Season Preview: 4A Jefferson County League

<strong>How it all shook out in ‘19-20 </strong>Green Mountain was money green in sweeping the league at 12-0 and winning its 20^th Jeffco game in succession. Regular Jeffco and Class 4A power Evergreen was three games back. The other five – the loop will grow from seven to nine teams this season – mostly hovered around .500 and just under it. <strong>Teams –</strong> Alameda, Conifer, D’Evelyn, Evergreen, Green Mountain, Golden, Littleton, Standley Lake, Wheat Ridge. <strong>Which playoff team advanced the furthest?</strong> It was a semifinals showing for Green Mountain (24-3), which ultimately lost to 2019 state runner-up Holy Family 38-31. No other league team made it out of 4A’s second round. <strong>A few returning players to watch</strong> [player_tooltip player_id="95134" first="Courtney" last="Hank"], Green Mountain, 2021, F, 5-10 Averaging a double-double would make for a nice jump for Hank after she put up 10.1 points and seven rebounds in 2019-20. As a junior, she was also second on the team with 2.3 assists, averaged 2.2 steals and led the Rams with 1.5 blocks a night. Green Mountain’s tone-setter was also named honorable mention on the <a href="https://prepgirlshoops.com/2020/04/prep-hoops-colorado-all-junior-team/">Prep Girls Hoops Colorado All-Junior Team</a> last winter. [player_tooltip player_id="95215" first="Jayda" last="Maves"], Green Mountain, 2023, G, 5-7 Maves’ showed her big-time potential early in her career when she scored a career-high 26 points (as a freshman) against 5A Broomfield last December. On the whole, she averaged 8.7 points, 2.3 rebounds and 1.4 steals per game while playing in 27 games as a ninth-grader. Look for big things from Maves and the Rams in Season B. [player_tooltip player_id="95211" first="Jameson" last="Mott"], Evergreen, 2023, G, 5-9 Jeffco’s second-leading scorer (11.8 points) returns. Mott was the league’s pace-setter as just a freshman last winter and there’s no reason to suspect she won’t continue to push that pace in Season B. Evergreen also graduated eight seniors from last year’s roster, so Mott might be asked to pick up more of the slack in other areas as well. [player_tooltip player_id="117693" first="Avery" last="Oaster"], Green Mountain, 2022, F, 5-11 Just a sophomore last season, Oaster was the Second-leading scorer on a Rams team that lost only three seniors to graduation and returns four of last winter's top five scorers. The six-foot forward averaged 9.5 points, 5.5 rebounds, 2.1 steals and a block a night in her first full varsity season. Her second will be something to follow. [player_tooltip player_id="116768" first="Lexi" last="Szathmary"], D’Evelyn, 2021, G, 5-6 The Jags’ top point-getter (10.9 points, and third in 4A Jeffco) from a year ago, Szathmary brings her skill and toughness back into the mix for one more season. Averaging 3.6 steals while playing in only 16 games because of an injury last season, Szathmary will set the tone for D'Evelyn in Season B. [caption id="attachment_232050" align="alignright" width="300"]<img class="size-medium wp-image-232050" src="https://prephoops-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/pgh/uploads/2020/11/Maddie-Topping-DEvelyn-300x206.jpg" alt="" width="300" height="206" /> Maddie Topping[/caption] <strong>Some other names to know</strong> [player_tooltip player_id="116772" first="Nicole" last="Levine"], Evergreen, 2021, G, 5-7 Cameron Lucas, Standley Lake, 2021, G-F, 5-7 Shea Murphy, Green Mountain, 2022, G, 5-5 Maddie Topping, D’Evelyn, 2022, G, 5-7 Ava Youngblood-Yazzi, Littleton, 2022, C-F, 5-9 Raiyvn Lawson, Alameda, 2021, G Wakiyan Wi Irving, Wheat Ridge, 2021, PG, 5-5 Mahpiya Wi Irving, Wheat Ridge, 2021, SG, 5-5 <strong>A quick, early look to Season B</strong> Until we see otherwise, it will continue to be about Green Mountain and Evergreen, the past two league champs, respectively.