Denver, CO
DPS foes Denver East, Northfield one win away from facing off for 6A Colorado girls basketball title
A simmering Denver Public Schools rivalry is two big wins away from a historic main event.
Denver East and Northfield are playing in opposite sides of the bracket of the Class 6A Final Four on Thursday. If both win, it will set up the first all-DPS championship game in the half-century since girls basketball became a sanctioned CHSAA sport.
There is no love lost between the programs, who have played a handful of physical, tense games over the last two seasons. That includes three showdowns this year and last year, over which the re-established old guard Denver East owns a 5-1 record against upstart, relatively new Northfield.
“It’s been a really competitive rivalry between the top teams in the DPS,” said Denver East head coach Carl Mattei, “and this has been brewing for the last couple of years for bragging rights in the city.”
The Angels have seen a resurgence under Mattei, who is in his fourth season on City Park Esplanade. Denver East is the last DPS girls team to win a hoops title, accomplishing the feat in 2010, and is one of only two DPS programs to do so, along with Montbello in 1997.
Mattei, who built Regis Jesuit into a powerhouse, went to eight title games and won three of them in his 18-year tenure with the Raiders. He was initially talked into applying for the Denver East job by a couple key DPS stakeholders, including Angels boys coach Rudy Carey and ex-longtime district athletic director John Andrew.
‘They don’t need to go play in the suburbs’
Mattei said he took the job because “when I looked at what Denver East could be, I thought it could be the Cherry Creek of DPS (girls basketball).” The Angels were successful under the prior coach, Dwight Berry, who led them to the 2010 title. But Denver East struggled to consistently make deep tournament runs.
“I had to get the kids to believe that they could compete with the Grandviews, the Cherry Creeks, the Regis Jesuits, the Highlands Ranches,” Mattei said. “Players in (the Denver East neighborhood) can actually stay in the city and represent our city, and be part of being the jewel of the city that is the Denver East Angels. They don’t need to go play in (the suburbs).
“That’s what Rudy and (Denver East principal) Terita Walker wanted for this program, and I think that’s where we’re at right now.”
The Angels are headlined by senior forward Mairead Hearty, a San Diego State commit who is averaging 16.9 points a game. Junior guard Grace Hall, a Division I recruit, is averaging 12.3 points. And senior sharpshooter Liana Valdez, a Western Nebraska commit who is a four-year starter like Hearty, can make teams pay from beyond the arc.
Hearty, who lives a couple blocks from Denver East, is jazzed with the ascension of the program at the school she walks to. The Angels went from a first-round playoff exit in Mattei’s first season, to the Sweet 16 the next, to the Great 8 last year and now the Final Four.
“I’ve been in this neighborhood my whole life, watching games (when I was little), so I’m so excited to be in this situation with this team,” Hearty said. “I couldn’t have dreamed it up any better what we’ve been able to accomplish the last four years.”
While much of Denver East’s roster is homegrown, the Angels’ other X-factor is an import.
Sophomore Mia Avramovic is averaging almost a triple-double with 10.1 points, 10.0 rebounds and 9.0 blocks, a swat rate which ranks second in the nation. The 6-foot-6 center moved to Colorado from Serbia, where she’s played on her country’s youth national team, before the school year began.
She’s still extremely raw, but Mattei says Avramovic “has made tremendous strides this season.”
“At home (in Serbia), she just had to be a shot blocker — she wasn’t really allowed to shoot or dribble,” Mattei said. “But she’s developed her game so much that she has offers from Oregon State and Utah. She’s been invited to the Nike Elite Camp in June. She’ll be playing with (a high-level club) this summer. All this after she came in and initially really struggled with her ball skills.”
Driving Avramovic’s development is Mattei’s coaching staff stacked with his former players.
That includes Diani Akigbogun, a two-time Ms. Colorado Basketball for Mattei at Regis Jesuit who is his lead assistant; Celena Miller, who played for Mattei’s club team and then at DU, and is a rising R&B star under the stage name Lady Los; Vanessa Espinoza, who played for Mattei at Douglas County before going on to CSU; and Alisha Godette, who played club for Mattei and later at Arizona State.
“Forget the state — I’ve got the best staff in the country,” Mattei said. “It’s incredible what I have as coaches and how they are working to develop our talent.”
With those familiar faces behind Mattei on the bench, he’ll take on an old foe in Thursday’s Final Four to set up a possible shot against Northfield in the title.
Mattei and Highlands Ranch boss Caryn Jarocki, the state’s all-time winningest girls coach, developed a rivalry when Mattei was at Regis Jesuit. The Raiders and the Falcons met in the title game three times, with Highlands Ranch winning in 2008 and ’11 and Regis Jesuit triumphing in 2013.
Denver East and Highlands Ranch played earlier this season, a 51-49 win by the Angels on Dec. 9. Both teams had key players injured in that game, including Hearty. Mattei believes his team’s tough out-of-state schedule, which included trips to New York and California, has prepared the Angels for the rematch.
“We have to keep an eye on (Falcons leading scorer) Kimora Banks-Thomas, because she can light it up from anywhere,” Mattei said. “And we can’t get into a run-and-gun game with them. We play two different types of basketball, and when we beat them at their place, we tried to control tempo.”
Northfield a program on the rise
Meanwhile, Northfield faces top-seeded Cherokee Trail. The Nighthawks are trying to get back to the championship after losing in the Class 5A title game to Roosevelt two years ago.
Northfield’s heart and soul is junior guard Madison Bethel, the daughter of head coach Sydney Price. The Nighthawks also feature a trio of transfers who have accelerated their status as a Class 6A force despite the program only being eight years old. Junior forward Delaney Dennis transferred from Denver East prior to last school year, while junior twin guards London Taylor and Paris Taylor transferred from Cherry Creek before this school year. The Taylors were granted immediate eligibility by CHSAA.
London Taylor is the team’s leading scorer with 14.6 points per game, while Bethel, Dennis and Paris Taylor are also averaging double figures. Price declined an interview request for this story, saying she wanted to “remain focused on the game plan during this pivotal and important time.”
Cherokee Trail head coach Tammi Statewright says her Cougars “have to be able to handle the physicality of the DPS way of play” as CT vies to make its first title game.
“I feel like (the Centennial League) is pretty physical, but in a different way,” Statewright said. “We got to be able to handle Northfield’s ball pressure because they’re tough, they’re strong. If we don’t handle that well, we’re not going to make it through.”
Northfield takes on Cherokee Trail on Thursday at 5:45 p.m. at the Denver Coliseum, with Denver East and Highlands Ranch following at 7:15 p.m.
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Denver Nuggets standout forward Peyton Watson could find himself on another team before you know it.
With the Nuggets reportedly open to a sign-and-trade of Watson, could Denver really lose a core piece to their rotation?
It’s hard to imagine many teams being able to shoulder the financial weight of a Watson contract at this point because of the aprons and such, but he’s absolutely an asset to any contending team.
We’ve gone through and identified a few teams that make sense for Watson in the fall… including the one he’s already on at the moment. Hey, he might stay home, you never know!
The Clippers have been linked to Watson as a possible destination; he could help them immensely.
The Pistons have also been linked to Watson, which would help them a lot to contend for an NBA title.
Look, HYPOTHETICALLY, the Nets could move around some cap space with some player trades and such and get a deal done. They are one of the only teams in the NBA right now not in the negative with cap space.
The Grizzlies are the team with the least amount of negative cap space right now, per Spotrac. If they really wanted to pull off a Watson sign-and-trade… it would be hypothetically possible from a money standpoint.
Denver Nuggts
Look, it’s very possible Watson just stays in Denver on a brand-new deal. Who knows at this point?
DENVER (KDVR) – A Denver Park Hill Resident says trash in her alley hasn’t been picked up by city-run waste collection in more than 2 months.
“It’s starting to be frustrating because that pile has been there 2.5 months, and I’m not kidding about that,” Andrea Sanders-Childs said.
A spokesperson for Denver’s Department of Transportation and Infrastructure (DOTI) says they did receive a call about the address on Krameria in mid-June and are investigating the case as ‘illegal dumping’ versus ‘missed collection.’
The DOTI spokesperson says more information will be available when the inspector assigned to the area returns on Wednesday.
Sanders-Childs said that the people who live in the home closest to the mess had actually rented a dumpster; however, it was eventually picked up and towed away.
In the meantime, for Denver residents, DOTI provided FOX31 with the following reminders:
- Carts that are overfilled, stuffed or too heavy cannot be emptied
- All trash must be inside the cart, and overflow trash cannot be collected
- To report illegal dumping, call 311
Denver may be hundreds of miles from the nearest coastline, but Coloradans know that you don’t need an ocean to embrace beach season. Around here, a beach isn’t defined by sand or crashing waves—it’s a state of mind.
Whether you’re sipping an ice-cold Corona Extra beneath string lights, soaking up sunshine on a rooftop, relaxing beside a mountain view or gathering with friends at your favorite neighborhood patio, every Colorado summer has its own version of paradise.
That’s exactly what inspired Corona Extra and 303 Magazine’s Beach Anywhere campaign, celebrating the patios that capture the carefree spirit of a beach day—without ever leaving Denver.
VOTE HERE or below
Whether your perfect patio includes rooftop skyline views, oversized yard games, sports on big screens, frozen cocktails, live music, or a laid-back neighborhood atmosphere, one of these contenders is ready to become your Beach Anywhere destination.
Every Patio Has Its Own Beach
Colorado summers look a little different than those on the coast—and that’s exactly the point.
Our beaches are found on rooftop decks overlooking downtown, lakeside breweries, mountain-facing patios and hidden neighborhood gems where conversations last until sunset.
Add a cold Corona Extra, your favorite people, and plenty of sunshine, and you’ve found your own version of paradise.
Now it’s time to decide which patio deserves the title.
Voting runs July 7–31, with the winner announced August 4.
Must be 21 years of age or older and a Colorado resident to participate. Please enjoy Corona Extra responsibly.
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