Green Mountain and Air Academy advance to 5A girls basketball Final 4

DENVER — Green Mountain put an end to Roosevelt’s recent domination of the Class 5A girls basketball state tournament Friday morning.

The Rams took a wire-to-wire 46-42 win over the 2-time defending state champions in the first of eight Great 8 state quarterfinal games Friday at the Denver Coliseum.

“It’s crazy. I’ve never been in this position before,” Green Mountain sophomore Ella Cockrum said after knocking down a pair of free throws in the final seconds to seal the victory. “I’ve never been to the Coliseum before, but it’s a great feeling. It feels great.”

Green Mountain returns to the Final 4 for the first time since 2022. The Rams lost to eventual state champion Mullen three years ago. The Rams have never won a girls basketball state title or made a state championship game.

“Right before she (Cockrum) went to the line I looked at her and just told her to smile. I just wanted to lighten the mood.,” Green Mountain coach Matteo Busnardo said. “She knocked both down and won the game for us.”

Odds are the Rams will face top-seeded and undefeated Air Academy in the Final 4 on Thursday, March 13, back at the Denver Coliseum. The Kadets were scheduled to face Durango in the 4 p.m. Great 8 game.

Green Mountain (24-2 record) jumped out to a quick 9-0 lead on Roosevelt (22-4). The Rams got balanced scoring from senior Julia Schafer (9 points), junior Kantyn Pearson (10 points), along with sophomores Addie Evans (11 points) and Cockrum (9 points).

The Rams drained six 3-pointers through the first three quarters to take a 41-33 lead heading to the final quarter.

“We just need to stay confident no matter where we are,” Cockrum said of shooting at the Coliseum. “It is harder to shoot here, but we are still good shooters.”

Evans hit a huge 3-pointer midway through the third quarter after the Roughriders cut Green Mountain’s lead to 28-26.

“Once you make one you just feel the rhythm,” Evans said of her key 3-pointers in the third quarter.

After scoring 19 points in the third quarter, the Rams couldn’t buy a bucket in the fourth quarter. In fact, Green Mountain didn’t make a field goal over the final eight minutes.

“It wasn’t part of the plan not to make a shot in the fourth quarter,” Busnardo could joke about after the win. “It really is about defense.”

It was all about defense in the fourth quarter. Roosevelt junior Kyla Hollier came in averaging over 26 points per game, but she was held to 15 points before fouling out midway through the fourth quarter. Senior Ryanne Bahnsen-Price was averaging nearly 18 points per game, but was held to just 9 points.

“We rely on defense,” Cockrum said after the Rams didn’t allow the Roughriders to score for nearly the final 3 minutes of the game. “We needed to play great defense on those two girls (Bahnsen-Price and Hollier). We needed to lock them down and we did.”

Green Mountain has won 23 straight games since losing back-to-back games before Winter Break.

“It feels great. It feels so good,” Evans said. “We knew Roosevelt came in wanting a three-peat and we weren’t going to let them do that. This is our year to show people who Green Mountain is.”

(1) Air Academy 55, (8) Durango25

For a lot of the season, the Kadets operated with the speed of a high-end Ferrari. In Friday’s Great 8 win over Durango, it was more like a locomotive. It took a little time build up speed, but then Air Academy couldn’t be stopped.

Tatyonna Brown scored 15 while Ramah Khammash had 12 and Kinley Asp had 10 to give the Kadets flight into next week’s Final 4. They’re set to face Green Mountain in next week’s semifinal. It’s the second straight semifinal appearance for the Kadets. They lost to Northfield last season to fall one game short of playing in the state title game.

“You can’t experience,” coach Phil Roiko said. “I remember when my daughter, she was a junior, played in the Coors Event Center [in Boulder] and got trounced. That next year, those girls came back and won it all. That experience that we have [from last year’s team] is priceless.”

The Kadets are search title.