LAKEWOOD — Columbine’s girls lacrosse team went dashing through the snow Saturday afternoon for its sixth straight victory and fifth consecutive win in Jeffco League play.
The Rebels, ranked No. 5 in the latest CHSAANow.com girls lacrosse poll, took a 19-4 victory over Green Mountain on a snowy Trailblazer Stadium. The artificial turf field was clear after being plowed off before the first game of a Saturday girls lacrosse doubleheader.
Columbine sophomore Aliyah Weant, left, has the ball knocked loose by Green Mountain junior Rachel Bales. (Dennis Pleuss/Jeffco Athletics)
“It’s always nice to play on a nice snowy day,” Columbine coach Sonorah Hunter could said with a smile.
Columbine (10-2, 5-0 in league) jumped out to an 11-2 lead at halftime. Four different Rebels — juniors Whitney Block, Emma Maxwell and Madison Hadden, along with senior Maeve Hungerford — scored for Columbine in the opening 10 minutes to get the Rebels going.
The Rebels finished with six players finishing with multiple-goal games. Hungerford and junior Alea Tolley had four goals each. Block and sophomore Aliyah Weant had three goals each. Maxwell and senior Angela Naughton had a pair of goals each.
“It was a little cold, but we toughed it out. It definitely got warmer as the game went on,” Block said. “I think we played well.”
Columbine senior Annie Van Norstrand picked up the victory in goal for the Rebels.
The victory finished off a nice week for the Rebels. Columbine defeated rival Dakota Ridge 18-7 on Thursday night. The Eagles (5-5, 2-1) are just outside the top-10 in the CHSAANow.com rankings.
Columbine junior Alea Tooley (29) and Green Mountain freshman KC Ossello battle on a face-off. (Dennis Pleuss/Jeffco Athletics)
“We got a really good win on Thursday against Dakota. I think that was our biggest threat in league,” Block said of the Rebels’ win over Dakota Ridge. “So far we just got to keep pushing, getting the wins and win that league title.”
Columbine is attempting to win back-to-back conference title and claim the league title in Jeffco for the third time in four years. The Rebels close out conference play next week against Bear Creek (2-7, 0-5) and Chatfield (7-4, 4-0).
“The girls have been working incredibly hard. I think we’ve been taking it game-by-game,” Hunter said. “We are really focused on us as a team and how we can get better.”
The lone setbacks for the Rebels this season was an overtime loss to No. 3 Denver East and 20-8 loss to No. 1 Cherry Creek. Both of those games were more than a month ago before spring break.
“Our defense is the biggest thing we have to work on going into playoffs,” Block said. “I think our defense is really picking it up.”
Green Mountain (6-5, 1-4) was coming off a nice non-league victory over Steamboat Springs, but just couldn’t generation enough offense to knock off Columbine.
Senior Samantha Day and freshman KC Ossello scored for the Rams in the first half against the Rebels. Senior Sara Haefele, who is over the 30-goal mark this season, put in a pair of goals for Green Mountain in the second half.
The Rams will attempt to bounce back in a non-league road game at Denver North on Monday, April 23.
LAKEWOOD — Evergreen seniors Chase Rogers and Bridger Tenney proved to be the 1-2 punch the Cougars’ boys basketball team needed Thursday night.
Evergreen (2-1 record) trailed early in the fourth quarter to Erie in the opening round of the Paul Davis Classic at Green Mountain High School. Rogers and Tenney took over in the fourth quarter combing for 13 points as the Cougars pulled away for a 64-55 victory.
“We trust our teammates, but at the same time, we have the most experience,” Rogers said of Evergreen’s two returning starters. “They trust the ball in our hands. In order to win that is what we need to do.”
Rogers finished with a game-high 22 points, which included five 3-pointers. Tenney started slow with just 3 points at halftime, but finished with 17 points.
Evergreen’s Brett Bokelman, right, goes up for a shot over Erie’s Jeffrey Farineau. (Dennis Pleuss/Jeffco Athletics)
“We don’t have too much varsity experience, but our team is really starting to mesh,” Tenney said. “This is a great tournament to work out all the kinks. It’s early in the season and we’ve got some stuff to work on.”
Erie (1-1) actually had a 14-0 run over nearly an 8-minute span in the first half to take a 9-point lead at one point. The Tigers had three players — Luke Loy, Jeffrey Farineau and Jadon Lucero — all finish in double-digits.
Besides Rogers and Tenney, the Cougars got nice contributions from seniors Andrew Aafedt (9 points), Jack Patterson (6 points) and Josh Fox (4 points).
“I was really proud of my kids,” said Evergreen coach Scott Haebe, who admitted he felt his team was in trouble down midway through the third quarter. “We knocked down a couple of shots and I felt we played really well in the fourth quarter.”
It will be a busy couple of weeks before the winter break for the Cougars. Evergreen has two more games in the Davis Classic, followed by four home games from Dec. 13-20.
Erie senior Jadon Lucero takes a jumper against Evergreen on Thursday. (Dennis Pleuss/Jeffco Athletics)
“We need to keep ourselves busy with game-after-game because each game is a learning experience,” Rogers said. “For league, going in we need to know every single weakness and every single strength we have. We knew to know how to win games.”
Evergreen’s final non-league game before the holidays is scheduled for Wednesday, Dec. 20, against rival Conifer.
The Cougars jump into Class 4A Jeffco League play on the road against Standley Lake on Jan. 4. It will be a challenging 14-game conference schedule in one of the deepest leagues in 4A.
“Those 14 games are brutal,” Haebe said of the conference. “I’m hoping we go into break feeling good about where we are at, the growth we’ve had and chemistry. Once you get there you have to show up every night in league.”
Golden was the preseason No. 1 in the CHSAANow.com 4A boys basketball poll and defending 4A state champion Valor Christian is ranked No. 8. Evergreen and D’Evelyn both received preseason votes.
Evergreen finished third in the 4A Jeffco League last season, but was bounced out of the state tournament by rival Golden in the state quarterfinals.
“We have some great teams in our league,” Tenney said. “But with what teams have lost and what teams have coming back, I think we have a chance.”
Evergreen senior Chase Rogers (3) scored a game-high 22 points in the Cougars’ win over Erie. (Dennis Pleuss/Jeffco Athletics)
