Niwot boys open 2021 with loss to Roosevelt

The 2021 season didn't get off to a winning start for the Cougars on Jan. 26, but the hard-fought loss yielded some pleasant surprises for Niwot head coach Clayton Wittrock.

"It was a good effort from a young team," he said following his team's 47-35 defeat in the season opener against Roosevelt. "There were times when we just played hard, played smart and played together, and good things happened. And there were sometimes, even though we did everything we needed to, a shot didn't fall, and I can live with that. In a short season like this, you want the guys to get wins, but this was a good learning experience for those guys."

Learning experiences have taken on extra meaning for Niwot in 2021, considering most of the varsity lineup is new from last year and the team had about a week to prepare for opening night, compared to a three-week preseason in a conventional year. Of the 11 players, just four-Gage Gruidel, Hayden Morford, Brennan Noterman, and Dev Mudukutore-have any varsity experience at all, while the fifth, senior Reeves Moor, is a newcomer to the program. Also new are seniors Sam Dutkin and Marco Ramirez, junior Walt Van Riper, and sophomores Mateusz Swat, Jerek Funkhouser, and Stephen Sahaj.

None of that was evident in the game's first half, though. What the Cougars lacked in varsity minutes as they took the floor against the Roughriders, they made up for in energy, despite the state-mandated masks. Led by senior Gruidel, with an assist from fellow starters Moor and Mudukutore, Niwot scored early and often, while making Roosevelt error-prone at the other end of the court. By the end of the first quarter, Niwot was up by six, and had seen scoring up and down the lineup.

After that, however, Niwot's offense lost its cohesion. Thanks to a pair of fouls, Gruidel was out of service for much of the second quarter, and the Cougars managed just five points. Luckily, a focused effort from the defense kept the game close, and Niwot trailed by just two (24-22) at the half.

Scoring was more even in the third quarter, but it came in streaks for both teams. Again without Gruidel, the Cougars fell behind by seven points before senior Hayden Morford broke the ice for Niwot with just under three minutes to go. Moor and Funkhouser then added two quick scores, and the Cougars closed the gap to 32-29 at the end of the third.

Niwot could not capitalize on that momentum, however, and Roosevelt finally put the game out of reach in the fourth. Aside from a jumper from Funkhouser, the Cougars' scoring was limited to free throws by Gruidel and Van Riper, and a rash of late turnovers put the defense on their heels. Niwot went on to lose by 12, and Wittrock knows there are more learning experiences to come.

"We need to get as many reps as we can to start to gel a little more in offense," he said. "There were moments where we gelled really well, and then we scored or we got to the line, like at the end of the third quarter. I think that will come with practice reps and games."

Even in the losing effort, Wittrock found several reasons to be optimistic, primarily Gruidel's performance on both ends of the floor. The senior ended the night with nine points and eight rebounds, leading the team in both, despite sitting out most of the second and third quarters.

"I knew he was going to come out with a lot of drive. We'll clean up the ticky tack fouls, but I thought his efforts on the offensive side, really trying to take care of things in the key as best he could, was really good."

The coach was also encouraged by the play of his newcomers, especially Moor and Funkhouser, who both ended with six points and four rebounds apiece. Moor is coming off a state championship season with the Niwot boys tennis team, an experience that gives him a competitive edge, according to Wittrock.

"Reeves wasn't with us last year," he said. "He comes out as a senior, and you don't really know how he's going to jump in there. But, the guy jumped in there. He didn't come off the court in the second half. Like everybody, he had this stumbles too. But I think he's gonna give us a lot of good things going forward."

To be sure, there are likely many stumbles still ahead for the inexperienced Cougars in 2021, but for their second-year head coach, that's okay as long as they keep moving in the right direction.

"They got a good taste of the physicality of the varsity level, and how much cleaner you have to play defensively, and how much more confident we can be on offense. And I know we can be those things."