Denver East Defeats Dakota Ridge to Advance to Sweet 16

By Matt Langley

LangleyScouting.blogspot.com

3/2/2013

Denver, CO- The Denver East Angels took the first step towards the state championship game Saturday afternoon defeating the Dakota Ridge Eagles 66-54 at Denver East High School.  The high powered East offense fueled by its high octane defense raced out to an 18 point lead at half time then held on in the second half for the 12 point win.

            Dakota Ridge started the game keeping up with the Angles for the first two minutes. Then the Angles’ defense clipped the Eagles’ wings for the next 6:00 minutes. Any shot the Eagles missed was scooped up by the Angels and turned directly into a fast break. Collier and his usual running mates juniors Jevon Griffin, Ronnie Harrell, and Tyre Robinson all contributed equally to East’s successful first half. Griffin and Collier led the breaks, Robinson ruled the paint, and Harrell knocked down 3 three–point shots to give the Angels a 37-19 lead at halftime. Dakota Ridge was lead by sophomore Mason Grothuesmann’s seven points, all coming in the second period.

            The scoring picked up for the Eagles in the second half. They were able to get a few offensive rebounds and more of their shots started to fall. The Eagles, however, were unable to stop East’s offense in the 3^rd quarter.  Sophomore Brian Carey made a running floater as the buzzer ended the third period giving the Angels a 57-31 lead.

            The Eagles scored 17 points in the final quarter and cut the Angel lead to 59-48 with 3:00 left in the game after an East technical. However, that is as close as the Eagles would come. Collier scored another 14 points in the second half to lead all scorers with 29 points.

            East advances to the round of 16, where last year they were beaten on the road by Thunder Ridge. This year, however, they will host Heritage on Wednesday (time is still to be determined) who has shown the ability to defeat higher ranked teams already this year.