(Brock Laue)
COLORADO SPRINGS — Denver West boys basketball had a tradition of producing great teams and players in the 1950s, 1960s, 1970s, and 1980s.
Robert Coyne played on a national championship team at Kansas in the 1980s and in the NBA. Gary Rhoades had an illustrious career at Denver West, setting the DPL single season record for points per game with a 29.9 average during the 1968-69 season and was an all-conference player at Colorado State. Prolific basketball coach Bob Caton, the head man at Highlands Ranch, was an all-city player for Denver West and then a starter at Colorado State.
The Cowboys have a history of excellence in boys basketball, but had been a consistent bottom feeder in the Denver Prep League in the 2000s.
Denver West is officially back in the hoops picture with one of the state’s premier 4A teams.
The Cowboys, led by first-year head coach Ray Valdez, the younger brother of Lincoln head coach Vince Valdez, displayed their best team in at least 15 years Friday afternoon. No. 3-seeded Denver West defeated No. 6 Frederick 81-72 in a fast-paced, hot shooting second round game at Sand Creek, the No. 2 seed in the Guy Gibbs Region and host school for the game.
Denver West, a young team with two sophomores and a freshman starting, began the game on fire with a 28-point first quarter led by Eduardo Rosales’ 11 points and Alpha Diallo’s ten points.
They held a 13-point lead to start the second quarter, but Frederick fired back as seniors Austin Rivera and Alex Therrien, the leading scorers this season for the Warriors, caught fire. Rivera pumped in 10 points and Therrien had eight in the quarter as the two combined for all of the team’s points.
Rivera tallied 17 first-half points, but Denver West continued their efficient display offensively and led 43-33 at the break.
“We’ve been preaching to them that they have to play each play like it’s their last and they did that tonight. They kept attacking,” Frederick coach Larry Frank said about Therrien and Rivera.
Frederick was unable to contain Diallo, though.
The ultra-talented 6-foot-6 sophomore wing used his quickness and all-around athletic ability to score 17 first-half points. He also grabbed several rebounds and showed off vision and passing ability in the open floor. Diallo is considered one of the premier sophomores in Colorado and looked it Friday.
“My teammates did a good job setting me up for open shots and I just had to repay them by hitting the shot,” Diallo said afterward.
“He’s really good,” Valdez said of Diallo. “We’re able to plug him into a hole where we think there may be a weakness and the other guys are so good at spacing around him. They do a really good job of getting into his vision lane. Our guys do a really good job of going to where he can see them and they space him really well, so that he is able to do some of the things that he is pretty dynamic at.”
Frederick’s Therrien, averaging 14.9 points per contest, continued to keep the Warriors within striking distance with 15 third-quarter points. He drained a ridiculously tough buzzer-beating 3 from just inside half-court to end the quarter down 61-53. He was dynamic shooting the ball as West struggled all evening getting out on the senior.
For how hot Therrien was throughout, Denver West was even hotter and never let up. Diallo had a quiet two points in the third, but closed strong with nine fourth quarter points and helped seal the 81-72 victory for the Cowboys.
“They were really, really good at handling their first playoff game,” Valdez said afterwards. “You walk in nervous and instead of trying to overdo things, they kind of allowed themselves to do the things that they know they can do well. They did a wonderful, wonderful job.”
The Cowboys exhibited pure talent with the likes of Alpha Diallo, savvy and intelligent sophomore guard Eduardo Rosales, a great shooter, quick and dynamic playmaking freshman Jose Rodriguez, and 6-foot-8 inch Jesus Martinez, a sophomore shot-blocker.
They showed leadership with senior guard Jason Medina, a do it all guard who is a tough defender.
“Jason’s really made it smooth,” Valdez said of his senior leader’s help in guiding the young team. “We’re young and do silly things, but Jason has been like another assistant. He’s been like an on-floor coach.”
Denver West revealed a well-oiled system on offense and defense, and they displayed great coaching with Valdez and former Lincoln players, Eric Carrasco and Saul Torres, as two of his assistants. Carrasco and Torres were starters on Lincoln’s 4A state championship teams in 2007 and 2008, the first state titles of any kind at the school since 1968, so they are all too familiar with building successful programs at schools like Denver West.
Diallo finished the game with a team high 28 points. Rosales and Rodriguez had 14 points each and Medina chipped in 13 for Denver West.
“He has to learn a little more heel and not so much attack,” Valdez said, laughing when describing Rodriguez, “but he’s very dynamic in a lot of the things he does. He’s just really fearless.”
Frederick’s Therrien went off for 32 points, 21 in the second half alone. Rivera scored 21 points as the two senior guards combined for 53 of the Warriors’ 72 points and were poised and effective all game.
“They answered every one of our runs,” Frank said after the defeat. “When you shoot 75 percent — which I don’t know if that’s the actual figure yet, but today they (Denver West) shot the ball extremely well.
“They deserved the victory, but the best part about it is I’m so proud of my team. They could’ve easily folded and they gave it their all and laid it all out on the court. That’s what sports and life, in general, is about. There’s only one team that’s going to end up with a win at the end of their season and that’s the state champs. We had a great season, set the school record in wins, and it was a great group of kids, great group of three seniors.”
Frederick went 18-6 this season and reached the second round, a year after a 17-7 campaign that saw a first-round exit with a 62-55 loss to Greeley Central. The Warriors had a very strong season with a second place finish behind Mead in the Tri-Valley League.
Denver West continues its dream season with an appearance in the Sweet 16 for the first time in as long as anyone can remember. The Cowboys will take on No. 2 seed Sand Creek, the co-champions of the perennially tough Pikes Peak League, and a team featuring Air Force recruit Dylan Clark. Clark and Langston Bell form a talented backcourt for the Scorpions. Sand Creek defeated Steamboat Springs 64-49 in the night game at Sand Creek on Friday.
The Sweet 16 game between Denver West and Sand Creek, the host, is scheduled for 5 p.m. on Saturday evening. The winner will take on either D’Evelyn or Mead in the Great 8 at the Denver Coliseum on Saturday, March 8.
Denver West boys basketball, a serious Final Four contender in 4A, is tasting a little bit of their glory years again.