that we don’t see every night.”

Kovar’s squad will host a trio of home games against Pueblo West (Dec. 11), Columbine (Dec. 13) and Ralston Valley (Dec. 17) before Winter Break.

“We have high expectations and it is important,” Kovar said of getting off to a good start before the New Year. “We wanted to play good competition as early as we can.”