LAKEWOOD — A lot of shooting and a little bit of defense helped Team White erase a 17-point halftime deficit March 16 at the Gold Crown Field House.

The White squad coached by Dakota Ridge coach Sean Kovar grabbed a 136-125 victory over the Blue squad in the 2023 Jeffco HS Senior Boys Basketball Game. The Blue team coached by Bear Creek coach Pete Spiessbach held a 77-60 lead at halftime, but White scored 38 points in both the third and fourth quarters to rally for the victory.

“Never a doubt that the White team was going to win,” Kovar said with a grin. “We were confident the whole time, even when we were down. We were like, ‘They will cool off.’ The guys wanted to compete and get some stops. It was so fun.”

While 10 players reached double-digit points in the game that featured 261 points, just behind the record of 262 points scored in the Jeffco all-star game in 2018, it was a defensive play that brought the biggest cheers.

Alameda senior Claude Smith took a defensive charge in the fourth quarter as the White team started to pull away.

“We did say that if anyone takes a charge they would get an extra 2 minutes on the court,” Kovar said. “Claude from Alameda did take a charge. That was awesome.”

The Blue’s squad shooting was impressive in the first half. Valor Christian’s Evan Gomez couldn’t miss pouring in 24 points in the first half. Columbine senior Levi O’Brien was dominate on both ends of the court, but O’Brien tweaked his ankle early in the third quarter and didn’t return to the game.

Chatfield senior Shay Rumsey had 24 points and was named the Blue squad MVP. He clearly had a great time going up against good friend and rival Trevor Fuller of Dakota Ridge.

“I just came in here to have fun. I love basketball. I’ve been playing basketball my whole life,” Rumsey said. “I’ve been playing with him (Fuller) since pre-k. Then he went to Dakota Ridge and I went to Chatfield. We’ve been rivals ever since. To play this last game against him was quite an experience.”

Fuller was named the MVP for the White squad as he went over the 20-point mark. While the scoreboard was an after thought at times, Fuller did take a look at it during halftime.

“At halftime I looked at the scoreboard and was like, ‘Crap. We are down by 17.’ We just kept playing,” Fuller said. “It wasn’t like there was any defense either way. We started playing a little defense and made some shots. It was fun.”

Jefferson senior Salman Ali had 19 points and Pomona senior Zeke Jojola had a game-high six 3-pointers for the White squad. Arvada West senior Carson Nichols helped the White team close out the victory with 13 points in the second half.

“I just told them to have fun and enjoy the moment,” Kovar said. “We wanted to play with pace and any look was a good look.”

The Gold Crown Foundation has been running the Jeffco Senior Basketball Games for six years with First Bank sponsoring the girls and boys games that has every Jeffco high school and team that competes in either the 6A Jeffco League or 5A/4A Jeffco League represented. 

Dennis Pleuss is the sports information director for Jeffco Public Schools. For more Jeffco coverage, go to CHSAANow.com.