Twice, the Green Mountain girls’ basketball team appeared done for.
Twice, the Rams rose to the challenge to make program history by advancing to the program’s first state title game.
Green Mountain lost its leading scorer, senior guard Kantyn Pearson, to a right knee injury in the regular season finale. But the Rams beat Standley Lake anyway to win the Jeffco League crown.
Then, with Pearson cheering on from the bench, the Rams rallied from a 15-point deficit after one quarter on Thursday to in the Class 5A Final Four at the Denver Coliseum.
The Rams will face top-seeded Lutheran in Saturday’s championship game. Lutheran beat Standley Lake, 38-36, in a defensive battle in the other 5A semifinal.
“You look on paper and you see we lose about 16 points a game without Pearson in the playoffs, and other teams can be like, ‘Welp, their best player is out, they’re cooked,'” Green Mountain head coach Matteo Busnardo said. “But other girls have stepped up. We’ve had to figure out how to play without her in a short period of time.
“And the bond that has been in the making (back to youth basketball) has come through. All of that was on display in (Thursday’s) comeback against Montrose.”
In an era where open enrollment and transfers dominate the rosters of top basketball teams, the Rams are entirely homegrown. Green Mountain’s core group of juniors that led them to Thursday’s victory — including Ella Cockrum, Cadyn Cavanaugh, Addie Evans, and Grace Herrig — played together throughout elementary and middle school on a Rams’ feeder team.
Herrig paced the Rams with 11 points and 8 rebounds against Montrose, while Evans had 8, Cockrum 7, and Cavanaugh and senior captain Peyton Coil both had 6.
Montrose dominated the opening frame, racing out to a 24-9 lead behind the sharpshooting of freshman Landree Johnson and senior Maggie Legg. Both of those ballers finished with 16 points, but it was the Rams’ defense that proved critical for Green Mountain to build off a defeat in its Final Four appearance a year ago.
Green Mountain uncorked a 12-0 run in the second quarter as the Red Hawks endured a scoring drought that stretched past six minutes. Then the Rams took control for good with a 19-2 run in the second half. That settling in pleased Pearson, who let her teammates know about the flaws in their defense in the huddle following the first quarter.
“We had the whole, giant student section behind us, so we were trying to have flashy steals and flashy blocks,” Pearson said. “So I kind of yelled at them, said, ‘Stay down, stop jumping.’
“The rest of the game showed we’ve got no quit. Because when we decide to show up, I think we’re the best team in the state by far.”
Herrig said the Rams focused on eliminating open looks for Johnson, who hit three 3s in the first quarter. Green Mountain was visibly rattled, but a tough schedule this season — the Rams’ lone loss came to Class 6A Final Four participant Cherokee Trail, and they are now riding a 24-game win streak — gave them confidence they could come back.
“We had to lock down on defense, and that’s what we did,” Herrig said. “We had to dive on the floor, get every rebound, every 50/50 ball. We did all of those things starting in the second quarter like it was the final minutes of the fourth.”
Green Mountain’s turnaround over the final few quarters saved Evans’ 17th birthday, as the Coastal Carolina beach volleyball commit admitted that had the Rams lost, “I probably would’ve gone home and not talked to anybody.”
Evans also emphasized that the Rams’ run through the playoffs without Pearson has provided ample incentive.
“Losing Kantyn before playoffs, that was all the motivation we needed,” Evans said. “We want to win it for her. We’re playing for her. Because we know she’d give anything to be on the court with us.”
Pearson’s torn ACL/MCL on Feb. 16 left the Green Mountain gym in stunned silence. Pearson says hip dysplasia in both hips likely makes her more susceptible to the knee injury. She played all season through pain, with torn labrums in both hips. And she balled out with the memory of her late brother, Cayson Pearson, constantly on her mind.
Cayson Pearson died by suicide in early 2024, during Kantyn Pearson’s sophomore year. Kantyn had one of her breakout games a few days after her brother’s death. Her family started the in his honor, awarding scholarships to middle/high school players to help offset the cost of club as well as to seniors headed to play college hoops.
“The scholarship fund is really awesome because it’s giving people the chance to go and play basketball who maybe otherwise couldn’t afford it, which honors the biggest thing my brother really loved — playing basketball,” said Kantyn Pearson, who plans to attend BYU.
“… For me, I’m grateful for the high school career I’ve had, even with the injuries. I’m grateful for the lessons basketball has taught me, like how far hard work can get you. I honestly don’t have a lot of natural talent, and I’ve spent hours every day on my own, shooting by myself. It’s been awesome to be able to be as good as I am and I think my brother would be proud of me.”
While No. 3 Montrose finishes its season with a program-record 26 wins, the No. 2 Rams advance (26-1) to Saturday’s title to face Lutheran, who they beat 48-41 in overtime on Dec. 16.
No. 1 Lutheran 38, No. 5 Standley Lake 36
The Lions got the game-winning bucket from junior center Isla Koffmann to set up a rematch against Green Mountain in Saturday’s title.
Koffmann had a double-double with 14 points and 15 rebounds, while senior guard Berkley Schneider chipped in 12 points and 9 rebounds. The Gators were led by freshman guard Jojo Martin, who hit the buzzer-beater to take down Windsor in the Great 8, as Martin had a double-double with 13 points and 16 rebounds.
Lutheran led for the vast majority of the game, and Standley Lake’s struggles from beyond the arc (1-for-17) were pivotal in the Gators’ narrow defeat.
