Basketball Recap: DSST: Cedar Falls Short of Fort Lupton in the Playoffs

It's hard to turn regular season success into postseason wins, a fact DSST: Cedar can now relate to. They lost to the Fort Lupton Bluedevils on the road by a 57-39 margin on Friday. The Falcons' defeat continues a trend for the squad, making it four in a row.

Matt Stophel

Rebounds

03/07/25 vs Fort Lupton	25
02/25/25 vs Manual	14
02/18/25 @ DSST: College View	13
02/12/25 vs Robert F. Smith STEAM Academy	17
02/07/25 vs DSST: Conservatory Green	23
+ 16 more games

When it comes to explaining why DSST: Cedar lost, don't look at Matt Stophel. Despite the final result, he dropped a triple-double with 18 points, 25 rebounds, and 11 blocks. Stophel is crushing it when it comes to boards: he's pulled down at least nine every time he's taken the court this season. Another player making a difference was Abdi Vidow, who posted three points in addition to six steals and five rebounds.

Even though they lost, DSST: Cedar smashed the offensive glass and finished the game with 12 offensive boards. That strong performance was nothing new for the team: they've now pulled down at least nine offensive rebounds in 14 consecutive contests.

Leading Fort Lupton to victory were Guillaume Nkiadiambu and Javon Gonzales. Nkiadiambu went 8-for-13 to rack up 17 points along with six boards and four steals, while Gonzales scored 12 points in addition to eight assists and seven steals. With that strong performance, Nkiadiambu is now averaging an impressive 2 blocks per game. Mylz Palmer also deserves some recognition as he posted his first block of the season.

DSST: Cedar's loss dropped their record down to 11-13. As for Fort Lupton, they have been performing incredibly well recently as they've won 16 of their last 17 matchups. That's provided a nice bump to their 20-4 record this season.

DSST: Cedar does not have any more games scheduled as of now. As for Fort Lupton, they have already played their next game, a 66-51 win against Lamar on the 8th.