Evergreen junior Bridger Tenney goes after a loose ball during the Cougars’ win Monday night at Green Mountain. (Dennis Pleuss/Jeffco Athletics)
LAKEWOOD — Since Jan. 20 it can be argued Evergreen’s boys basketball team is the hottest team in Class 4A.
During the last 11 days the Cougars (13-4, 6-2 in 4A Jeffco) have home wins over two top-10 team in the CHSAANow.com rankings — No. 3 D’Evelyn and No. 7 Golden.
“We were coming in on a hot streak and needed to keep rolling,” Evergreen senior Lucas Berninzoni said Monday night.
Evergreen continued its winning ways with a 55-48 road victory at Green Mountain (7-10, 2-6). It was a bit of revenge for the Cougars against the Rams. Evergreen lost 58-56 to Green Mountain in the championship game of the Paul Davis Classic back on Dec. 10.
Green Mountain senior Jake Haertl (25) is surrounded by Evergreen defenders. (Dennis Pleuss/Jeffco Athletics)
“That was definitely in our minds,” Berninzoni said of the earlier loss to the Rams. “We were on a mission and that mission was revenge.”
The Cougars jumped out to an early 6-0 lead in the opening minutes and never trailed. Berninzoni had a good game off the bench with a dozen points. Senior Reese Wilson and junior Chase Rogers also pitched in a dozen each to lead Evergreen to a fourth straight victory.
“He (Berninzoni) played really well for us,” Evergreen coach Scott Haebe said. “I love my top six kids. They can all start and can all be on the court at the end of games. I thought Lucas deserved to be in there tonight.”
Green Mountain stayed within an arm’s length thanks to eight 3-pointers and a strong offensive game by senior Jake Haertl. Haertl came off the bench to score a game-high 19 points.
Haertl had 21 points in the Rams’ victory over Evergreen before the winter break.
“We did enough defensively,” Haebe said. “We let #25 (Jake Haertl) get loose again. He has killed us both games we’ve played them this year.”
Evergreen and Green Mountain meet for a third time in another conference game scheduled for Feb. 8 on the Cougars’ home court.
“It’s basketball. It’s high school. You’ve got to win ugly sometimes,” Haebe said. “I thought (Green Mountain) played a really good game and kept it close. Last week with wins over Golden and D’Evelyn weighed in as well I thought.”
Evergreen senior Michael Dillon goes up for a short jumper. (Dennis Pleuss/Jeffco Athletics)
The Cougars are very much in the mix for the 4A Jeffco conference title. Evergreen is just a game back of league-leading D’Evelyn (14-3, 7-1) and No. 2 Valor Christian (13-4, 7-1).
“We aren’t so focused on the league title itself. We are taking it game-by-game,” Berninzoni said. “If it’s something that comes out in the end after all our hard work that would be greatly appreciated.”
Evergreen hosts and gets a second shot against last year’s 4A state runner-up Valor on Feb. 10. Another key league game coming up for the Cougars is Feb. 14 at Golden.
The Cougars have a quick turnaround with a league game at Littleton (1-14, 0-8) tomorrow (Tuesday, Jan. 31).
Green Mountain will attempt to break its six-game losing streak when the Rams host Standley Lake (3-14, 2-6) at 7 p.m. Wednesday, Feb. 1.
Evergreen junior Bridger Tenney grabs a rebound during the Cougars’ fourth straight win Monday night. (Dennis Pleuss/Jeffco Athletics)