Green Mountain girls hoops edge Standley Lake in winner-take-all situation for league

LAKEWOOD — It wasn’t easy, but Green Mountain’s girls basketball team finished its goal of being back-to-back Class 5A/4A/3A Jeffco League champions Monday night.

The Rams defeated Standley Lake in a winner-take-all situation for the conference title. Green Mountain took a 60-51 victory to finish undefeated in league play for the second consecutive season.

“It feels amazing. This was one of our goals this season,” Green Mountain junior Ella Cockrum said. “We wanted to win league again. We did it and it feels amazing.”

Green Mountain (22-1, 9-0 in league) and Standley Lake (18-3, 7-1) have clearly been the cream of the crop in the conference all season. The Rams and Gators came into Monday’s conference title showdown with both having well over a 45-point average margin of victory in league play.

The young Gators coached by first-year coach Enoch Miller starts three freshmen — Jojo Martin, Ireland Kassatly and Chloe Miller — jumped out to a double-digit lead on the Rams’ home court in the first quarter.

“(Standley Lake) is a good team. Enoch Miller is one of the best coaches in the state,” Green Mountain coach Matteo Busnardo said. “I told our girls that we better be ready to go. We took the first jab, but this is an experienced team. We’ve been in a lot of big games. I had to smile at them after the first quarter. Once they found the calmness and they realized they could do this, I had all the confidence in them.”

Cockrum, along with fellow juniors Addie Evans and Grace Herring combined for 20 points in the second quarter to cut Standley Lake’s lead to 33-29 at halftime. However, Martin kept the Gators in the lead thanks to her 14-point first half performance.

“She (Jojo Martin) is one of the best players in the state as a freshman,” Busnardo said of Martin, who finished with a game-high 27 points. “I haven’t seen a motor and a skillset on a freshman like that in my entire life.”

Jojo’s older sister — junior Sydney Martin — went through warmups for the Gators on Monday. Sydney is still recovering from knee surgery around 9 months ago and hasn’t played this season, but it appears there is a chance she could get cleared to play medically during the playoffs.

“We thought about it,” Evans said of the possibility of Sydney Martin returning to the lineup for the first time this season. “We knew we could win with our game. We didn’t have to worry about who was on the court. We knew their starting five and knew we could guard them.”

Evans had a monster game with a career-high 20 points. Cockrum finished with a season-high 19 points. The Rams needed other scorers to step up after leading scorer — senior Kantyn Pearson — going down with an apparent injury in the first half and didn’t return to the floor.

Green Mountain did show its depth with junior Cadyn Cavanaugh (7 points) and sophomore Marissa Vanguilder coming off the bench to get the Rams quality minutes with Pearson out.

“Unfortunately, Kantyn goes down, but it is next player,” Busnardo said. “I’m so proud of Cadyn and Marissa. They came in but they weren’t rattled. They were ready to go. Huge minutes from both of them. Honestly, it was the reason why we won. Contributions from both of them.”

Busnardo said that Pearson would get imaging tomorrow (Tuesday) on her knee to see the severity of the injury.

“When Kantyn went down we wanted to win it for her,” Cockrum said about Pearson having to leave the game in the first half. “That is what we did.”

Green Mountain outscored Standley Lake 16-5 in the third quarter to take a 45-38 lead heading into the final 8 minutes. Jojo Martin had an 11-point fourth quarter, but it wasn’t enough as Green Mountain held on for the win.

“It feels so good. So, so good,” Evans said of the repeat moments after the Rams celebrated with their large student section. “Playing a competitive team to end league to win it means a lot to this program.”

The Rams will get a chance to rest and prepare for the 5A state tournament. Green Mountain should get a top seed and first-round bye for the 40-team tournament. The Rams postseason opener will be at home Feb. 28.

“I wouldn’t call it a break,” Cockrum said with the regular season over, but plenty of practice time ahead for the Rams. “We won’t have a game for a little bit, but we’ll keep at it. We aren’t done yet.”

Green Mountain was No. 2 in the CHSAA Selection & Seeding Index before the victory Monday. Only Lutheran, a team the Rams defeated in overtime before Winter Break, sits ahead of Green Mountain.

“That was goal No. 1 at the beginning of the year,” Busnardo said of the Rams’ repeat. “Win the league title first, then go win a state title. I knew we had the group to do it and I’m super proud of them. We aren’t done yet. We have five more wins to get. Hopefully we’ll be holding up the state trophy at the end.”

Standley Lake has a pair of regular-season games remaining. The Gators are at Golden (19-3, 6-2) on Wednesday, Feb. 18, before a tough non-league test against 6A Jeffco League champions — Valor Christian (17-3) — on Saturday, Feb. 21, at Standley Lake High School.