Ralston Valley boys basketball rallies to road win at Dakota Ridge

LITTLETON — Ralston Valley junior Frank Psaute played the role of The Grinch on Tuesday night at Dakota Ridge High School.

The junior guard sucked the holiday cheer from the home crowd pouring in a game-high 20 points in the Mustangs’ 68-58 come-from-behind victory over Dakota Ridge.

“Frank stepping up was obviously huge,” Ralston Valley coach Chris Braketa said. “Guys trusting him to make that extra pass. He got hot for sure.”

Psaute’s four 3-pointers in the final quarter allowed the Mustangs to erase a 46-41 Dakota Ridge lead and keep Ralston Valley (6-0 record) undefeated on the season. The Eagles (4-4) grabbed the 5-point lead after senior Ethan Berninger scored eight points in the final 90 seconds of the third quarter.

Senior Tanner Braketa had done a masterful job covering Berninger through nearly three quarters. Berninger didn’t score until he hit a 3-pointer to give Dakota Ridge a 41-38 lead with just over a minute to play in the third quarter.

“Tanner wanted that assignment,” Coach Braketa said of his oldest son matching up with Berninger defensively. “It was two of the best players in the state, in my opinion, going at each other. It was a good match-up. I think Tanner did a hell of a job on him because Ethan is a great player.”

Tanner Braketa and Berninger have combined to win three Jeffco League MVPs over their careers. Ralston Valley and Dakota Ridge have also combined to win three league titles with Tanner Braketa and Berninger as keystone pieces.

Tanner — who has already signed to play at the University of Northern Colorado — claimed conference MVPs his freshman and sophomore seasons before a knee injury caused him to miss a good part of his junior season. The Mustangs won the 5A Jeffco League title Tanner’s freshman year in 2021-22

Berninger grabbed the 5A/4A Jeffco League MVP a season ago, while helping lead the Eagles to back-to-back conference titles the previous two years.

“He (Berninger) is a really good player and I wanted him going in,” Tanner Braketa said of the defensive task.

Psaute was up to the task draining back-to-back-to-back 3-pointers to start the fourth quarter to put the Mustangs back on top.

“The bench energy, I could feel it,” Psaute said of making all four of his 3-pointers in the fourth quarter with the Ralston Valley bench right behind him. “I wanted to knock those down to get the team going.”

Dakota Ridge junior Caiden Dixon’ 3-pointer with 5:17 left in the fourth quarter cut Ralston Valley’s lead to 50-49. However, it was all Mustangs after that as Ralston Valley went on a 17-0 run that lasted until the final minute of the game.

“We did a good job defensively locking (Dakota Ridge) down,” Coach Braketa said of holding the Eagles to three points through the majority of the fourth quarter. “The defense started that run.”

Junior Zeke Andrews had a double-double for the Mustangs with 14 points and 15 rebounds. The Braketa brothers — Tanner and Caiden — both had 10 points and 7 assists. Senior Hayes Gatlin was the high-scorer off the bench with 7 points, all in the second half.

“Frank was huge tonight. Zeke was huge tonight with the rebounds,” Tanner Braketa said. “Hayes hit a big shot. Those guys were key and helped us out a lot.”

It was the second straight loss for Dakota Ridge, who lost a 1-point heartbreaker last week against area-rival Columbine. Senior Nathan Esau led Dakota Ridge with 18 points. Berninger finished with 11 points. Senior Alijah Sawyer had 9 points and junior Kellen Behrendsen had 9 points off the bench for Dakota Ridge.

Dakota Ridge and Ralston Valley won’t have games now until after Winter Break. The Eagles host Denver South (2-1) on Friday, Jan. 3. The Mustangs will have another big road test against Chaparral (5-0) that same night.

“It’s a good job going into break with some momentum,” Coach Braketa said. “We have a hard schedule coming back.”