There are not too many seniors on the roster of the Denver East girls basketball team. Four, to be exact, yet that quartet owns the unique distinction of having never lost a league game since they joined the Angels.
Denver East was not about to ruin that streak with first place on the line Saturday.
Using a stifling pressure defense early and a dominant run to open the second half, the Angels claimed sole possession of first place in the Denver Prep League with a 63-48 victory against George Washington at the Manual Thunderdome.
The defending Class 5A state champions (14-6, 5-0 Denver Prep League) won their seventh consecutive game.
“We wanted them to play our game,” East coach Dwight Berry said. “We have a goal, and we haven’t lost in this league in six years, and nobody wants to be the team to lose. I just use that as motivation. Our goal is to come out and outwork each team, outplay them, outcoach them, and that is what we are going to continue to do the rest of this year.”
East never trailed after forcing seven Patriots turnovers during the first 2 1/2 minutes of the contest, unleashing a relentless defense that offset an uneven shooting performance, which included a 20-for-42 effort at the free-throw line.
The Angels led 22-14 at halftime and blew open the game early in the third quarter, scoring the first eight points en route to a 16-2 run. East increased its lead to 25 points late in the third and pulled away again late after GW crawled to within 12 points midway through the fourth quarter.
Deidra Smith led the Angels with 19 points and Jaidah Richardson added 13 points.
“We wanted to hustle, outwork them and deny them the ball,” Richardson said. “We made sure (GW) couldn’t get it inside. We had the defensive mentality to put the pressure on them.”
George Washington 4 10 8 26 — 48
Denver East 10 12 22 19 — 63
GW — Lewis 0 2-2 2, C. Johnson 0 0-0 0, Rowe 0 0-0 0, J. Johnson 6 13-15 26, Taei 1 0-2 2, Watson 1 0-0 2, Cannon 2 1-2 6, Wilder 2 3-4 8, Abdullah 0 2-2 2. Totals 12 21-27 48.
East — Small 1 3-4 5, Lunka 0 1-2 1, Richardson 1 10-15 13, Carey 3 1-8 7, Smith 9 1-5 19, Peevy 2 0-0 4, Jones 0 1-2 1, Roper 0 0-2 0, Sally 2 1-1 5, A. Johnson 1 0-0 2, Tuscher 1 2-3 4, Warrior 1 0-0 2. Totals 21 20-42 63.
3-point goals — Cannon, Wilder, J. Johnson; Richardson. Fouls — GW 32, East 24.
