Air Academy girls basketball coach Phil Roiko just laughs when trying to describe what Kylee Blacksten’s shot looked like as a freshman.
An easy way to describe it is that it’s not as refined as it is today.
But with Blacksten being one of the most talented girls basketball players in the state, he prefers to be more descriptive, if nothing else just be able to talk about how far she’s come in the last four years.
“As a freshman it had this weird twist to it and everything,” he said.
And as he said it, he was trying to demonstrate the way in which the ball was spinning on that shot. Roiko looked more like an umpire signaling for a home run than a basketball coach gesturing the spin of a shot.
“Now it’s smooth,” he says with a sly grin.
There’s nothing about Blacksten’s game as a senior for the Kadets that isn’t smooth. At any given point of a game, she can handle the ball, find an open teammate after drawing a double-team, attack the basket, knock down long range shots and defend.
She’s a complete player and that exactly what the University of Colorado thought when convinced her to play in Boulder when her time at Air Academy is over.
“They’re recruiting me to play the three and I love driving (to the hoop),” Blacksten said. “That’s my favorite part is driving and then that kick out and then that awesome three that everyone screams and yells about. The running aspect that it will fit.”
The lesson is cliche, but it doesn’t make any less true. Blacksten’s path from a weird twist in her jumpshot to a Division I prospect didn’t happen overnight. In fact, it came by making overnights shorter in time.
(Dan Mohrmann/CHSAANow.com)
To evolve into the player she’s become, she learned to take advantage of every minute of the day, even if that meant early in the mornings when everyone else was asleep.
“Instead of just sleeping in, a lot of kids take partials in the morning and are sleeping, she’s going and working with her skills coach.,” Roiko said. “So that’s, this tells you the dedication she has, where other kids are sleeping and she’s working on her game and that’s paid off.”
Playing college basketball has been a dream of hers ever since she was a kid. She comes from a family of athletes and both of her parents had the opportunity to play collegiately, but neither one panned out.
When she decided that she wanted to get to that next level, she felt like she was doing it for her parents just as much as she was doing it for herself.
“It was kind of like they got it but didn’t go,” Blacksten said. So it’s always been my dream to go play.”
But first thing’s first. The Kadets are looking to bounce back from what they felt like was a premature departure from the Class 4A girls basketball tournament last year.
Graduation took a heavy toll on the team and the only two players with significant varsity experience were Blacksten and junior Annie Louthan.
As the lone senior in the starting lineup — and one of two total on the roster — logic says that Blacksten should be the bona fide leader on the floor. But in the way that most people think of that role, that’s not her style. She’s not as vocal as many would expect her to be. But her style certainly plays into the make up of Air Academy’s team.
“We’re all a family and we all love each other,” Blacksten said. “We all support each other and we really do want the best for each other.”
With just one loss in this young season, there’s still plenty of time to do the best for each other. And if the evolution of this year’s team is anything like Blacksten’s shot from four years ago, a deep playoff run may once again be in the cards for the Kadets.
14. Regis Jesuit’s Antonio Segura ends Pomona’s Theorius Robison’s bid for fourth wrestling title
(Dan Mohrmann/CHSAANow.com)
Regis Jesuit’s Antonio Segura pulled off a big upset in the state wrestling semifinals to end a quest for four state wrestling titles from Pomona’s Theorius Robison.
8. Valley’s Angel Rios and Skyview’s Jaslynn Gallegos become first girls to place at state wrestling
(Dan Mohrmann/CHSAANow.com)
Just two months before a vote that made girls wrestling its own sanctioned sport, Valley’s Angel Rios and Skyview’s Jaslynn Gallegos each became the first girls to ever place at the state wrestling tournament against the boys.
7. Ponderosa’s Cohlton Schultz: A once-in-a-generation wrestler who just may be the state’s best
(Kevin Keyser/KeyserImages.com)
An in-depth look at Cohlton Schultz, the 2019 Ponderosa graduate who already had tasted international success, and would become a four-time state wrestling champion.
3. 5A football semifinal between Pomona and Cherry Creek moved to Stutler Bowl
(@cchsactivities/Twitter)
With an unplayable field at the NAAC due to a massive snowstorm, the Pomona and Cherry Creek semifinal football game was moved to a new location and date.
There’s little, if any talk, coming from the best player on the floor. Each day he’s trying to improve and there’s few games where he doesn’t get crowds, home or away, excited about shaking an opposing defender and slamming the ball through the rim.
He’s that good.
“He’s a quiet person, but he has kind of a quiet confidence to him,” said Cheyenne Mountain boys basketball coach Elgin Fitzgerald.
The person he’s referring to is senior Javonte Johnson, the team’s star basketball player. At 6-foot-5, it’s easy to pick him out in a crowd of high school students. He is dwarfed only by Fitzgerald, who stands 6-foot-9 and had a college basketball career of his own at Dartmouth under current Sierra coach Terry Dunn.
His hometown being Colorado Springs, Johnson hasn’t had to move around much up to this point. However, that will change next year when Johnson heads to the University of New Mexico, who he inked a letter of intent to play for collegiately.
“I grew up here my whole life,” said Johnson. “It was nice; there wasn’t a whole lot of moving. I was just able to focus on basketball whenever I needed to. (New Mexico) is still pretty close but it won’t be like ‘home-home.’”
Both on and off the court, Johnson is typically more reserved than you would expect the star of the team to be, but Fitzgerald doesn’t see that as a bad thing.
(Dan Mohrmann/CHSAANow.com)
“He’s just a naturally quiet person — nothing wrong with that — but once he steps on the court, he lets his game do the talking and demonstrates that he’s more vocal and loud through his actions on the court which I think is always fun to see.”
Basketball is a big part of Johnson’s life, but he’s able to find time for other activities as well. When he’s not on the court, he likes to spend time with friends, watch movies (his favorite is Like Mike), or play video games. Call of Duty is one of his favorites.
“I just like to do what every other kid likes to do,” he said. “I like to draw too. Just abstract or whatever comes to mind. I draw a little bit and in eight and ninth grade I used to make music, beats and stuff.”
When he was younger, Johnson played other sports besides basketball such as soccer, t-ball and flag football. But it always came back to basketball. Johnson, who lives with his dad and younger sister, grew up watching his dad play basketball and that helped fuel his love for the game as well.
“I’ve been working out with him ever since I started,” said Johnson. “I don’t know what I’d be doing if it wasn’t basketball really. It’s been like all my life really so that’s kind of hard to assume what I’d be doing if I didn’t have basketball.”
Fitzgerald, who has coached Johnson for all four years of his high school career, has been impressed with how much Johnson has developed since first stepping onto the court at Cheyenne Mountain.
“I’d say he’s very coachable,” Fitzgerald said. “He’ll do whatever you ask and he’s very good about that. He’s grown a lot in that area and become really good at that. His work ethic is something that sets him apart from everybody else. Those two things really set him apart and character overall, just the kind of person he is, very polite (and) very nice. You can just tell he’s just a mature, young man and he does what he’s supposed to do. He does all the right things and I think that makes it really easy to coach him.
“I’ve had the opportunity to just talk to him whether it’s at school or before and after workouts when schools would come watch him. I’ve really enjoyed the last couple years of the recruiting process where we’ve touched base with coaches, but through that I’ve gotten to know Javonte and our bond has kind of grown stronger through that and so I think that’s been really great for me and him to have that and share that.”
One person who has been on the same path with Johnson longer than Fitzgerald is his childhood friend, Dominique Clifford from Vanguard High School. Clifford recently verbally committed to University of Colorado.
“His dad had a YMCA team back in second grade and he heard about me from someone so he asked us if I would like to play for them and I did, and ever since then we’ve been like brothers,” Johnson said. “He’s just a real humble person. He doesn’t brag about anything; we just have a lot of things in common.”
Fitzgerald gives a lot of credit to Johnson for putting Cheyenne Mountain basketball back on the map. He hopes that Johnson’s legacy will last at the school for a long time.
“He’s been able to do that because he’s of who he is as a person both on and off the court,” Fitzgerald said. I’ll also miss just the fact that he’s such a good person, easy to coach and someone that gets along with his teammates.
“I’ve never had any kind of issue with him in any capacity. It’s always been a positive experience for me and for him and obviously the talent speaks for itself. But just the person that he is and the way he conducts his business is something that you really don’t see that much in high school athletes and so I think that that’s definitely something that I’ll miss when he’s gone.”
The goal for Fitzgerald and for the Cheyenne Mountain community is to enjoy watching Johnson play for the remainder of his senior year. Simple as that.
Rob Busmente knows the Sterling football program inside and out.
A 1992 graduate of the school, Busmenete just finished his 25th year on the football staff, and his seventh as the program’s head coach. He’s also a social studies teacher at the school.
“At heart,” he said, “I think I’m just kind of a small town guy.”
At the helm of the program, Busmente has turned the Tigers into perennial contenders. Sterling has been to the playoffs in five of the past six seasons, including a trip to at least the quarterfinals in 2015, 2016 and 2019.
Question: What does Sterling mean to you? It’s pretty rare that someone graduates from a school and spends their entire career there. So how important is Sterling in your life?
Rob Busmente: Well, I think some of it was the desire to come back. When I was finishing up my degree at Western State, there was going to be job availability because I knew some of the teachers in the school, in my department, that I was going into were going to be retiring. So I knew there would be an in there. Plus I was already familiar — the coaches that were on the staff, minus the head coach, were my high school coaches.
So there was that familiarity and just something about the school and even just the community as far as just kind of what fits a little bit of my personality. I’ve done some traveling around the world and things like that. But at heart, I think I’m just kind of a small town guy. You know, I kinda like the secluded part of being in a small town and just minus some of the hustle and bustle of some of the big cities. I like going and visiting the big cities and things like that. And I have lots of friends there and they’re fun to visit. But it’s just something about small town with me that that was a draw I think.
I had the opportunities that were available plus the relationships that had already had with people in the building. I knew it would be a pretty smooth transition.
Q: Do you ever draw on your experience as a player at Sterling and link that to your current players at all?
Busmente: We mostly try to draw on experiences. We kind of focus on the failures that we had as players, as far as trying to let our kids know that as coaches we’ve been in your position. We haven’t always done everything right and done everything perfect, and have had to learn through the trials and tribulations of areas where we failed: how to be smarter players, how to work harder.
So those are some of the things that we usually try to drum on as far as our experiences as former players. It also helps that I have other guys on my staff that also played here, so they know that some of the support that you can get from the community and how much they can kind of glue to sports. It’s always kind of nice to share that wisdom with those kids and let them know the things that they represent.
Q: What made you want to get into coaching?
Busmente: It was my, I guess my junior high school. There was a class that we took and we had to do like a career path thing as an assignment that they gave us to where we had to do some researching. I knew that I enjoyed social sciences, like history and government and those things as a student. I loved playing and I knew that somehow I probably wanted to be involved in the game in some way. And I knew that being able to go and play at the next level was a long shot. That’s a low percentage kind of thing. And knew that playing professionally probably wasn’t in the cards, but coaching was the avenue that I could go in.
So it allowed me to pursue a couple of things that I liked. And I was inspired by honestly my coaches I had in high school. My head coach, Pat Busteed, was a social science teacher and he was the head football coach and he was able to be good at doing both, so it was just something that I knew where my interests lay. And the idea of trying to give back to the game and give back to the community as far as the school was just a draw for me back then.
I just kind of stuck with it as I went through college and pursued that degree. And now I’m here.
(Joe Skerjanec/OTSPORTSCHEK)
Q: What kind of coach would you say you are? What do you think your players would say?
Busmente: The thing that we’ve always tried to instill is that when we push you to be your best and to pursue your best it is not just because we’re coaching who we think you can be, but also because we’re trying to instill the life lesson from this through the game of football.
Most importantly, I would hope that they would say at the end that us as coaches cared more about them, the individual, you know, we loved the player and not the jersey number and their personal relationships with us was our main motivator for what we are doing here and what we’re trying to accomplish.
And, looking at a big picture thing, winning championships and winning titles and everything, it’s important and it’s a goal that you set out. But in the overall big picture of things, we want people walking out of here to be better men and be better equipped to be husbands and fathers in their own right when their time comes. And hopefully we pointed them in the right direction so that when they look back, I hope that they look at us as coaches as those positive influences and inspirations to them.
Q: What kind of impact has football had on your life? Why do you think it’s important for young men to be involved in football?
Busmente: Well, I think it’s the ultimate team sport as opposed to other things. I mean, there’s other sports out there that require teamwork, but I just feel that football is that ultimate team perspective to where they have to learn that reliance on others and develop the trust and sacrifice, as far as everybody combining for the greater good. And I just think it helps teach and reinforce those lessons: There’s going to be lots of things that we are going to be expected to do on our own through our own work ethic and through our own focus and drive. But support systems are huge in anybody’s life. When you have those things in place, your chances of success increase.
We kinda try to use that as the team perspective. We try to make sure that we all understand that everybody in the room is important and everybody in the room has a part in what we’re doing because without each other, we’re not going to be able to accomplish the things that we have. We have to have the trust in the people in the room to be able to accomplish our goals and understand that everybody’s going to sacrifice a little part of themselves for the greater good.
And that’s what it takes to be a good family man, to be a good husband and things like that. Some of those lessons that you can teach through the game and hope that they carry into their life.
Q: So kind of switching gears into your season this year, what did you expect at fall camp? I mean, did you see a championship coming, or the potential for one?
Busmente: We felt coming out of our summer team camp and then kind of progressing into the fall that we had some tools, some pieces in place to where if we could get everything going in the right direction and take care of things that we could go and make some noise, as a conference team and as a playoff team. You set goals at the beginning with the team and one of the things they do write down, you know, “Let’s, let’s win the state championship.” And then we have to go back through our lessons through the week and ask ourselves a question: Are we doing those things that are helping us accomplish our goal, if that is indeed what it was.
As the season started to progress the kids just started to get more comfortable with schemes and more confident in their abilities. And we had some things just kind of go our way and things were looking positive and just started trending that way.
We just kinda rode that that wave there towards the end and fortunately we’re able to make plays and take advantage of opportunities that were given to us. We were fortunate to put the things together and have everything fall into place. We got everybody focused in on that one goal and everybody never really wavered from that and then focused in on the success of the team. And it just carried us to the end.
I guess in the beginning, I don’t want to say we were 100% sure that this was where we were going to be at the end, but that was the direction we were trying to point, and we were trying to do everything we could to just make sure that we could look ourselves in the mirror at the end regardless of what happened and say that we did what we had to do to try to accomplish that goal.
(Joe Skerjanec/OTSPORTSCHEK)
Q: So a lot of coaches always say you learn a lot more from a loss than from a win. If that’s the case, what did you guys take away from the Scottsbluff game? [Sterling trailed 28-0 at halftime, and lost 36-13 in Nebraska.]
Busmente: We knew that they were a tough opponent and they had lots of skill, size, speed, and we knew that it was going to be a tough task.
As the game was going through the first half, things weren’t going the way we wanted them to. We had given up some tough plays and we were having trouble being consistent on offense. But as we went into the second quarter and halftime, we just tried to make the deal with our players about, “We can’t go out there with an attitude that we’ve quit, that we’ve given up,” and “We got to continue to battle.”
That was one of the signs from our team — in that first half, it was early enough in the season that they were kind of teetering on that line of letting mistakes and unfortunate things that happened in the game get the better of them attitude-wise, to where they would kind of get down and lose focus. But they never really did, even in that game. They thought about it in the first half. You could kind of sense it and you could kind of feel it.
But then from that point on in a lot of the games when things would go bad, there wasn’t a lot of head-hanging and finger-pointing and woe-is-me type attitudes. They just kinda continued on and just kept playing the game and kept trying to make plays. I think that was one of the games that really taught us that resiliency matters and perseverance matters.
Q: Ultimately, you guys do end up putting together a string of wins winning that state title and it’s the first for the program. What was that like? What was the feeling like, and what did that mean?
Busmente: It still feels a little bit surreal and I’m not even a hundred percent sure that it’s totally sunk in with everybody. We had to stay an extra night in Pueblo because they closed the roads, and then we got back Sunday and had a celebration in the gym. And then the next day the guys went to basketball practice and they have a basketball game Thursday, they have a wrestling match Thursday and they jumped right into their next sport. We haven’t really kind of sat and reflected on it.
But it was an amazing feeling on the sideline, mostly just watching the enthusiasm of the kids and their faces. When that the final buzzer went off, just the elation on their faces and the joy that they were feeling on the field with each other. And then when they let the crowd out and the families out, just seeing the joy that people felt, it was an unreal scene being out there among the people.
It meant a lot for those guys to go out and win that for everybody. Like we said, “You’re always going to be the ones that they reference, no matter how many more titles Sterling wins between now and then, they’re going to reference you because you were the first ones to accomplish that feat through the history. So it’s something that you guys can definitely be proud of and take pride in the fact that you were able to do that.”
Kole Taylor can’t help but smile when he sees what’s happening in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. First, the LSU Tigers were named the No. 1 team in the final College Football Playoff rankings.
Then, quarterback Joe Burrow claimed the 2019 Heisman Trophy, a feat once unfathomable for a program known more for a hard-nosed running attack.
After putting ink to paper on Wednesday, Taylor officially becomes a part of all that as he will indeed head south to join the LSU football program and try to keep it as the powerhouse that it became this year.
“They had really recruited blocking tight ends since their scheme was ground-heavy,” Taylor said. “This year, they got a new passing game coordinator and he opened up that offense a lot. What they saw in me was that I’m a passing-catching tight end.”
To find Taylor, LSU had to navigate over Vail Pass and through Glenwood Canyon to get to the western edge of the state. He’s another shining example that teams in search of talent can find it regardless of the hills they have to climb or the windy roads they have to navigate.
“If you have that talent you will be found,” Taylor said. “But you also have to put yourself out there.”
That’s not always the easiest thing to do when living in Grand Junction. But Taylor found a way because playing for a team like LSU is not something even the top Colorado recruits always get the chance to do.
“I worked up at Six-Zero with Matt McChesney,” he said. “He has a lot of connections and he was able to communicate to these coaches.”
That work in Denver paid off last February when the Tigers first reached out to Taylor. At first, they wanted to read his interest in them and also make sure he was the kind of athlete and kid that they could bring into their program.
It started out with just a few text messages and it wasn’t long after the initial conversations started that an offer was thrown out there.
“Feb. 25th they offered me,” Taylor said. “We had started communicating about a week before.”
Taylor took a trip down to Baton Rouge for the LSU spring game. The only other spring game he attended was at the University of Colorado.
But LSU had his attention from the very start.
“Some of their legends were there,” Taylor said. “Tyrann Mathieu was there, Leonard Fournette was there and it was great that those alumni care to come back.”
His official visit came at the beginning of the summer. That visit amplified his desire to be a part of something that he truly believed is special.
With his signing becoming official on Wednesday, he’s set to take the next step in football career. And while he wants to enjoy the day, he knows the work is far from over. In fact, it’s only just begun.
“I’m really excited to do this and get things rolling,” Taylor said. “I figure it will hit me once I’m there in Baton Rouge. The first week is going to be crazy. It’ll be a big transition.”
But it’s a transition that a pass-catching tight end from Grand Junction is looking forward to making.
Welcome back Fever hoop fans! Week 2 of the season certainly didn’t disappoint and our Ball Fever crew got to catch some solid live action!
Let’s get to it:
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The Look Back
Wednesday, Dec. 11
Started the week off with thegameofthenight.com Blake Olson crew at the Chap/Tridge “Tip Off Classic” Game 1 of the night Smoky Hill vs. Legacy. Defensive pressure from the No. 7 Buffaloes was the theme of the night.
Turnovers created break away baskets for Jalen Weaver (led scoring with 20) and Quinten Rock who had the Legacy defense on a “yo-yo” hitting deep three’s and then using the pump fake to get in paint for sweet floaters.
Folks! Smoky has been known for high flyers over the years and the young soph Anthony Harris Jr. is a highlight reel waiting to happen! He scored in double digits as well in Smoky’s 20-point win over Legacy.
Game 2 at Chap on Wednesday featured the home squad Wolverines hosting the FNE (Montbello) Warriors. The Warriors were undersized and don’t have the depth Chap has but did they ever play with heart, especially early and were only down six points at the half.
Unfortunately for the Warriors, Kobe Sanders and Aaron Jacob caught fire from behind the arc and the duo combined for 36 points leading to Chap pulling away in the 2nd half to 79-59 final. A really bright spot for the Warriors in the loss is another young soph 6’4 Travea Bolden, who led with 14 points in the loss.
Big time semifinal match up in the Tip Off Classic in Chap hosting the No. 7 Smoky Hill Buffs. Chap did not start slow as they did Wednesday night and came out with Kobe Sanders cooking early and held a six-point lead before Smoky turned up the heat on defense.
Numerous forced turnovers turned into transition buckets for Quinten Rock who finished with 23 points and Jalen “Da Problem” Weaver who poured in 21 points of his own.
Sanders finished the 5-point loss with 25 points as the game’s leading scorer and was joined by two “super sophs” in double digit scoring with Jeremiah Coleman and Joel Speckman scoring 14 points each.
Absolutely ZERO fear in the young PG Coleman facing the Smoky vets!
Highlights? Speaking of “super sophs” Smoky has one as well who the Fever crew now refers to as Anthony “highlight reel” Harris Jr! Check out a couple of his sweet dunks here:
• Denver East, now up to No. 3 in this week’s rankings, has been off for a week. We’ll see if there’s any rust for the 4-0 Angels and leading scorer (23 pointper game) “super soph” Langston Reynolds as they travel to south to Palmer, who is 3-1 early.
• Centaurus is new to the 4A rankings coming in at No. 9 and they will get a test from Continental League Ponderosa who is 4-1 so far. Folks, if you haven’t seen him Centaurus has an elite senior in Owen Koonce who is worth the price of admission! Koonce averaging 17 points, 6 rebounds, and 3 steals this season.
• Also new to the rankings in 5A is Legend coming in at No. 9 will host 4A Broomfield. Legend averaging 62 points per game and Broomfield only 50. We’ll see if the Eagles can keep up with a ranked 5A squad.
• Fully covered 5A No. 2 Smoky Hill and their high flying stars. They face Northglenn this night and it’s safe to say there will be more “highlight reel” action for the Buffs in this one.
• Intriguing match down south as 4A No. 7 Golden travels south to Sand Creek to take on the 4-1 Scorpions.
• Possible game of the night type action here in No. 6 Eaglecrest hosting No. 10 Fairview! Junior Greysen Carter will need all of his 16 points per game for Fairview to keep pace with the Raptors Trio of Ruckard, Robinson, & Wilson who lead Eaglecrest to a 70 point per game average.
The Raptors return home from a 2-1 effort in New Mexico “Cleveland Invite” out of state.
Wednesday, Dec. 18
• Wednesday begins a hand full of our state’s top teams taking on some of the nation’s best at the Las Vegas Tarkanian Classic. Here’s our #BallFever tweet setting up the action and listing the teams/divisions:
• Rugged junior Nolan Marold leads ThunderRidge in points and rebounds and he’ll have to play big while the Grizz are out of state at the Kruel Classic with first opponent Florida’s St. Thomas Aquinas.
• Mountain Vista drops from No. 3 to No. 10 in our poll this week and they start the Cherry Creek tournament vs 4A Thomas Jefferson.
Our Ball Fever buddy Blake Olson will have you covered all week on 9News Facebook Live:
• The Columbine Classic tournament starts Thursday as well and the No. 7 Rebels won’t be a kind host to Grand Junction.
• No. 7 Golden with a tough match vs 5A Fossil Ridge in the Power to Play tournament.
• Legend, ranked in 5A, tangles with Lincoln in the Creek tourney who is the No. 8 team in 4A.
• Denver East is in the Mullen Tournament and start vs. Chatfield.
• So weird to see a Regis team sitting on an 0-7 record early on and here comes Zion Ruckard’s 18 points per game for Eaglecrest so it gets no easier!
• Cherry Creek will find their groove now that the “football studs” are getting back in the swing and they start their tourney vs. Vista Ridge.
• Our state’s No. 1 squad Rangeview and Chaparral both have LATE night 9 p.m. action in Vegas!
Friday, Dec. 20
• A big matchup down South with No. 3 Cheyenne Mountain traveling to No. 5 Pueblo East.
• No. 3 Denver East gets Broomfield at the Mullen Christmas Classic this time.
• Fountain-Fort Carson’s turn to try and blemish Columbine in the “Classic.”
• As noted previously, it’s been a rough start for Regis and again it’s tough facing the high flying Smoky Hill Buffs No. 2 in 5A.
• A lot of our Friday night action is “TBA” due to the results of all this great tournament play … we’ll keep you updated via Twitter!
Saturday, Dec. 21
• We’ll see how the week goes and if Green Mountain is still unbeaten after a challenging week and they get it on with Denver South Saturday.
• Game 3 of the Columbine Classic for the Rebels! Can CU commit Luke O’Brien keep up a crazy 27 points per game and 15 rebounds? Are you kidding me Luke?!!! 27 point, 15 rebound “monsta” double double average through their 3-0 start.
• Fever Crew likes this one! 4A No. 1 Lewis-Palmer hosting 5-1 Vista Peak. Nice early test!
• Need some 5 p.m. action? Denver East and tourney host Mullen get it on!
#CantWait to wrap up our local and out-of-state tournament action next week! Some of our best facing the nations best but there’s plenty of action to get out and see hoops fans, enjoy!
Welcome back hoops fans! Based on the early tournament and non-league action we will once again be in for a stellar year for big school 5A/4A boys hoops.
Due to a wonderful addition to the Trotman Family (Ms. Nailah Anne Desiree aka NAD) and the expansion of our personal business we won’t be able to spend as much # BallFever time with you as we’ve done in the past, but I believe the Digital Media Guru (Ryan Casey) and I have devised a new plan and format that you will like!
We’ll be doing more a “Look Ahead” preview of the top teams that will include the week’s new Monday rankings along with some tidbits from the previous week. And of course keeping an eye out for those “monsta” double-double and high scoring team/individual performances!
We’ve also been invited back as a guest commentator on thegameofthenight.com 9News Facebook Live action this year with our Ball Fever buddy, Blake Olson. Let’s get to it!
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The Look Back
Friday, Dec. 6
What’s better than getting the year started with Blake Olson and crew at the first home game of the No. 1 team in the statee? Nothing!
The only issue we ran into was COLD shooting from our preseason No. 1 Rangeview and No. 3 Grandview. At one point the teams were a combined 2-of-24 from 3-point land and the stands were raging “get the ball inside!”
Grandview did establish some inside presence with their stud, UC-Davis bound Caleb McGill along with CSU-Pueblo bound Liam Romero’s penetration, but in the end the “Speller twins” Christian and Christopher of the No. 1 Raiders created some late game transition opportunities that sealed the low-scoring 38-37 win for Rangeview.
Impressed with Raiders senior Jovaughn Wright, who kicked in 12 important points displaying a nice stroke from mid-range. He’ll help the Raiders a ton this year in their quest to repeat.
Fossil Ridge, who came out of their early tourney 2-1, face 1-3 Poudre who will be hungry for a win. Coach Matt Johannsen does a great job each year with the “GoJo Sports Tip Off Classic” tournament!
Check out the results, including all tournament team:
Denver East took home the title up north and sitting pretty at 3-0, No. 5 in the state. The Angels are young but they are stacked with talent with young sophs Langston Reynolds and Quise Davis along with junior Boston Stanton. Senior leader Patrick Steed is off to a blazing start at 17 points per game, 8 rebounds, and 6 assists! Perhaps even more impressive is Reynolds leading the team in scoring at 24 points per game as a soph! No surprise in the Fever camp, our crew has watched this young man closely since 6th grade! Tough duty for Mesa Ridge Tuesday, who’s still looking for their first win.
There’s a little nice non conference action between FNE (Montbello) and Chatfield. This may be a 9News Game of the Night so we’ll have a lot more info on these two next week!
Pretty rare to see a Regis team off to an 0-3 start but two of those losses came to solid teams in out of state tourney play in Arizona and the other loss to our state’s No. 2 Overland in a tight game. Boulder and Regis will be solid action with teams who have great fan support.
Eaglecrest comes in at No. 6 this week at 2-0. We know the “two-sport-stud” Ty Robinson who is one of the best overall athletes our state has seen along side another high flying junior Skylar Wilson, both scoring 11 points per game early but look out for senior guard Zion Ruckard, who is at 18 per game early. Cant wait to see these guys go. The Raptors visit Douglas County who is 2-2 tonight.
If you need some action down south there’s Pueblo West, who dropped from the 4A top 10, tangling with Sierra!
Mountain Vista advanced to the Coliseum last year, 2-0 early, and ranked No. 3, will face Dakota Ridge who’s being led by Gino Corridori’s 17 points per game and the highlight reel known as Taeshaud Jackson Jr.
In an intriguing possible “Game of the Night” type action we have a 5A/4A tussle in No. 4 Grandview visiting 4A No. 5 Lincoln. The senior college bound athletes from Grandview vs. some hungry seniors in Ty Foster and TJ Bamba for the Lancers. Bamba off to a blazing 30 points per game!
Wednesday, Dec. 11
Smoky Hill starts this week at No. 7 in the rankings. Hate to miss the A-Town/Denver battle they’ll have with GW early in the week but that should set them up just fine for this visit to Legacy, who’s looking for that first win. Senior Quinten Rock is leading the Buffs early at 14 points per outing along with junior Jalen Weaver at 13 points so far. Weaver, with a college offer from UMASS, picked up an offer from Montana State this week! Impressive for the junior stud the Fever Crew refers to as “da problem!”
Legend got 6 “Top 10” votes in this weeks poll but not enough to crack the top 10. Two young and gritty squads will battle in this game that has been moved to Cherokee Trail.
Part of the Chap/TRidge “Tip Off Classic” two teams surprisingly looking for that elusive first win in ThunderRidge and Grand Junction will help get the tourney action started! Keep in mind the Grizzlies two early losses came to top 10 squads. Coach Ortiz will get the Grizz right!
If you want exciting guard play make time to check out Chaparral. They dropped from our Top 10 this week but senior Kobe Sanders and exciting sophomore Jeremiah Coleman are catching eyes and making highlights already. They host FNE (Montbello) in the Tip Off Wednesday.
GW comes in at No. 10 this week and started season 3-0 behind talented junior Kendale Johnson leading the team in scoring, steals, and assists through first three wins. The Patriots will make a rare trek out to Mullen on this night.
Thursday, Dec. 12
4A Thomas Jefferson came in at No. 8 in preseason poll but dropped out after a 3-1 start. The Spartans travel to 1-1 Longmont and the scoring machine Darius Hornbuckle is one to keep an eye on for the Spartans here.
As discussed previously, throw Regis’ record out the window (especially when they play at home) and the place will be rockin’ with No. 1 Rangeview in the house!
Cherry Creek is in at No. 9 5A and hoop fans know they’ve started without some absolute studs who just won a 5A state football title and will be ready to prove the trip to the Coliseum last year was no accident. While missing these football “two sport studs” Thomas Hawley has led the scoring and we have a “Freshman Alert” with Christian Hammond getting some minutes and leading the team with 2.3 steals per game. The Bruins are headed to Boulder.
The Canyon Crazies will be ready when Dakota Ridge comes to visit. Jalen Ashley off to a strong 15 points per game for 2-1 Jags.
Down south is strong in 4A once again this year and Harrison starting out at No. 3 this week and 3-0. Donta Dawson, a junior, pouring in 17 points per game and the Panthers head to D’Evelyn on this night.
Two of our state’s best in Graham Ike of Overland and CU commit Luke O’Brien (avg 26 points per game early) will be on display. Columbine right on the verge of cracking our Top 10 and they’ll get a chance to prove it this night.
Lewis-Palmer is No. 1 again in 4A and the defending champs. Will be fun to see this squad that lost a ton of talented seniors but they are back and Cameron Lowe is leading scorer headed into this match vs. Sierra.
Friday, Dec. 13
Ponderosa tournament action brings in No. 10 4A Pueblo East vs. relatively new school Regis Groff.
Up north? How about a little Fossil Ridge vs. Fort Collins Friday night action?
Boulder travelling to No. 3 Mountain Vista is solid.
A ton of undetermined Friday night match ups due to tourney play and how things play out. We’ll keep you updated via twitter! Give us a follow:
Rampart takes its shot at No. 1 Rangeview if you’re in need of some 2 pm Saturday action!
Mead (No. 4) and Longmont (No. 10) are no strangers and it’s even better when both squads are Top 10! Trey Ward leading Mead in scoring at 18 points and almost 4 steals per game.
Regis visits Cherry Creek! Will the football studs have their basketball legs and return? Can’t wait!
Lincoln with a rare trip to 5A Mullen at 5 pm! The Fever Crew is liking the non-conference challenges for both schools early on.
5A Doherty hosts 4A No. 1 Lewis-Palmer. Throw classification out the window: “braggin’ rights!”
Week 1 was a little light folks, but as you can see, Week 2’s non-conference and tourney action will be filled with good hoops!
DENVER — Throughout a given school year, the most exposure that fans have to their respective schools spirit teams are what they see on the sidelines during other competitions. The purpose of those teams is to generate excitement and enthusiasm for football, basketball or volleyball teams.
Those in-game cheers and methods of boosting spirit haven’t been the performances seen at the annual state spirit competition.
At least until now.
The 2019 state spirit meet featured the debut of the Game Day division. While the championships won’t be determined until Saturday, fans at the Denver Coliseum got to see what the new competition was going to bring to the overall meet. And if the reception to those in attendance was any indication, it’s a very welcome addition. It’s even more welcome considering it allows teams who haven’t advanced to state in some time to compete at the highest level regardless of the size of their schools.
That was the case with Sargent, a small school near Monte Vista who competed at state spirit for the first time in 10 years.
(Dan Mohrmann/CHSAANow.com)
“It’s pretty big,” Breannen Maxwell said. “It’s been a really long time since we’ve been here and in the past years that I’ve been cheering, we haven’t been able to come here so it’s just really important. It’s awesome that we get to come represent our school.”
Of course, one of the biggest challenges whenever there is a new addition to any competition is overcoming the nerves that come with it. There is always that feeling that any addition must be justified.
The way they did that was to simply perform their routines as if they were in front of their home fans at their home stadiums.
“I’m still shaking,” Maddy Beirger said.
It’s also very much a game-changer, especially for smaller schools. Mondragon points out that in Sargent, tumbling and choreography isn’t readily available to her team and if she wants the girls to get that, they have to get to Colorado Springs.
Coach Kaylee Mondragon took advantage of this opportunity to get her team out there and show how they support their fellow student-athletes. And regardless of the placement in the final standings, it’s a feeling that she’ll never forget sharing with her team.
“It brings what the girls with cheerleaders do on the field or football games to the mat, and they get to get judged and know if they’re doing well,” she said. “If they’re not, it’s a big thing. And like I said, it’s a big changer for those teams that don’t have the tumblers or have small squads like ours.”
What the Sargent girls felt at the end of their performance was what every competitor feels at the event. There is no question, that each team wants to bring home state championship hardware, but they’re all there to support for each other and see top-level performances.
“I like coming here and having everybody else’s support,” Beirger said. “All the teams are here to support each other, not just win. And that’s just great.”
The two teams met in the regular season, back on Sept. 27. Palmer Ridge won the game 24-19.
They met last year in the 3A playoffs with Palmer Ridge winning the game 41-7. It is the only playoff meeting between the two teams, according to the Colorado Preps playoff database.
This is Pueblo South’s second championship game appearance. The first came in the 2017 4A title game where the Colts beat Pine Creek 25-14.
The Bears are playing in their third-straight championship game. They are the back-to-back defending 3A champs.
South is 19-21 all time in Colorado football playoffs. The Colts first made the playoffs in 1978 where they lost to Cherry Creek 33-0. Palmer Ridge made its first playoff appearance in 2010. The Bears lost four of their first five playoff games in school history before starting the remarkable run that they currently enjoy. Heading into Saturday, the Bears have won 11 consecutive playoff games.
This will be the seventh consecutive year that the 3A championship game has featured a team from either Colorado Springs or Pueblo and the third time in four years that a team from both areas will meet for the title.
Rushing offense: 2,483 yards, and 37 touchdowns. The Colts are eighth in all of 3A in total rushing yards. Individually, George Longoria leads all of 3A with 1,827 yards.
Passing offense: 2,253 yards, and 25 touchdowns, both are fifth in 3A.
Scoring: They are averaging 35.9 points per game.
Defense: The defense has forced 14 turnovers, including 12 interceptions.
Special teams: The Colts have returned two punts and three kicks for touchdowns.
Top players: Logan Petit has thrown for 2,074 yards and 22 touchdowns. He has also rushed for over 400 yards and 13 touchdowns. Longoria’s 1,827 rushing yards are tops in 3A. He’s found the end zone 22 times. Jackson Dickerson is the team’s leading receiver with 1,107 yards and 17 touchdowns. Defensively, Jace Bellah leads the team with seven interceptions.
Palmer Ridge coach Tom Pulford on Pueblo South: “They can do a number of things very well. I think they execute their run game at a very high level, they’re able to complete passes on time and defensive line-wise, they’re very stout. We need to make sure that we’re communicating up front that we’re executing the calls that we’re making.”
Rushing offense: 2,686 yards and 48 touchdowns. The Bears rank fourth in 3A in rushing touchdowns.
Passing offense: 2,754 yards, and 30 touchdowns, tops in all of 3A.
Scoring: They are averaging 45.7 points per game, best in 3A.
Defense: Palmer Ridge gets huge production on the defensive side of the ball. The Bears have forced 35 turnovers, 25 of which are interceptions. They also totaled 27 sacks on the year.
Special teams: Anthony Roberson has returned a punt and a kick for a touchdown. Kicker Zach Pribyl is 72-for-76 on extra points this season.
Top players: Quarterback Luke McAllister has thrown for 2,346 yards and 24 touchdowns to just two interceptions. Anthony Roberson set the CHSAA career receiving yard record last week and has caught 49 balls for 1,000 yards and 11 touchdowns this year. Roberson also spent some time at quarterback where he tossed five touchdown passes. Raef Ruel has racked up 1,715 rushing yards and his 31 rushing touchdowns are tops in all of 3A. Kieran Fry leads the Bears with six interceptions while Kaden Dudley and Marcellus Reed each have five.
Pueblo South coach Ryan Goddard on Palmer Ridge: “We had prepared for 15 in McAllister last time and obviously (Deuce) is a special player, but he’s a special player. I think our preparation from that standpoint is we’re going to be prepared for everything.”
