This Monday’s basketball home opener brought the crowd to its feet as both the girls’ and boys’ varsity teams faced Front Range Baptist in two thrilling overtime games.
The girls game was back and forth for all four quarters, ending regulation tied at 32 points each. Stepping into overtime with the win on their minds, what had been an even matchup turned into total domination. Seniors Rodas Tewelde ’25 and Piper Lewis ’25 played key roles in overtime. Tewelde locked down on defense while Lewis put up two points, helping the team score nine points while allowing none, securing the 41-32 victory. In the boys game, Senior Trey Larsen started his night with a massive block, bringing the opponent’s first drive to a halt. Unfortunately, the rest of their first half performance wouldn’t reflect Larsen’s opening play as the boys went into the half trailing by seven points. The second half was a different story for the Mustangs-outscoring their opponent 29-22, they tied the game at 43 points to force overtime. Unfortunately, they couldn’t hold on at the end and took a hard-fought loss ending 51-47, their first loss of the season. While it was a tough loss for the boys in their first home game, the girls had plenty to celebrate with their overtime victory.
The Mustangs took to the court again on Wednesday for the first themed game of the season-neon night. Fans cheered on the teams in their brightest neon colors, with students even spotting Mr. Tassi sporting his own yellow and orange high-vis vest. No matter what the postgame reaction was from either team on Monday, they probably weren’t having the same feelings on Wednesday. Girls varsity got off to a strong start, holding their own for the first three quarters and outscoring Stargate in the third to keep the game within one point. However, after a good start to the second half, they couldn’t seem to find their rhythm in the fourth quarter, losing 44-25 to the Stargate Eagles.
Despite Monday’s result, it didn’t take long for boys varsity to take control of the game. The opposing Nederland team struggled to hold up against Dawson’s relentless offense and just couldn’t score enough points of their own to keep it close. The Mustangs were on fire the entire game. Kauldahn Osman ’25 was a defensive powerhouse, Milo Richtel ’27 couldn’t stop sinking three-pointers, Finn Rollins ’27 dominated in the paint, was a defensive powerhouse, and Isaiah Tu 26′ was just too quick for his defenders as Dawson cruised to an easy 57-15 point win. Both varsity teams are sitting with 2-1 records on the season as they prepare for their last game before winter break against Liberty Common this Tuesday.