Niwot Boys Basketball starts off the season with back-to-back wins

The Niwot High School boys basketball season has officially tipped off with a two-game weekend resulting in two wins: a blowout 73-13 win against Regis Groff, and a thrilling 86-84 overtime win against Denver North.

The Cougars jumped out to an 11-0 lead against Regis Groff, with Jackson Carano scoring first off a feed by Jerek Funkhouser. Point guard Jack Jarvis, a sophomore, got into the act quickly, feeding Funkhouser and Julian Lettow for baskets. Lettow returned the favor with an assist to Funkhouser before Regis Groff could put any points on the board.

Campbell Horning stole the ball and took it to the hoop for a 15-3 lead, and Alex Long did the same thing to put Niwot up 19-3 a few minutes later. The second quarter saw the Cougars add 20 points while holding Regis Groff to two points, giving Niwot a 41-7 halftime lead.

A steal and a layup by Jarvis gave Niwot a 50-7 lead with 4:44 left in the third quarter when coach Clay Whitmore cleared his bench for the rest of the game. Drew Buckingham stole the ball and fed Long for a layup towards the end of the quarter with the last five points coming from Mateusz Swat, for a 66-11 lead. Brighton Langenegger went in for a layup for the final points of the game.

Funkhouser led the scoring with 27, and Carnano led with eight rebounds. Carano (15) and swat (10) were also in double figures in scoring. Jarvis led the squad with four steals and four assists.

Niwot's strong start was a breath of fresh air for a team that struggled to move last season. Coach Clay Wittrock said, "Any win, especially the first win, is a great way to start. You know, for us we look back and ask what we have got to do better, what do we have to do to be competitive every game. We look at the score but we also look at what we need to improve on because we play some tough teams."

Niwot faced one of those "tough" teams, Denver North which beat Niwot last season, and turned it around. The Cougars showed that their work has paid off with tremendous improvement since last year, putting 30 more points up than they did in their last matchup.

The Cougars started strong, jumping out to a 15-11 first quarter lead on the strength of several layups by Jarvis, a hook shot by Funkhouser followed by a 3-pointer. But North came back with an 8-0 run off of several Cougar turnovers to take a 19-15 lead after one quarter. The teams traded points in the second quarter with Jarvis and Funkhouser doing most of the scoring for Niwot, with the Cougars clinging to a 32-30 lead.

In the third period, Lettow helped the offense, hitting on two 3-pointers as well as a layup. The Cougars also picked up two points on free throws following a technical foul on a North player for hanging on the rim after a missed dunk attempt. Funkhouser fed Swat for a layup and a 48-45 lead, and Jarvis followed with a 3-pointer and a layup on which he was fouled, and the free throw gave Niwot a 54-46 lead. But North didn't go away, scoring on a rare 5-point play with no time off the clock when a North player scored, was fouled, made the free throw, and made two more free throws after a foul by Niwot on the first free throw.

The Cougars had a 56-51 lead at the start of the fourth quarter, but it quickly dissipated with fouls and turnovers leading to a 56-56 tie. Funkhouser took over the scoring duties, making six free throws and adding a field goal to give the Cougars a 64-63 lead. Buckingham made two critical free throws for a 67-63 lead, but Jacob Giron of North, who led his team with 28 points, went on a scoring run to give North a 74-70 lead. Funkhouser hit a 3-pointer from the corner, but the points were taken off the board when officials stopped play to check with the scoring table.

Carano scored two points for the Cougars to cut the North lead to 75-72, but with 57 seconds left in regulation, North made one of two free throws to take a four-point lead. Jarvis drove the lane and scored to cut the lead to two points, but North made one of two free throws with 28 seconds left to put them up 77-74. With 14 seconds on the clock, Funkhouser took a shot from behind the arc, but missed. The ball went out of bounds off of North, and Funkhouser took another 3-pointer with nine seconds left, finding nothing but net and tying the game. North did not score and the game went into overtime tied at 77-77.

Carano scored the first points in OT for Niwot and Funkhouser tied it at 82-82 with another 3-pointer. A missed traveling call gave North a layup, but Jarvis put Niwot up 84-82 on a layup. Funkhouser was called for a foul when he stuffed a layup attempt into a dead ball, stuffing the ball between the rim and the backboard.

Niwot senior Zach Dawson pulled down a crucial rebound, and Jarvis drew a foul in the lane, making one of two free throws for an 85-84 lead. North was called for a traveling violation, and Jarvis was fouled with 10 seconds remaining. He made the second free throw for an 86-84 lead, and a 3-point attempt at the buzzer by North hit the back of the rim, giving Niwot the win.

Funkhouser (32) and Jarvis (31) led the Cougar scoring. Funkhouser added 14 rebounds and Jarvis had five assists.

When asked about areas of improvement, Wittrock remarked, "I think we got a little more scoring and a little more balanced scoring than last year. We are a little better inside-out scoring team than we were last year, at least, at this point. I think this team has just been at a point at this point of the year where they've already got a little bit more gel just because they spent a lot of time in the off-season together, and I think that's put them a little bit ahead of last year's team. The trick is going to be, how do we build on that?"

Niwot's next game is against Silver Creek High School, coached by former NHS coach Bob Banning, at Silver Creek on Saturday, Dec. 10 at 7 p.m.