Golden senior Tawny Drexler is taking a liking to a fast-paced style of basketball.
The half-court game Drexler was accustom to is foreign to the Demons who have sprinted out to an 8-2 record this season.
“It’s been a lot different,” Drexler said.
“It has helped me a lot. My points per game are up and me being able to run the court is a lot easier than just fighting for position down low.”
The latest evidence of Golden’s successful change of style under first-year coach Jeff Neal came Monday, Jan. 8, in the first round of the 5A/4A Jeffco Tournament. The Demons downed Green Mountain (5-2) 73-54 in the first round of the tournament.
Drexler poured in 22 points on 9 of 13 shooting from the floor and 4 of 5 from the free-throw line. Junior Cassie Lambrecht was even more impressive, posting a season-high 32 points on 13 of 27 shooting, including four 3-pointers.
With junior Samantha Neal having an off shooting night, 1 of 10 from the field resulting in six points, Drexler and Lambrecht carried the scoring load.
“The good thing is we have a lot of different scorers,” Coach Neal said. “We can get scoring from a lot of different positions. It’s hard for teams to isolate who is going to be our scorer.”
While Golden ran away with the victory in the end, Green Mountain jumped out to a surprising 9-0 lead to start the game on 3-pointers from seniors Candice Chase and Kristin Petty.
“I don’t think we ever got really scared,” Lambrecht said. “We always play with confidence and know it can change in a matter of a few minutes.”
The Rams held a 23-21 lead early in the second quarter, but a 14-0 run by Golden zapped any chance of Green Mountain coming away with a road victory.
Defensive pressure by Golden forced 20 first-half turnovers by Green Mountain. The Rams turned the ball over 33 times. First-year coach Jim Miller admits turnovers have been a problem this season.
“I was worried about the teamwork and getting the ball up the court,” Miller said. “When they pressed us there were times when we would break it really well, then we would throw it away half the time. We’ve got to stop that.”
Miller was familiar what Neal would bring to the table. The two coaches faced each other when Miller was coaching Conifer and Neal was at Summit.
“I didn’t mind getting in a running game with Golden,” Miller said. “You just can’t give the ball up that much and beat a top team.”
Chase did all she could to keep the Rams in the game. The senior scored 22 points on 9 of 17 shooting. The 5-foot-11 forward canned three 3-pointers. Senior Kayla Desai contributed 10 points and sophomore Danielle Stephan added nines points in the loss.
Working on her outside shooting is something Chase has focused on.
“I’m in the gym almost every day for a couple of hours,” Chase said. “I just want to improve. ”
Miller is the third different coach Chase has had in her four years of playing varsity at Green Mountain. Chase, one of the premier scorers in the state, has taken the overhaul of the Rams’ program in stride.
“It’s been hard, but after the first two you kind of get used to being able to transition and learn new stuff,” Chase said.
What’s next
Golden hosts Standley Lake at 6 p.m. Thursday, Jan. 11, in the last pool play game of the 5A/4A Jeffco Tournament for the Demons.