Top-ranked Mesa Ridge boys basketball downs defending state champion Lewis-Palmer

COLORADO SPRINGS – When Joel Babbitt took over the Mesa Ridge boys basketball team, he saw a group of hard-working kids on the verge of achieving heights the program had never seen before.

He saw boys who just wanted to be coached. When he was given the job of doing just that, he realized he hadn’t taken over one of the top teams in the Colorado Springs area, he had taken over one of the top teams in the state.

To prove it, the schedule was loaded with other top teams like Pueblo South and Lewis-Palmer. With a 44-40 win over last year’s Class 4A champion Rangers, the Grizzlies have proven that they are indeed the real deal.

“I came from Lewis-Palmer,” Babbitt said. “So to come down here and hold Lewis-Palmer to 40 and to have them hold us to 44, we did our job and they did their job. A lot of people don’t love that kind of basketball, but Coach (Bill) Benton and I love that kind of basketball. It was beautiful.”

It was indictive of how the Grizzlies (9-0 overall) plan on winning this season. They’ve shown they can score plenty of points as they’ve broken the 70-point barrier three times already this season. But when they need to compete with tough teams and come away with a close win, they know they have a better shot of doing it when the score is low.

For a team that showed athletic potential a year ago, it has been the biggest difference and the catalyst for their hot start this season.

“It’s been our defense and our ability to stop teams,” sophomore Bryce Riehl said. “If we can’t get points, they’re not going to get points either.”

Everyone has paid attention to them in that regard and it’s a big reason why they sit at No. 1 in the 5A CHSAANow.com boys basketball rankings.

And they don’t just talk the talk when it comes to their effort on defense. They held Rangers forward Eli Robinson to just 10 points on the night. He came into the game averaging close to 20, but the Grizzlies were so disruptive that he was unable to get into an offensive rhythm. In fact, he was held scoreless in the second quarter. The bulk of the Rangers (8-3) offense to end the first half came from a pair of 3-pointers from freshman Jonas Miller.

“Eli is a beast,” Babbitt said. “And their freshman, No. 22, came up huge. We knew that was our focus to take care of Eli and do the best we can.”

Riehl was the primary source of Mesa Ridge’s offense as he scored a team-high 12 points. L-P’s Luke Delange led all scorers with 14 while Robinson and Cohen Edmondson, the top returning contributors from last year’s championship game, scored 14 points combined. Edmondson was held without a field goal the entire game.

If the Rangers are going to contend for another title this season, it is these early games against top teams that will make them battle ready when the playoffs begin in March.

“This is the third top-five team that we’ve played,” Benton said. “That’s why we’re doing it. Going 11-0 against teams that we know we’re better than doesn’t benefit us at all. Losses to Mead, Vista Peak and Mesa Ridge is what is going to make us better.”

This is a program that understands how to make teams better. And while this is a win that is legitimizing the progress Mesa Ridge has made since last year, it could also be a loss that serves as a speed bump on Lewis-Palmer’s path to another state title.