ARVADA — A couple of steals that led to breakaway layups in the closing seconds of the first quarter gave Ralston Valley’s girls basketball team the push it needed Wednesday night.
Ralston Valley took a 51-45 home victory over Columbine, but the Rebels looked to be able to at least take a first-quarter lead. Steals by freshman Mia Alfaro and junior Sophia Sabus led to a 4-point swing to give the Mustangs a 11-9 lead heading into the second quarter. Ralston Valley would never trail from there on out to get the conference win.
“We talk about a lot how defense end leads to offense end,” Sabus said. “In moments like that when it is getting a bit little closer playing hard on defense leads to good things.”
Sabus was her normal steady self scoring a game-high 16 points, including 6 points in the final quarter as Ralston Valley (13-5, 4-2 in Class 6A Jeffco League) held off a late charge by Columbine (8-11, 3-3).
Ralston Valley got some nice balance scoring with 16 points off the bench.
“We had nine girls scored is what Coach said,” Sabus said. “That helps a lot with pressure off me and the other guards.”
Senior Elyssa Cardella (11 points) hit a big 3-pointer for the Mustangs in the fourth quarter. Ralston Valley’s young freshmen also made an impact.
“Those three freshmen came in and did a great job,” Ralston Valley coach Amy Bahl said.
Bahl was pleased with how Alfaro, along with fellow freshmen Karsyn Kline and Sammi Madden preformed when they subbed in during the first quarter. Alfaro had the steal and layup in the first quarter. Kline played solid defense in the post while scoring 4 points. Madden drained back-to-back 3-pointer midway through the third quarter that helped the Mustangs extend their lead to double-digits.
“Everyone has to be able to step up at any moment. It can’t just be one person,” Bahl said. “If you become one-demential its becomes tough to score.”
Columbine was led by senior Dakota Archuleta (14 points) and junior Emily Allison (11 points). Freshman Kortney Brock also showed her promising future with 13 points on the night, including a pair of 3-pointers in the second half that allowed the Rebels to cut the Mustangs’ lead to 4 points.
“Columbine is a good team,” Sabus said. “We just had to trust what we are doing. It ended up working out.”
The entire 6A Jeffco League is looking up to No. 1 ranked Valor Christian, however Arvada West did do the rest of the conference a favor Wednesday night. The Wildcats (14-4, 3-3) handed Valor a 66-56 home loss.
The Eagles (14-2, 5-1) had its 37-game Jeffco League winning streak snapped with the defeat. Valor winning streak in league play dated back to the 2017-18 season when the Eagles were in the 4A Jeffco League.
Despite the loss, Valor still had the inside track to the league title. The Eagles have a 1-game lead and holds the tiebreak over Ralston Valley having already defeated the Mustangs twice. Valor would need to suffer two more league losses and have Ralston Valley sweep its final four conference games for the Mustangs to win the league title.
“We just want to finish out the league strong,” Sabus said.
Ralston Valley does control its holding onto second place in the league. The Mustangs close out conference play over the next two week with games second go-around against Arvada West, Lakewood, Chatfield and Columbine. All teams Ralston Valley has already defeated this season.
“We can only control ourselves right now,” Bahl said. “Trying to establish our ‘RV Way’ is kind of what we are doing.”
Columbine finishes off its regular season against Lakewood, Valor, Ralston Valley and A-West.