Dakota Ridge honored their men’s basketball seniors on Saturday, February 10, 2024 during their game against Pomona. Dakota secured the game against the Panthers with a final score of 73-63. Dakota honored four seniors that night: Alex Arnold, Adam Hoft, Nathan Bantock and Walker Moench, and those seniors got to start the game to honor their contributions to this program.
Dakota has had a strong season this year, as they have won the league title for the second year in a row.
“My favorite part of my senior season has definitely been when we won the league after beating D’evelyn,” senior Nathan Bantock said. “I feel like we all worked hard together this season, and all the hard work showed and paid off when we won the league.”
The team has grown throughout the season as they started off the first few weeks with a 1-3 record, but they quickly turned that around as they now have a record of 16-6 and went 10-0 in league.
“I feel like I have grown a lot because I understand more about the program and the ways I can help my teammates so that we can all be successful,” senior Walker Moench said. “It was definitely a learning process and learning to play better as a team has made us a stronger program as a whole.”
The men’s team had a large legacy to live up to, as last year’s team also won league, and their overall record was 21-5. The team this year has not disappointed — they have continued the reputation of Dakota Ridge High School as a strong men’s basketball team.
“My advice for next year’s team, and the freshmen, is just to work hard and the results will come,” senior Alex Arnold said. “If you are able to work hard as a team then you will start working for each other, and that is how we create a strong team as a whole.”
Dakota Ridge is currently ranked 11th in the 5A division and 48th in all of Colorado. They have one more game of the season against Green Mountain on February 15, 2024, and then they are off to playoffs where they hope to make it far and compete for a state championship.
