Green Mountain’s defense locks down Bear Creek in girls hoops action

LAKEWOOD — Green Mountain’s defense was the headliner in the Rams’ girls basketball home opener Thursday.

Green Mountain cruised to a 55-24 victory over Bear Creek. The Bears were limited to just six made field goals in the non-league game between the Lakewood-area rivals.

“It is still early in the year. We are still trying to find our identity,” Green Mountain coach Matteo Busnardo said. “This big thing that we have harped on and prided ourselves on last year was defense. I think the first couple of games for us we haven’t done that.”

Busnardo said defense was a focus this week with a 2-game losing streak in hand heading into the home opener for the Rams (2-2 record).

“Defense has to be first,” Busnardo said. “That was big thing tonight. That is the reason why we won the game for sure.”

Bear Creek actually got out to an early 7-0 lead, but after a 12-11 advantage after the first quarter the Bears scored just a dozen points for the remainder of the game.

“After the first quarter we talked about wanting to be known for our defense,” Green Mountain senior Julia Schafer said. “Defense needs to come first and offense second.”

Offensively, the Rams had 10 players score in the 31-point victory. Sophomore Ella Cockrum led all scorers with 15 points. Cockrum made three 3-pointers in the second half to spearhead Green Mountain’s offensive surge.

“She (Cockrum) has come a long way from last year,” Busnardo said of his starting sophomore guard. “I knew she was going to be a good player for us coming into this year. I told her she was going to have a big role this year. She is going to be a special player for us, I believe.”

Schafer finished with 8 points, as did senior Maddie Baker. Players on the Rams’ sideline went wild when Baker came off the bench and got hot scoring all of her 8 points in the second half.

Senior Rome Villani also came off the bench to finish the game in style making a 3-pointer just before the buzzer to end the game.

Green Mountain has a tough stretch of non-league games before Winter Break. The Rams host Castle View (Dec. 12) and Chaparral (Dec. 17) before road games at Lutheran (Dec. 19) and Chatfield (Dec. 19.

“It’s a hard non-conference schedule. I’m glad I set it up that way,” Busnardo said. “We have a target on us. When we play these 6A teams they want to beat us. You just need to go into every game ready to go.”

D’Evelyn will be trying to win its third straight 5A/4A/3A Jeffco League title this season. The Jaguars (5-0) did graduate some key players, including last year’s Class 4A Jeffco League female Athlete of the Year — Peyton Marvel.

“Our main goal is to win the league and then go win a state title,” Busnardo said. “First is to win league. That is the biggest thing.”

Bear Creek (1-2) was led by senior Sarai Jallow with 7 points in the Bears’ loss.

Bear Creek also has four games before break. The Bears are at Douglas County on Monday, Dec. 16, before heading to the 3-day Longmont Tournament at the end of next week.