Columbine wins rematch-original

Rebels win rematch 
Andy McDonnell The Denver Post

LITTLETON- The last game between Columbine and Dakota Ridge was a back-and-forth affair that took the full 32 minutes to decide. Eagle's senior Chris Poste hit nothing but nylon from distance to win the game in the final seconds 54-51.

"We knew it would be a dogfight coming in here," said Rebels head coach Clay Thielking. "And it was."

This time around Columbine (15-3, 10-1) was able to out-scrap an undersized but extremely quick Dakota Ridge (9-8, 7-4) team 68-55 at home in a Jefferson County League matchup.

"The loss over there hurt a ton," said Thielking who knows that although these kids don't go to school together, they're often friends off the hardwood. "The kids have bounced back really well since then."

Since that matchup on January 4th the Rebels have cruised in conference play, winning 8 straight games. "I can't give Columbine enough credit," said Dakota Ridge head coach Curi Yutzy. "They are a very solid team and they were definitely prepared for us."

In the rematch, the Rebels', who are No. 9 in The Denver Post Class 5A media poll, game-plan prevailed.

"They did a better job, especially in the first half of executing their game plan than we did," said Yutzy of his team who lacked the vertical stamina to stay with Chris Huth and Jon Snow, 6'7" and 6'6" respectively. "They took advantages that they have on us with their size."

But what the Eagles lack in height they made up in quickness and forced the opponent into dangerous plays.

"It is an interesting dynamic," said Thielking who entrusts much of the ball handling to Nick Carpinello. "That press makes it look that there are seven blue shirts out there and that makes things really tough."

"It was big, especially the last time for us seniors," said Carpinello with a wry smirk after handling the pressure against their rival. "It was just a good way to go out with them."

Dakota Ridge    11   8  22  14 - 55
Columbine        15  13  14  26 - 68

Dakota Ridge - Musleh 7 4-6 18, Hoffman 3 2-2 8, Anderson 1 0-2 2, Flores 1 0-0 2, Poste 3 0-0 9, Wallin 2 0-0 4, Genthe 0 0-0 0, Davis 5 2-2 12. Totals 22 8-12 55
Columbine - Carpinello 5 8-9 20, Daly 3 4-4 13, Hyde 0 0-0 0, Huth 4 4-4 12, McMinimee 1 0-0 2, Koop 0 0-0 0, Crowther 2 0-0 4, Snow 7 3-4 17. Totals 22 19-21 68
3-pt. goals: Dakota Ridge - Poste 3. Columbine - Daly 3, Carpinello 2.