Golden junior Riley Stoner (10) loses the ball while being covered by D’Evelyn seniors Jason Gardner (11) and CJ Olson (21). (Dennis Pleuss/Jeffco Athletics)
DENVER — D’Evelyn is sitting in the penthouse at the midway point of the Class 4A Jeffco League boys basketball schedule.
While there are several team knocking on the door the Jaguars (14-2, 7-0 in 4A Jeffco) completed an undefeated run in first go-around one of the hardest conferences in the state. D’Evelyn, ranked No. 3 in the latest CHSAANow.com 4A boys hoops poll, defeated No. 7 Golden 82-77 in a packed gym Wednesday night at D’Evelyn.
“It’s a great win. Finishing 7-0 in the first half of league is huge,” said D’Evelyn junior Charles Dinegar, who led the Jaguars with 21 points. “Everyone is out for us now. We have a long road ahead of us now. No game will be easy.”
D’Evelyn junior Charles Dinegar (0) glides past Golden junior Joe Madsen. (Dennis Pleuss/Jeffco Athletics)
The key for D’Evelyn was a 13-0 run in the second quarter that turned a 26-21 deficit into a 34-26 lead. The Jaguars never trailed from there on out.
“It was a big quarter,” Dinegar said of the second quarter where the Jaguars outscored the Demons 23-9. “It put them on their heels. They had to be in attack mode from there on out. We could relax and play our game. We didn’t have to force anything and they did.”
While Dinegar had a stellar night, the Jaguars used their balanced offensive attack to their advantage. Five players — Dinegar, CJ Olson (18 points), Jason Gardner (14 points), Josh Brinkerhoff (12 points) and Cole Clifton (11 points) — all finished in double-digit points for D’Evelyn.
“We had too many open spaces. (D’Evelyn) passes it so well they find the open man,” Golden coach John Anderson said. “I don’t know what they shot, but from the 3-point line and from the free-throw line they were very clutch.”
D’Evelyn senior Alec Clifton lines up for a 3-pointer. (Dennis Pleuss/Jeffco Athletics)
D’Evelyn made nine 3-pointers and were an impressive 23-for-29 from the free-throw line. Golden (12-4, 4-3) matched the Jaguars’ 3-pointers with nine and scored 35 points during a fourth-quarter rally.
Golden junior Adam Thistlewood (26 points) took over the game at times and senior Kayden Sund (20 points) scored 14 points in the final quarter. The Demons cut the lead to 80-77 with nine seconds remaining on a 3-pointer by junior Jack Moore, but Clifton hit a pair of free throws in the final seconds to seal the win.
“There isn’t one guy on our team who needs to get the ball,” D’Evelyn coach Dan Zinn said of his team’s balance. “Any night we can have any number of guys go for 20-plus (points). We knew if we were patient enough we would get open looks and get scoring opportunities.”
D’Evelyn has a tough road test to close out the week. The Jaguars face Evergreen (11-4, 4-2) at 7 p.m. Friday, Jan. 27. The Cougars just upset Golden a week ago and will try to duplicate the feat against D’Evelyn.
“It’s a really nice place to visit,” Zinn said with a smile talking about Evergreen. “They have great atmosphere and it’s going to be a challenge for sure. It’s going to be a really big challenge to go in there and get a W.”
Zinn, in his second year at the helm of the Jaguars’ basketball program, has D’Evelyn in position to win a league title for the first time since the Jaguars’ three-peat from 2012-2014.
“I wasn’t our goal to go 7-0 to start league, but we’ve put ourselves in a really good position,” Zinn said. “Now everyone is going to be gunning for us and we have to show up every night.”
Golden hosts rival Wheat Ridge at 7 p.m. Friday, Jan. 27, to begin its second go-around against conference teams.
The Demons know another loss would like bury any hopes to three-peat as league champs, still Anderson is staying positive knowing how challenging the league is with three teams in the top-10 and Evergreen just on the outside of the rankings.
“I was talking to Coach Zinn before the game. We are so happy we play everyone twice this year,” Anderson said. “We got rematches against teams. Stuff can happen in the league. The top four in this league can beat anybody.”
The Demons had an impressive 28-2 league mark the previous two seasons where they were the outright conference champions twice. Despite three league losses, Anderson was pleased how his Demons fought in the loss Wednesday.
“I hate losing, but once again, we got beat. We didn’t beat ourselves,” Anderson said. “D’Evelyn flat out beat us by shooting the basketball well. I’m proud of the way we came back in the end. We didn’t give up. We kept grinding.”
Golden junior Adam Thistlewood (31) had a game-high 26 points, but it wasn’t enough as the Demons lost 82-77 versus D’Evelyn. (Dennis Pleuss/Jeffco Athletics)