Like a poked bear, Mesa Ridge claws its way to the 5A boys basketball title game

DENVER – Northfield poked the Grizzly.

About a minute in the Class 5A boys basketball Final 4 showdown between Northfield and Mesa Ridge a tie-up led to a jump ball call from the officials. In the process, Northfield guard Justus Michael gave Bryce Riehl a small shove, nothing to warrant a technical foul or retaliation, but definitely enough to fire up the younger Riehl brother.

He scored 10 points in the first quarter alone, including a buzzer-beating 3-pointer as Mesa Ridge returned to the state title game, beating the Nighthawks 70-59.

“If they wanted to do that, we knew what we wanted to do too,” Riehl said.

The Grizzlies wanted to get back to the very state title game they won a year ago and in the first quarter, they played like the team hoisted the championship in 2023.

Riehl’s 10 points in the first quarter only told part of the story of how well the entire Mesa Ridge roster was playing early in the game. Tanner Widic got four of his five assists in the first eight minutes, although he and Tevin Riehl were confined to the bench for the entire second quarter because of foul trouble.

They both sat on the bench, but watched as their teammates stepped up and maintained a lead that allowed coach Joel Babbitt to keep them there and not push any luck with either of them picking up their third.

“We knew if they could step up and do their job in that second quarter and keep us in the game, we could come out and do it in the second half,” Widic said.

As the game tightened late in the second, they both briefly walked to the score table with about a minute left but were called back to the bench.

It was a gamble that paid some crucial dividends in the second half. Tevin scored 13 of his 18 points after halftime and Widic scored 11 of his 13 in the second half. The Grizzlies have the ability to score and defend, both of which are needed to advance to the final weekend of the season. But perhaps their most underrated weapon is their toughness.

They’re not afraid to scrap for a loose ball or work for a tough, contested shot. And it’s noticeable on the floor when the toughness they display generates good results when everyone on the floor is trying match toughness.

“Everyone steps up with that,” Widic said. “Sometimes we’ll get into foul trouble like today and they stepped up and they were tough.”

Tough like a bear that’s been poked.

—

Windsor 35, Vista PEAK 32

With 16 seconds left on the clock, James Brown III was anticipating Madden Smiley to use the screen from
Tadese Keyworth to get open so the Wizards could work the clock and get a final shot.

Instead, Smiley bolted toward the basket, catching everyone off guard and scoring the game-winning layup. That move, a freedom of choice that the Wizards had at that time, is what gave them a 35-32 win and a trip to the Class 5A boys basketball championship game on Saturday.

“That was just kind of a feel,” Smiley said. “I usually come back [to the backcourt], but we’ve learned through the year that once we do that a lot in a game, they’re going to know I’m coming back. So I looked at Johnny [Reed] like ‘I’m going this way.'”

It was a perfect read that resulted in an easy basket and it was the difference maker that Windsor needed to get back to its first boys basketball championship game since 2011.

It was a sweet moment for the Wizards especially after falling to eventual champion Mesa Ridge in last year’s semifinals.

“It feels great,” Smiley said. “It’s the first time in [a while] since we’ve made it back. We have one more to go and that’s the goal.”

Vista PEAK made waves in last week’s Great 8 by trouncing Ponderosa 57-41 to reach the Final 4. The Bison entered the Denver Coliseum as a favorite to claim the state crown, but a slower paced game played into the Wizards favor. A big piece of that was how well they defending through the course of the game, not allowing a single Vista PEAK player to score in double figures.

“Our defense was outstanding, one of the best [efforts] of the year,” Smiley said. “I think our defense was great.”

Vista PEAK had the ball down two with just over four seconds left, but as he caught the inbound pass, Julian Carrizales landed with his foot out of bounds to put the ball, and a trip to the title game, in the hands of the Wizards.