Category: Features

  • Ball Fever: Upsets rule boys basketball’s week

    (Ray Chen/ArrayPhoto.com)
    This was a common sight last week: An elated team celebrating an upset win after the buzzer — as was the case with D’Evelyn taking down Valor Christian on Thursday. (Ray Chen/ArrayPhoto.com)

    Last week was again full of surprises with new players and teams stepping up each night. There are two constants that stand as we enter February however: 5A No. 1 Regis Jesuit and 4A No. 1 Longmont remain our sole undefeated squads!

    Let’s review the action.

    [divider]

    Week In Review

    Monday, Jan. 26:

    • Quite an impressive performance by Eaglecrest as the Raptors invaded the Angels house and was up by 23 at halftime in this 5A top 10 matchup. Jack Buckmelter led the Angels with 16 points but it wasn’t enough to slow Peter Anderson and Elijah Ross’ “guard show”! Anderson ended the game with 25 (18 of that came from his hot left hand in first quarter) while Ross finished with 19 points, 3 assists. Brian Carey and Jordan Willis both had double-double stat nights of their own leading a second half charge for the Angels but the deficit was too much to overcome. Quite a road message sent by the Raptors!
    • Paul Ambuul’s 23 points, 8 rebounds helped Air Academy win the overtime session 11-3 for the 8-point win over Falcon.
    • Dennis Pleuss was in the house as the young Lakewood Tigers upset No. 4, and previously undefeated, Dakota Ridge.

    Tuesday, Jan. 27:

    Mitchell The Classical Academy boys basketball
    Mitchell beat The Classical Academy on Tuesday. (Coy Harvey)
    • Donovan Oldham scored 17 to push Rampart’s 13-point win over Fountain-Fort Carson.
    • Abraham Lincoln’s 23-12 third quarter stretch put them ahead for good in the solid home win over Montbello 67-53.
    • Castle View played tough and home and was winning going into the fourth quarter but Chaparral’s Chris Moody’s 24 point, 13 rebound double-double helped earn the 1-point win.
    • Well “hello” D’Eaundrey Twilley! CHSAA had it covered on his huge double-double for Mitchell vs. TCA.
    • Chris Arehart’s 28 points (10-10 free throws) helped Broomfield get the tight win 48-44 over Fairview.
    • Pam Wagner caught Braxton Bertolette’s 19 points, and another double-double for Ryan Quaid as Fossil Ridge traveled to Horizon.
    • Two “double-doubles” from two guys on the same night? Pretty rare, but check out Tarren Storey-Way’s 17 points, 11 rebounds and Tyrei Randall’s 19 points, 11 rebounds, 7 assists, and 6 steal for a true “stat-stuffer” of the week performance in Rangeview’s win at Adams City.
    • Regis had another balanced win as they poured it on Douglas County and Jack Eberhard was “snappin pics.”
    • George Washington’s young squad is looking to cause more trouble in DPL play as they beat Thomas Jefferson by two with Jervae Green and Jeremiah Hyppolite scoring 19 points each. Josh McNair had 11 point, 13 rebound double-double along with Jalen Rose’s 19 points in the loss.
    • D’Shawn Schwartz led three players in double-digit scoring as Sand Creek got the 15-point win over Vista Ridge. Hunter Maldonado had 23 points, 7 rebounds, 7 steals in the loss.
    • Another upset as Heritage took down No. 7 Mountain Vista. Matt Mathewes’ photos!
    • Monarch continues to roll along with 86-59 over Loveland. The 25-14 second quarter started the stretch.
    • Need to see this good looking soph down south at Pueblo West, David Simental, who scored 26 points (5-5 free throws, 3-3 behind the arc) helping P West pull away from Pueblo Centennial.
    • Dan Morhman was on site as Sierra took care of some serious business in a big win over Widefield.
    • Jacob Montour’s 17 point, 13 rebound helped Northglenn earn the 16 point conference win over Prairie View.
    • Jalen Sanders led Valor Christian with 23 points, 7 steals in the Eagles 24-point road win at Standley Lake setting up a big game vs. D’Evelyn on Thursday.
    • Talk about balance! No. 1 Longmont got 13 points from three players remaining undefeated in home win over Silver Creek.
    • The 5A Continental teams won’t find it easy when they visit 4A Ponderosa but Rock Canyon’s Tyler Garcia’s 18 points helped the Jags hold on to a 3-point road win.
    • Holy Family got 26 points from Chris Helbig along with 21 from Luke Golter to stay unbeaten in league with win over Windsor.
    • How about a “Double” double-double alert for Denver South’s big men! Chudier Bile piled up 25 points, 16 rebounds along side big Chuck Gavin’s 19 points, 18 rebounds in a fast paced 101-86 win at Denver North. Michael Deleon with 32 points, 7 rebounds for the Vikings in the loss.
    • Widefield came into this one playing strong of lately but Sierra was having none of it as they started the game 20-8 en route to a 77-39 thrashing led by Ke’Andre Lewis’ 20 point, 11 rebound double-double.

    Wednesday, Jan. 28:

    • Dakota Ridge continues to keep the stats “a secret” but they are back on the winning track after 20 point win over Ralston Valley.
    • Cherokee Trail had 13 players get in the scoring column led by David Thornoton’s 20 points in league win over Arapahoe.
    • Lewis-Palmer’s Jonathon Scott got hot for 22 points and Dan Morhmann has the fans covered.
    • Big De’Ron logged another 22 point, 10 rebound double-double and junior guard Reggie Gibson added 15 points, 6 assists in win over Grandview.
    • Paul Ambuul’s double-double of 20 points, 10 rebounds along with Austin Dewing’s 19 helped Air Academy pull away from Cheyenne Mountain.
    • Tough “back to back” for Lakewood as they lost by 1 in overtime to Columbine.
    • “Well, hello!” Daytone Jennings as he joins the party with a “monsta” 36 point, 16 rebound double-double as a new addition for Aurora Central’s win over Thornton.

    Thursday, Jan. 29:

    D'Evelyn Valor Christian boys basketball
    D’Evelyn’s Grant Witherspoon. (Ray Chen/ArrayPhoto.com)
    • Lincoln used 10-point advantages in both the second and third quarters to eventually win by that 20-point margin as Denver West paid a visit.
    • Doherty wasn’t a very nice visitor as they traveled over to Pine Creek down south winning by 18 points behind 20 from Brevin Brimble and 20 from Dalvin Brushier (7 rebounds, 7 assists).
    • How about five players in double figures for Golden as they won by 25 over Arvada.
    • Dennis Pluess has the story and photos covered for us on the night Fever “favorite” Grant Witherspoon scored 11 big ones in a row to help D’Evelyn pull the upset over Valor.
    • Fairview went to the extreme “stall and slow down” game holding the rock for minutes at a time per possession and it slowed Boulder for a while but Landon Taliaferro’s 13 and Garrett Turner’s 11 points gave the Panthers the rivalry win.
    • Ray Ibarra scored 21 points and Tre Pierre’s double-double of 14 points, 11 rebounds led Widefield to the win over at Woodland Park.
    • Marcus Cassin scored an important 13 as Evergreen got the tight 1-point overtime win over Standley Lake. Connor Durant scored 20 in the loss.
    • Out west Grand Junction got defensive only giving up 28 points to Grand Junction Central in the blow-out rivalry game.
    • TJ Clark Jr. with a solid 17 points to help Liberty win by that same margin over Palmer.
    • Deven Nelson scored 24 for Mesa Ridge but it wasn’t enough to sop Sierra from landing the road win.

    Friday, Jan. 30:

    Mountain Vista Highlands Ranch boys basketball
    Highlands Ranch took down Mountain Vista on Friday. (Matt Mathewes/MVPSportsPics.com)
    • Big De’Ron landed a 21 point, 11 rebound double-double as Overland handled Mullen. Nate Davis with 17 in the loss.
    • No. 2 Thunderridge got a double-double from big man Zach Pirog in what the Fever crew says was his “best game thus far” for the Grizzlies and jumping out 23-11 on Rock Canyon did the trick. Mitch Lombard scored 20 in the loss.
    • How about Tyler Converse’s perfect 13-13 from the free throw line leading to 28 points and Legacy’s 5 point win over Loveland.
    • Ryley Stewart had a “monster” double-double of 29 points, 10 rebounds lifting Highlands Ranch over No. 7 Mountain Vista and Matt Mathewes caught the cool pics.
    • Smoky Hill gave the Raptors a scare but Colbey Ross is back in the line up scoring 20 points for Eaglecrest along with Blend Advili’s double-double of 15 points, 12 rebounds led to a 5-point win.
    • Fossil Ridge remains unbeaten in league play and Ryan Quaid’s 19 point, 12 rebound double-double did in Broomfield.
    • Pam Wagner was on the scene as Northglenn got the league win over Adams City.
    • Aurora Central has picked up some size in 6-foot-7 transfer Daytone Jennings and his 14 point, 13 rebound double-double helped the Trojans put away Westminster.
    • Grandview needed a league win and got just that vs. Arapahoe behind Andrew Joiner’s 24 points and Jared Burr’s amazing 12 point, 15 assist double-double!
    • Had to check-in via twitter with our guy Grant Witherspoon to ensure a second quarter shut out, along with only giving up 19 total points wasn’t a typo! Witherspoon, who scored 26, confirmed D’Evelyn is “yessir! playing some defense” after the win over Arvada.
    • The Cougars trying to keep their league title hopes alive got an important 1-point win over Cherry Creek led by Ronnie Barfield’s 15 points.
    • A 35-point fourth quarter by Rangeview had the scorer’s table working hard in a 99-point effort from the Raiders in win over Thornton. Tyrei Randall scored 22 and Jalen Davis added 20 in the win. Dee Henderson with 18 points, 9 rebounds in the loss.
    • Peter Wilson’s 16 for Chap helped keep Douglas County winless in tough Continental league play.
    • Andrew Romero poured in 27 points for Mountain Range in 13-point win over Rocky Mountain.
    • JT Johnson’s 19 points helping Vista Peak stay unbeaten in league play after beating Weld Central by 15.
    • Monroe Porter with a lil “stat-stuffin” of his own in Legends road win at Ponderosa: 22 points, 5 rebounds, 2 assists, 3 steals!
    • Luke Golter’s 20 points helped Holy Family stay undefeated in league with win over Frederick.
    • Jervay Green’s 25 points helped George Washington even their record at 9-9 with a huge road win at Denver South. Chudier Bile had 25 points in the loss.
    • Jonathon Scott at Lewis-Palmer (yes, another Scott Brother!) had another big night with 27 points in a key league overtime win where LP handed Sand Creek their first league loss.
    • 4A top 10 match up! Pueblo Central’s 25-11 2nd quarter did the trick to beat Pueblo West by 9. David Simental with 26 in loss.
    • Justinian Jessup led three in double figure scoring for No. 1 Longmont with 18 points as they won big again over Centaurus.

    Saturday, Jan. 31:

    • Our state’s top squad Regis pulled away from another winning 57-38 at home over Heritage.
    • Whoa! The Fever crew had a chance to catch Sand Creek last month and was impressed which truly makes us wonder, “how good is this Rampart squad?. Rampart won by 18 points and Clayton Hacker led 5 players in double figure scoring with 17!
    • Big one in Jeffco 4A, and Brian Miller wrote about the special start Golden is off to. The visiting Valor Christian Eagles were having no part of backing down to hot Golden as their 23-7 fourth quarter sealed the 23-point road win.
    • Palmer pulled off a sweet road win for the Terrors 48-45 over Doherty.
    • Starting to get the feeling Brian Carey doesn’t mind being on the big stage of the Saturday afternoon “ThunderDome”! Last time out he rocked ThunderRidge with 44 points and this time it was Montbello who suffered Carey’s 34 points, 10 assists, 5 steals in the Angels DPL win.

    [divider]

    A Look Ahead:

    Air Academy Pueblo South boys basketball
    Pueblo South has a big one against Pueblo West on Tuesday. (Caden Colson/cadencolsonphotography.com)

    Monday, Feb. 2:

    • Hungry for hoops? Out west: Vail Christian at Eagle Valley.
    • Closer to town? Bear Creek at Gateway is your option.

    Tuesday, Feb. 3:

    • No. 1 Regis will be tested at Rock Canyon!
    • Highlands Ranch at Heritage will pack the suburbs gym.
    • Action packed night in the Front Range! Mountain Range at Boulder will provide the action!
    • Denver South at Lincoln will provide the DPL action on the night.
    • Liberty at Doherty provides the 5A southern tussle.
    • Denver East paying a visit to Thomas Jefferson will provide “above the rim” city action!
    • Pueblo West at Pueblo South is a priority for southern 4A “top 10” match-up fans!
    • Check out 4A’s No. 1 squad Longmont as Northridge gives it a shot.

    Wednesday, Feb. 4:

    • Where do you arrive early in the Centennial? Eaglecrest at Overland!
    • Rampart at Legend? Hmmm…who’s the real 5A contender?
    • Palmer at Pine Creek.
    • Jefferson County Folks, very simple: GET TO ARVADA WEST AT DAKOTA RIDGE!
    • Air Academy at Sand Creek in southern squads we may be discussing all month.
    • Lewis-Palmer at Vista Ridge.
    • Can D’Evelyn stay hot vs. Standley Lake? Golden visits a tough Conifer.

    Thursday, Feb. 5:

    • Douglas County heads north to Fort Collins.
    • Brighton at Northglenn.
    • Harrison at Mitchell.
    • Mountain View at Thompson Valley.

    Friday, Feb. 6:

    • Overland has to be careful to focus because Smoky Hill will fight hard on their home floor.
    • If No. 1 visits Highlands Ranch anything can happen in this league match. Throw records out window!
    • The entire Continental is just “beating each other up” this Friday.
    • Our Fever Front Range “favorite” is Loveland visiting Fossil Ridge.
    • Two of the best guards in the state as Brian Carey pays a visit to Michael Sparks at Lincoln.
    • Big time southern “braggin rights” as Doherty visits Rampart.
    • Dakota Ridge is in control of league but can’t underestimate visiting Columbine.
    • Lewis-Palmer at Falcon.
    • Palmer Ridge at Air Academy.
    • Valor at Conifer.
    • Evergreen at Golden won’t disappoint.
    • Pueblo Central at Pueblo South.
    • 4A No. 1 Longmont will be tested at Niwot.

    Saturday, Feb. 7:

    • Prairie View at Horizon if up north.
    • Fountain Fort-Carson at Palmer down south.
    • Ummm…just saying: Holy Family at 4A No. 1 Longmont is simply your Saturday “top spot”!

    This is a tough week to decide where to go! Hey, Colorado — the point is: just get out there and support the hoops!

  • Borgmann: Explaining baseball’s new pitch count proposal

    ThunderRidge Cherry Creek baseball
    (Jack Eberhard/JacksActionShots.com)

    AURORA — The CHSAA baseball committee and CHSAA ad-hoc baseball pitching committee agree that arm overuse in baseball is a serious issue in Colorado and the rest of the country.

    It has been discussed at all levels of the sport. All levels of the sport have begun to take action to address this epidemic of arm overuse. It is not a life-threatening problem, but it is a life-altering issue that many players are facing.

    The biggest challenge is mandating the rest that those arms need and that is what this new rule does.

    This is a significant change in philosophy and will be challenging to implement. It may require addressing some schedule changes for schools with limited pitching staffs, as well. It most certainly will require the way baseball programs look at pitching, but the change is about doing what we can to provide your players with a safe playing environment.

    Here are some quick points that need to be considered:

    • This is a player health issue that the entire sport is having to address – pre-Little League and Little League, Legion, Connie Mack, NCAA, MLB – all levels. As Yahoo Sports’ Jeff Passan wrote, "It’s too late to save this generation. At the highest levels of research into the pitching arm, almost all the top minds agree that baseball for the next decade, and probably more, is going to be a non-stop parade of injuries, disappointments and bewilderment. This horrifies them. It should."
    • The Baseball Committee is recommending these limits based on the experience of the coaches in the room and on the committee. It reflects health and rest at the forefront of the need for the rule. These limits are close to what many coaches are already placing on their pitchers. These recommendations are about rest and developing pitching depth.
    • USA Baseball has already issued it recommendations. Its maximums are 95 pitches for players ages 15-16 and 4 days mandatory rest after 76 pitches thrown; for players 17-18 the maximum is 105 in a day, plus the four days’ rest after 76 pitches. There are varying degrees of mandated rest depending on numbers of pitches thrown. Here is a link to those recommendations.
    • CHSAA once had one of country’s stronger pitching limitations (12 innings over 72 hours, with no limit on pitches), but now, after research has shown that using an innings limitation is unhealthy for pitchers, it has become one of the weakest and most potentially damaging rules for pitchers.
    • The NFHS is exploring its own version of these requirements and will have its recommendations for states after this summer, but Colorado felt like it needed to be out in front of those decisions so that any NFHS decision was made based on Colorado’s situations, not what is happening around the rest of the country.

    Colorado can be a leader in determining the direction of its own limitations, rather than having to be forced into a certain direction.

    Our pitching recommendations are reflective of a great deal of research that included input from baseball doctors, trainers, high school coaches and even major league players.

    Long discussions were held on the smaller school issues and the limited rosters those schools occasionally have. The result of those discussions noted that these limitations will require all schools to develop greater pitching depth than they currently have. A second piece to this was that it may take several seasons for schools to develop that depth. Those challenges could be overcome by adjusting schedules to ensure that time is available for the mandated rest.

    The recommendations in the report were reviewed by two major committees – the Baseball pitching ad-hoc committee and the CHSAA baseball advisory committee. Not everyone agreed with the final determination, but all agreed that it needed to be addressed.

    The Baseball pitching ad-hoc committee, which did the bulk of the research had two MDs (including one of the country’s top expert in pitching injuries), two trainers, seven coaches (including small school, mid-size and big school coaches), several top club/private pitching coaches, as well as input from two former major leaguers.

    (Bert Borgmann/CHSAANow.com)
    The pitching committee met three times over the past few months. (Bert Borgmann/CHSAANow.com)

    The committee met three times, and recommended a more stringent rule, but the CHSAA baseball committee amended their recommendation to get a start on this switch in philosophies. It can be adjusted after it has been in place, as needed. Additionally, while the report calls for immediate implementation, it could be delayed to the 2016 season.

    One of the issues that this does not address is the outside influence issue. CHSAA can only control the 25 percent of the year that is high school, but the committee is developing an educational video that will highlight the issue with overuse of arms, the medical needs, the importance of proper training, the need for communication between high school coaches and club coaches for the health of the player, and will conclude with former Colorado prep players who are in MLB recounting why playing more than one sport got them where they are and the need to rest the arms.

    It will also have information from collegiate and professional scouts to help give perspective that only 6.8 percent of high school players will ever play in college. The baseball committee stresses that CHSAA can only do what it can.

    Here are the limitations, requirements that accompany them and a recommendation to enhance the regulations:

    Varsity
    Pitches Required Rest
    86-110 3 Days
    61-85 2 Days
    36-60 1 Day
    1-35 0 Days*
    Junior Varsity
    Pitches Required Rest
    61-85 3 Days
    36-60 2 Days
    26-35 1 Day
    1-25 0 Days^

    * – Additionally, no pitcher may throw more than 60 pitches over two days. If they throw 60 pitches in two days, there will be one day of required rest.

    ^ – No sub-varsity pitcher can throw more than 35 pitches over two days. That limit will result in one day of mandated rest.

    A pitcher will be allowed to finish a batter if they hit the limit (110 in varsity play; 85 in sub-varsity) during an at-bat, but must exit the game after the hitter.

    It is strongly recommended that once a pitcher is removed, consideration be given to what position he is assigned once he is done pitching. Consideration should be given to the throwing requirement of the fielding position once the pitcher vacates the mound.

  • Ball Fever: Individual performances highlight boys basketball’s week

    Regis Jesuit Legend boys basketball fans crowd
    The always rowdy Coliseum Crazies from Legend cheered their team on against Regis Jesuit last week. (Jack Eberhard/JacksActionShots.com)

    If our league play was “heating up” previously, it is now on fire! We had record individual performances along with team surprises last week.

    Striving to be your “one-stop shop” for the hoops review and preview of the week to come …

    [divider]

    Week In Review

    Tuesday, Jan. 20:

    • Game of the night was the “city vs suburbs” match of No. 9 Denver East visiting No. 1 undefeated Regis Raiders. The Fever crew caught this great game which turned out to be the tale of two half’s as Regis was as efficient in the first as the Angels were aggressive in the second. Jack Eberhard was also in the house as Taylor Kallsen’s “fade away” won it for the Raiders. Check the photos here. We caught the game-winner of this classic:
    • Chaparral had 4 players score in double figures led by Chris Moody’s 18/10 double-double as they used a 19-10 fourth quarter to close out the 67-48 win over visiting Highlands Ranch. Ryley Stewart scored 23 for the Falcons in the loss.
    • Niwot got the 5-point win over Mountain View and check this cool one-handed shot by senior Johnny Drake courtesy of our Ryan Casey. All net AMAZING!
    • 5A No. 2 ThunderRidge kept on moving forward holding Castle View to an amazing 25 points. Can the student section yell, “DEFENSE”?
    • Rampart had twelve players hit the scoring column led by Donovan Oldham’s 15 points in the win over Pine Creek.
    • Expected this one to be a little tighter but Mitch Lombard’s 11 points, 7 rebounds helped 5A No. 8 Rock Canyon cruise to 52-36 win over Heritage.
    • Mountain Range playing well at 12-3 but a battle-tested Fossil Ridge came in and got the win by 10 led by Andrew Semadeni’s 17, Brady Menefee’s 16, and Ryan Quaid’s 11 point, 13 rebound double-double.
    • Fort Collins won big at Legacy with Brian Read scoring 18 points, with 7 rebounds. Tyler Converse scored 17 in the loss.
    • 4A top 10 match as Pueblo Central pulled the upset over Pueblo South behind Michael Ranson’s 32 points. Not to be outdone Jared Baros also scored 32 in the loss.
    • Nice statement win for Northglenn with the 54-52 decision over Montbello. Malik Hart had 20 in the loss.
    • The Fever crew expects Ponderosa to be a late season surprise in 4A but their 5A Continental foe left little doubt in this one winning 74-51 behind Ray Beresford’s 19 point, 11 rebound double-double.
    • Huge double-double for Denver South’s Chudier Bile of 30 points, 11 rebounds in the Rebels win at Gateway.
    • Our Fever crew “source” Big Herm (Herman Reese) down South has advised more than once for folks to keep an eye on Tre Pierre who had a 13-point, 11-rebound double-double for Widefield in their win over Canyon City.
    • No. 1 in 4A Longmont kept the streak alive vs Thompson Valley with Blake Ogrady scoring 15. Thompson Valley played tough at home and Jake Hornick scored 21.

    Wednesday, Jan. 21:

    Overland Cherry Creek boys basketball De'Ron Davis
    De’Ron Davis helped Overland beat Cherry Creek on Wednesday. (Jack Eberhard/JacksActionShots.com)
    • The Warriors have been awaiting a break out game from athletic Troy Green and he delivered with 28 points, 8 rebounds as Montbello beat visiting Prairie View by 15. Luke Schwindaman put in 18 in the loss.
    • Blend Advili led four Raptors in double figures with 17 as Eaglecrest took down rival Cherokee Trail to remain unbeaten in league play. David Thornton continues his solid play with 21 points, 7 rebounds in the loss.
    • Dennis Pleuss was on hand as D’Evelyn got defensive only allowing 28 points to Green Mountain.
    • Check out Luke Neff knocking down 8 three point shots for 24 points as Arvada West took down Chatfield by 7.
    • Jack Eberhard was on the scene again to catch Reggie Gibson taking the lead role this night for Overland as they claimed a key league win over Cherry Creek.

    Thursday, Jan. 22:

    • Widefield quietly taking care of business and Brandon Branch scored 15 in win over Classical Academy. Addrienne Hampton added 12 point, 14 rebound double-double.
    • Another Sabercat stepping up as Zacc Drovdal scored 20 points and dished out 4 assists as Fossil Ridge won on the road at Greeley West. Darren DeLaCroix had 17 points in the loss.
    • Well, well, well! Certainly hope this puts the nonsense about Brian Carey having to do all the scoring for Denver East to rest! Jack Buckmelter scored 41 huge points on 11 made three pointers while Carey dished out an amazing 17 assists! Both tie state records with sixth-best in the respective 3-point makes and assist categories (Ryan Casey research there!). The Angels rocked JFK 88-39.
    • Deven Nelson scored 18 points with 9 rebounds as Mesa Ridge beat Harrison by 5.
    • Jose Arrantia scored 15 as Mountain View pulled out the 1-point win over Centaurus. Mike DeVries had a 21 point, 10 rebound double-double.

    Friday, Jan. 23:

    Regis Jesuit Legend boys basketball
    No. 1 Regis Jesuit continued to roll right along last week. (Jack Eberhard/JacksActionShots.com)
    • Zach Marburger was on hand in the emotional OT victory for Rock Canyon over Chaparral.
    • We got one of those Centennial league Friday night “classics” in Overland taking down Cherokee Trail 81-75 in overtime. Big De’Ron logged a big time triple-double of 21 points, 16 rebounds and 10 blocks in the win. Smooth Jaizec Lottie with 22 points, 4 assists in the loss.
    • Jack Eberhard says a “team effort” brought home the win for No. 1 Regis over Legend. Eleven points each from three players!
    • Senior guard Dalontae Kelly with a nice stat line of 5 points, 9 rebounds, and 11 assists as Smoky Hill beat Mullen by 19.
    • Dakota Ridge’s undefeated record was clearly tested as they were down to Bear Creek to start the fourth but won that quarter to beat Bear Creek by 3.
    • “Up Next” junior Elijah Coleman scored 21 points, with 9 rebounds as Aurora Central “put a hurtin” on Prairie View.
    • Tommy Baumgartner led with 15 points as Boulder got the road win at Broomfield.
    • Rivalry! Ralston Valley edged Pomona by four and Pam Wagner caught the action.
    • Monarch got a key league win over Fort Collins by 4 points in overtime. Triston Von Nieda scored 17 in the loss.
      Talked about this last week and Brevin Brimble is heating up for Doherty as he scores 27 points, including 6 three-pointers, as the Spartans beat Coronado by 9. Kayden Washington added a double-double of 15 points, 12 rebounds.
    • Thornton got a league win over Brighton up north and Keondre Weinand had 13 points, 9 rebounds.
    • Rangeview set a league message getting a 16 point win over Northglenn. Tarren Storey-Way led four in double figures with 16 points, 8 rebounds.
    • Nick Capaul’s 21 points helped Golden stay unbeaten in league with win over Wheat Ridge.
    • Fever crew made it out to a thriller on Friday night at Denver South as the Rebels won a 82-79 OT match vs visiting Thomas Jefferson. Big Chuck Gavin’s 20 point, 20 rebound “monsta” double-double was too much. Senior Turner Dumas Peterson had a line of 20 points, 7 rebounds, 6 assists. Moody had 21 in the loss and Sergio Garcia added 17 but fouled out which hurt the Spartans late. Sophomore Ravel Moody sent the game to OT with this bucket:
    • Joe Decoud scored 21 helping Lewis Palmer win by 8 over Air Academy.
    • Starting to hear this name Khameron Davis mentioned among the best in class of 2016 and he scored 19 in Valor Christian’s win over Arvada. Vedin Kozic with 22 in the loss.
    • Pueblo West now in 4A top 10 and David Simental’s 18 points helped get the win over Pueblo County.

    Saturday, Jan. 24

    • The “young guns” at George Washington pulled a big DPL upset in our first Saturday “Thunderdome Throwdown” 55-45. Jeremiah Hyppolite led three in double figures with 14 points for the Patriots.
    • Chris Helbig scored 19 points for Holy Family as the won by 13 in the rivalry game vs Broomfield.
    • Big Zack Pirog put in 19 points as No. 2 ThunderRidge handled Highlands Ranch 65-42. Ryley Stewart scored 25 in the loss.
    • 4A No. 4 Pueblo South drove north to challenge 5A Cherry Creek and the Bruins used a 21-8 first quarter to grab the 70-53 win.

    [divider]

    D'Evelyn junior Owen Burke, left, wrestles the ball from a pair of Green Mountain players Wednesday night at D'Evelyn Junior/Senior High School. The Jaguars won the Class 4A Jeffco League game 63-28. (Dennis Pleuss)
    D’Evelyn has a monster matchup with Valor Christian looming this week. (Dennis Pleuss)

    A Look Ahead:

    Monday, Jan. 26:

    • How about starting the week off with a 5A top to match with some of the top guards in the state? Get to Denver East early as Eaglecrest comes to visit!!
    • Lakewood tries to blemish Dakota Ridge’s undefeated record.
    • Air Academy at Falcon.

    Tuesday, Jan. 27:

    • Legend at Highlands Ranch would be our pick in the Continental league this night. Mountain Vista at Heritage good as well.
    • Fossil Ridge at Horizon is our pick in Front Range play.
    • Like the DPL action in Montbello at Lincoln and George Washington hosting Thomas Jefferson.
    • Grand Junction at Fruita Monument.
    • Fountain Fort-Carson at Rampart.
    • We’ll take Prairie View at Northglenn in East Metro.
    • Rock Canyon at Ponderosa.
    • Widefield at Sierra down south.
    • Silver Creek at No. 1 Longmont.

    Wednesday, Jan. 28:

    • Cherry Creek at Smoky Hill looking good in Centennial play.
    • Ralston Valley at Dakota Ridge.
    • Thornton at Aurora Central for a little East Metro separation.
    • Take your pick down south in Pikes Peak 4A!

    Thursday, Jan. 29:

    • Boulder at Fairvew renewing their rivalry!
    • Doherty at Pine Creek. Palmer at Liberty in C.S. Metro.
    • D’Evelyn at Valor Christian our 4A game of the night!

    Friday, Jan. 30:

    • Cherry Creek at Cherokee Trail caught our eye in Centennial play.
    • Mountain Vista at Highlands Ranch for southern bragging rights.
    • ThunderRidge will have their hands full with the Rock Canyon guards in a fun one!
    • Rivalry night in Jeffco led by Ralston Valley/Arvada West.
    • George Washington at Denver South.
    • Lewis Palmer at Sand Creek.
    • Pueblo West at Pueblo Central in 4A top 10 match!
    • No. 1 Longmont at Centaurus.

    Saturday, Jan. 31:

    • Rare Saturday night chance to catch No. 1 Regis as Heritage pays a visit.
    • Get in that line early as “The Bellos/Angels” is always fun at the Thunderdome!
    • Palmer at Doherty for some down south bragging rights along with Rampart at Sand Creek!
    • Our game of the night: Valor at Golden in 4A top 10 action!

    Get out there and support the hoops Colorado!

  • Ball Fever: League play heats up in boys basketball

    Palmer Ridge Air Academy boys basketball
    Fans are getting their money’s worth as league play takes center stage across the state. (Caden Colson/cadencolsonphotography.com)

    Entering Week 6 of the hoops season, we remain wide open in classes 4A and 5A boys.

    League play is beginning and a few transfers becoming eligible to keep an eye on. The two spots of consistency were easily our CHSAANow.com top-ranked squads Regis Jesuit in 5A and Longmont 4A. Can they remain undefeated? Let’s catch the action.

    [divider]

    Week in review

    Monday, Jan. 12:

    Montbello Mountain Vista boys basketball
    Montbello had plenty to celebrate on Monday: namely, an overtime win over No. 8 Mountain Vista. (Matt Mathewes/MVPSportsPics.com)
    • Denver North is quietly 10-4 after their 20-point victory over Alameda. Congrats to the Vikings on the success!
    • A lot of conversation lately about Brian Carey’s early season scoring and shots for No. 10 Denver East. We have preached for a while that as the season continues and this Angels squad starts to find its identity he will have many more nights like this “stat-stuffin” 26 point, 3 rebound, 5 assist, 3 steal at Chatfield in the 71-58 road win. Colorado Academy transfer Jack Buckmelter played his first game with the Angels and his immediate contribution: 13 points, 6 rebounds, 6 assists. Jordan Willis added 13 points, 9 rebounds as well. Yeah, with this balance the defending champs will be March trouble for someone.
    • Pomona got the 7 point win over Arvada in part to a 17-11 third quarter. Oscar Morales was “on fire” in the loss scoring 33 points on 9-11 shooting, 4-7 from 3-point land!
    • Matt Mathewes was on-point with the action photos from Monday’s 5A top 10 match up between No. 7 Montbello hosting No. 8 Mountain Vista. Ray Beresford and Brady Subart were “stat-stuffin” for the Eagles in the tough loss. Malik Hart stole the show with 34 points for the Warriors in the exciting overtime win and the Fever crew was there to catch the key CJ Whittington play that sealed it:
    • The “double double” machine Dee Henderson continues his work for Thornton with 15 point, 12 rebound effort in Thornton’s win over Gateway.
    • Ladarius Thomas was “the man” for Aurora Central this night scoring 23 points in the Trojan’s 2 point win over Bear Creek.
    • Adams City started 20-6 in first quarter vs. Englewood and never looked back in 78-46 thrashing. Stephen Lippincott 22 and Orlando Ruiz 21 points in the win.
    • Josh McNair continues to look like that 4A player of the year candidate with huge 25 point, 14 rebound double-double in Thomas Jefferson’s 51-43 win over Westminster.

    Tuesday, Jan. 13:

    • The Fever crew made it out to No. 1 Regis hosting No. 7 Montbello on this night. The Warriors looked tired from the previous night’s overtime tangle with Mountain Vista but held their ground in the first half training 30-24. The Raiders transition and “3-point barrage” took over the second half. Regis hit 13 three pointers as a team and “stat-stuffer” of the week nominee, Bryan Staerkel made 5 threes for 21 points, 6 rebounds, 8 assists in the lopsided 80-47 win. Here are photos from the game.
    • 4A No. 7 Holy Family won by 19 at Skyline and Chris Helbig scored 19 along with Luke Golter’s 15 in the win.
    • Highlands Ranch won this “city vs. suburbs” match when Aurora Central traveled south 50-39. Ryley Stewart led three Falcons in double figures with 14 points, 7 assists in the win. Elijah Coleman with another point effort for the Trojans in the loss.
    • Fort Collins remained unbeaten in Front Range league play with 49-42 win over streaking Boulder. A balanced team contribution from all with Triston Von Nieada leading with 9 points, 7 rebounds.
    • 5A No. 2 ThunderRidge traveled to Pine Creek and it was never close in the dominant 69-33 win.
    • Legacy held on for the 63-61 win over rising Northglenn. Dalton Royer’s huge night of 25 points, 9 rebounds, 4 assist was big for the Lightning.
    • Pueblo West getting 23 top 10 votes in our poll and David Arrieta’s 17 point, 2 rebound, 3 assist night helped get the road win at rival Pueblo West 74-51.
    • Thompson Valley is undefeated in league play and earned a 54-48 win over Mountain View and Jake Hornick busted out with 27 points.
    • Tim Wyatt led four Raiders in double figuring scoring with 16 and Tarren Storey-Way’s “double-double” of 15 points, 10 rebounds helped Rangeview get back to it’s winning ways at George Washington winning by 8.
    • Doherty got a key win in C.S. Metro 5A play, 70-65 over Rampart, led by Brevin Brimble’s 18 points, 5 rebounds, 2 assists, 2 blocks. Donovan Oldham (18 points, 12 rebounds) and Jackson Ehrlin (12 points, 11 rebounds) both had “double-doubles” in the loss.
    • Oh boy! This soph continues to pop up on the radar weekly and Kolton Peterson’s 40 point, 4 assist, 3 rebound, 1 steal night also included this game-winning 3-pointer for Lakewood at Hinkley:
    • Widefield getting some top-10 votes but Mesa Ridge held on for the two point win Caleb Stewart’s 21 point, 11 rebound double-double was a huge part of the win.
    • Owen Riley had a big 25 point night out west as Battle Mountain logged a 58-50 win over Summit. Zach Johnson with 14 point, 10 rebound double-double in the loss.

    Wednesday, Jan. 14:

    Palmer Ridge Air Academy boys basketball
    Air Academy got a big win over Palmer Ridge on Wednesday. (Caden Colson/cadencolsonphotography.com)
    • Air Academy got extremely defensive in this 4A top-10 match and Dan Morhmann was all over the impressive effort for the No. 8 Kadets. Check Caden Colson’s photos here.
    • Cherokee Trail undefeated in early Continental league play with win over Grandview and David Thornton’s 29 points, 9 rebounds was big time. Andrew Joiner led the Wolves with 24 in the loss.
    • 4A No. 2 Golden held off D’Evelyn’s upset bid and Dennis Pleuss caught the action.
    • Dakota Ridge, 5A’s No. 3 squad, quietly “trucking along” undefeated and earned a tough 50-45 win at Columbine. Keaton Matthies 24 points in the loss for the Rebels.
    • Versatile Jonathon Scott’s 21 points helped Lewis Palmer log the 14 point home win over Falcon.
    • Cherry Creek got the win over Mullen in Centennial play and Jack Eberhard snapped the shots. Nate Davis with a huge 29 point, 11 rebound double-double in loss.
    • Arvada West was “feelin it” with 6 players scoring double figures in their 90-71 win over Pomona led by Thomas Neff’s 21 point, 10 rebound double-double.
    • Jose Arenas (23 points) continues his hot scoring streak as Lincoln won easily over Thornton.
    • Check out Mike Robinson over at Bruce Randolph with a “monster” 22 point, 18 rebound double-double in the North Vikings win over Bruce Randolph.

    Thursday, Jan. 15:

    • Brevin Brimble with another 21-point effort and Dalven Brushier got a 14-point, 10-rebound double-double but it wasn’t enough to get the win vs. Fountain-Fort Carson who used a 22-16 fourth quarter to seal it.
    • Justinnian Jessup’s big night kept 4A No. 1 Longmont undefeated and Kai Casey logged the photo report.
    • The Chap “senior duo” of Jake Holtzman and Chris Moody both with 20-plus points again in the Wolverines road win at Liberty.
    • Chudier Byle made his presence felt for Denver South as he chimed in with a 27-point, 11-rebound double-double in Denver South’s road win at Mesa Ridge. Chuck Gavin added an 11-point, 14-rebound double-double of his own!
    • Brady Subart with the hot-hand for Mountain Vista vs Fairview and Matt Mathewes reported.
    • Rangeview took a few tough losses recently and they “took it all out!” on their league foe Aurora Central in a 86-60 win in the Trojan’s backyard. Kris Hollins had 16 points in the win and Elijah Reed added 8 points, 13 rebounds.
    • Get used to hearing that name Justinnian Jessup who scored 23 points for 4A’s No. 1 Longmont vs Mountain View.

    Friday, Jan. 16:

    Eaglecrest Cherry Creek boys basketball
    Eaglecrest topped Cherry Creek on Friday. (Jack Eberhard/JacksActionShots.com)
    • 5A No. 4 Eaglecrest continues to impress as they won by 21 points over Cherry Creek in Centennial League play. Jack Eberhard is a man “about town.”
    • Ponderosa a 4A Continental league team can’t be forgotten as they surprised Highlands Ranch in their gym with a 3-point win, led by Steve Aiken’s 20 points.
    • Legend Titans were on a roll but tough Continental League play has begun and Brady Subart’s hot hand cooled the Titans, as Matt Mathewes reports.
    • Our state’s No. 1 squad Regis shot a rare 4-18 from 3-point land but still found a way to win by 16 over Castle View.
    • Everyone contributed for Overland as they poured it on Arapahoe led by Alijah Haliburton’s 15 points.
    • 4A No. 5 Holy Family got 25 points from Chris Helbig in 9-point win over Mead. Pam Wagner was on site for the top-10 matchup.
    • 5A No. 2 ThunderRidge handed rival Heritage its first league loss in the 54-44 win.
    • KJ Sapp kicked in 13 points, 5 assists for Cherokee Trail as they finished the week 4-0 in league play after the win over Mullen.
    • Westminster got its second win of season despite Fairview’s Chris Arehart’s 29 points.
    • D’Evelyn looking good of late and Christian Denton’s 12 points led four scorers in double figures in 17-point win over Standley Lake.
    • Dakota Ridge finishes week undefeated with 70-62 win over rival Chatfield.
    • Solid 8-point home win for Northglenn over visiting Lincoln who had been on a nice roll of late.
    • Extreme team balance for Prairie View in 53-51 win over Brighton. Three players score 9 points each.
    • Windsor now 9-3 after 20 point win over rival Berthoud led by Noah Baldwin’s 17 points, 9 rebounds.
    • 4A No. 4 Sand Creek 5-0 in league play after 11-point win over Falcon.
    • Valor Christian defense strong from beginning to end in lopsided win at Evergreen, led by Khameron Davis’ 17 points.
    • Thompson Valley 4-0 in league play. Looking forward to next week’s match up with Longmont after 67-63 overtime win vs Niwot.
    • Vista Peak got 20 points from Isaiah Young in 10 point win over Elizabeth. Sets up a big game for them vs 5A Rangeview.
    • The Pinnacle’s Josh Brown had a monster dunk in a win over The Pinnacle. Watch it here.

    Saturday, Jan. 17:

    • The game of the night was at Fossil Ridge as unbeaten No. 1 Regis came north. The SaberCats came out strong with a 21-8 first quarter advantage but Regis flipped that in a 23-8 third quarter going on to win by four. Bryan Staerkel scored 18. Here are photos from the game.
    • Ryley Stewart being his steady self for Highlands Ranch as they got a win at Grandview by 5 and Stewart scored 22.
    • Tim Wyatt with a solid 19 points as Rangeview won an Aurora battle over 4A Vista Peak by 22. Elijah Reed with 10-point, 11-rebound double-double.
    • Despite Matthew Cameron’s 20 points Sand Creek was able to pull off the 3-point win at Palmer Ridge to stay undefeated in league.
    • In an anticipated DPL battle the seniors did not let us down as Chuck Gavin collected a 18-point, 18-rebound double-double for Denver South and Josh McNair piled up 20 points, 16 rebounds, 8 assists for Thomas Jefferson. However, the man of the day was Thomas Jefferson sophomore Ravel Moody who blew up for 34 points, 4 rebounds, 4 assists. But it wasn’t enough to stop the Rebels from the 5-point road win.
    • Wow: hands down, the duo of the week was Chap’s Chris Moody (22 points) and Jake Holtzman (26 points) as they did it again in the Wolverine’s 15 point win at George Washington.
    • Donovan Oldham “stat-stuffin” for Rampart in win over Palmer: 22 points, 8 rebounds, 6 assists, 2 steals, 2 blocks.
    • In the words (or tweet) of Andrew Romero, “who had us at 12-2?”! Mountain Range won big over Ralston Valley and Romero dropped 28 points, 8 rebounds, 6 assists, 2 steals.
    • Justinian Jessup was again huge for 4A No. 1 Longmont as a tough 5A Montbello played a visit. Jessup finished with 21 points, 4 assists, 6 steals as Longmont came out strong and held off the Warriors.

    [divider]

    A Look Ahead:

    Longmont Mountain View boys basketball
    Clint Sigg (31) and Longmont have a big week ahead of them. (Kai Casey/CHSAANow.com)

    Monday, Jan. 19:

    • Hungry for action on Martin Luther King Day Jr. Holiday? Bear Creek at Gateway is the only big school match on the slate.

    Tuesday, Jan. 20:

    • All eyes will be on the East Angels as they travel to No. 1 Regis Raiders on this night. Some have hyped this game as Angel’s Brian Carey vs the “team ball” of Regis. Don’t be fooled! These are both great teams, well coached, and should be a classic!
    • Highlands Ranch at Chaparral in two senior led teams.
    • Heritage at Rock Canyon will be a good one of teams vying to rise in Continental play.
    • Fossil Ridge at Mountain Range is the big game in Front Range.
    • Down south? Check out Liberty at Fountain-Fort Carson.
    • Two teams that will be trouble in March: Montbello visits Northglenn.
    • Mountain Vista’s Continental visit to 4A Ponderosa should not be taken lightly!
    • Holy Family at Erie.
    • Palmer Ridge at Vista Ridge.
    • Sierra at Harrison.
    • Big time Northern Conference action as No. 1 Longmont heads to Thompson Valley where both are undefeated in league play.

    Wednesday, Jan. 21:

    • Two undefeated Centennial League squads get it on in Cherokee Trail at Eaglecrest.
    • Overland at Cherry Creek never fails for excitement and will have an impact in league standings as well.
    • Prairie View at Montbello in a nice non league match!
    • A hot sophomore, Kolton Peterson, will lead Lakewood into unbeaten Dakota Ridge.
    • Sand Creek at Cheyenne Mountain looks like the top option down south!
    • Valor Christian can’t take Conifer lightly as they come to Highlands Ranch.
    • Throw records out the window in Evergreen and 4A No. 1 Longmont.

    Thursday, Jan. 22:

    • A bit of a light night but Denver East at JFK.
    • Mesa Ridge at Harrison.

    Friday, Jan. 23:

    • The Trailblazer house will be packed as Cherokee Trail comes to visit Overland.
    • Two Continental League tilts that deserve attention in No. 1 Regis at Legend and Chaparral visiting Rock Canyon. Like senior leadership? Catch one of these two games!
    • Take your pick of Front Range match ups where teams will continue to “toughen each other up."
    • Chatfield and Columbine rivalry action!
    • Sharp shooting all around in Arvada West at Lakewood.
    • There’s a new contender in 5A East Metro: Get out and watch Rangeview and Northglenn tangle!
    • How sweet is it that we are treated to this re-match so soon: Denver South hosts Thomas Jefferson in a possible “instant classic!”
    • Air Academy at Lewis Palmer.
    • Wheat Ridge at Golden.
    • Pueblo County at Pueblo West.
    • Greeley Central gets their shot to host 4A No. 1 Longmont!

    Saturday, Jan. 24:

    • We like the 4A vs. 5A non conference action in Pueblo South at Cherry Creek!
    • Ahhh yes, the suburb battle of Highlands Ranch at ThunderRidge.
    • Green Mountain at Ponderosa.
    • Broomfield at Holy Family.
    • Mead at Silver Creek.
    • “Thunder Dome Saturday”: Throw records out the window. There’s no stage to prove you “have game” in Colorado than the Saturday afternoon on the “east side” as Montbello and GW get it on!

    Enjoy the hoops folks as our non conference action starts to wind down and the league battles heat up!!

  • Ball Fever: Boys basketball opens 2015 with great matchups

    Cherry Creek Rangeview boys basketball fans
    The fans at Cherry Creek/Rangeview got to see just one of the many great matchups that opened 2015. (Jack Eberhard/JacksActionShots.com)

    Welcome back and Happy “Hoops” Year prep fans! The first month of the season left us wanting more and the first week of 2015 certainly didn’t disappoint.

    Teams are shaking off the early rust and beginning to find their identity. Let’s get the second half of the season going with last week’s big performances.

    [divider]

    Week in review

    Saturday, Jan. 3:

    Cherry Creek Rangeview boys basketball
    Rangeview upset Cherry Creek. (Jack Eberhard/JacksActionShots.com)
    • It wouldn’t be right if we didn’t start this week off with a performance which may stand as the best comes season’s end as Denver East point guard Brian Carey was “stat-stuffin” in a major way vs 5A No. 2 ThunderRidge with 44 points, 4 rebounds, 3 assists, 3 steals in the Angels 63-59 Thunderdome victory. The Angels took their lumps as Carey was out with an injured ankle but he reminded us that with a cast of new Angels figuring things out the defending champs will not go down easy to anyone!
    • Friday night Fort Collins crossed the border to take on Cheyenne East (Wyoming) and Triston Von Neda’s 14 points, 6 rebounds wasn’t enough to pull off the victory on the road.
    • Palmer used a 26-point fourth quarter to come back on Vista Ridge and win by 10. Hunter Maldonado dropped 21 for Vista Ridge in the loss.
    • Heritage blew Green Mountain away behind Tom Skufca’s 22 points, 9 rebounds, and 3 assists 72-37. Jack Peck added 19 points.
    • Pueblo West cruised over Canon City and sophomore David Simental looking good with 23 points, 6 assists, 2 steals.
    • Our No. 1-ranked 5A team Regis Raiders showed absolutely zero rust coming out of the winter break sending Grandview to 5-3 with a lop-sided 88-41 thrashing at home. In true Regis fashion Marc Reininger led three double-figure scores with 14 and 12 Raiders hit the scoring column in this one. Check out Jack Eberhard’s action shots here.
    • Boulder continued their nice start advancing to 6-2 with a 77-54 win over Chatfield. The Boulder High Athletics twitter handle had Garrett Turner finishing with 23 points and Jack Boyle 19.
    • Kyle Leahy’s 14 point, 9 rebound, 4 assist night helped Erie even up at 4-4 with a 43-32 win over Fort Lupton.
    • George Washington posted a solid 18 point victory over visiting Arapahoe on Saturday. These are two young teams with very few seniors that continue grow confidence. Ryan King led with 15 points in the loss for the Warriors.
    • 5A No. 8 Cherry Creek suffered itsfirst loss just before break in tourney play and bounced back with an impressive road win at Rangeview 70-62. The Bruins outscored the Raiders 17-8 in the first quarter on the road — tough to do! Jalen Davis led Rangeview with 16 points. Jack Eberhard with the cool shots here.
    • Sierra was not playing around as they took down 4A No. 7 Pueblo Central by 17 on the road. Ke’Andre Lewis led four in double-figures with 15 points, 8 assists.
    • Rock Canyon is quietly at 9-3 after a road victory at Smoky Hill 68-53. Mitch Lombard with 15 and Isaac Hirch’s 14, 8 rebounds led the way.
    • Wheat Ridge now 6-1 behind Damina Padilla’s 18 points in huge win over Denver West.

    Monday, Jan. 5:

    • Lots of drama on and off the floor in Dakota Ridge at Highlands Ranch Monday night. Dakota Ridge’s 17-8 fourth quarter advantage helped them stay undefeated along with a buzzer-beating 3-pointer. Ryley Stewart stays the picture of consistency for H-Ranch scoring 25 points including 6-9 from behind the arc in the loss.
    • The Fever crew made it out to an intriguing 4A/5A match where 4A No. 6 Sand Creek visited 5A No. 7 Montbello. Senior Garrett Bingham had the stroke early and D’Shawn Schwartz is a strong lefty soph, but that smooth guard from the Warriors Malik Hart, again rose to the top scoring 31 points and dishing out 5 assists in the Bellos 71-66 win.
    • Wow: Lincoln started the 1st and 3rd quarters extremely hot leading to their 76-58 win over visiting Doherty behind senior Jose Arena’s 33 point, 4 rebound huge night. Fellow senior Michael Sparks also added 21 for the Lancers.
    • Alonzo Ramirez caught fire for Prairie View scoring 26 points with 5 three-pointers and 6 assists in their tight 1-point victory over Pomona. Fellow senior guard Luke Schwindaman added 12 points in the win.
    • Stephen Lippincott scored 25 for Adams City as they held on for the 1 point win over Denver West.
    • Falcon pulled off the upset of 4A No. 3 Pueblo South as Shaun LiVecchi’s 14 point, 9 rebound effort led four players in double figures.

    Tuesday, Jan. 6:

    Regis Jesuit George Washington boys basketball
    No. 1 Regis Jesuit handled George Washington om Tuesday. (Jack Eberhard/JacksActionShots.com)
    • Andrew Romero came into 2015 with his hand still hot logging a 20 point, 10 rebound double-double as Mountain Range edged Northglenn by two. Pam Wagner with the photo report.
    • Lincoln is forming quite a “duo” themselves in Michael Sparks (33) and Jose Arenas (28) who combined for 61 points in the Lancers blow out of Westminster. Coach Valdez, no surprise, has Lincoln improving game to game.
    • Tuesday night the Fever crew headed over to George Washington for our first look at No. 1 Regis Raiders. The young Patriots, with four freshman/sophomore varsity contributors, gave Regis all they could handle for 3.5 quarters but the Raiders defensive intensity and leadership took over. After being down 4 at halftime Regis seized a 25-12 advantage in the 3rd quarter and never looked back. Jack Eberhard was in the house for photos.
    • Quentin Guitierrez’s 21 points and Jeremiah Pruitt’s 20 points, 9 rebounds helped Pine Creek get the 65-59 win over Fountain Fort Carson.
    • Jontrell Herman used a perfect 10-10 from the free throw line to earn 28 points on the night in Castle View’s road win over Hinkley.
    • Austin Hartman scored 23 and Jackson Engles flirted with the “triple-double” (16 points, 10 rebounds, 9 assists) as Silver Creek pulled away from Roosevelt by 18.
    • Our Fever “pal in Parker” Kevin Keyser was at the Wolverines shop for a highly anticipated match up between Chaparral and visiting Overland. Big De’Ron Davis led three Trailblazers in double figures as our coaches poll No. 4 took down No. 3 in an impressive road win for Overland.
    • Our “Fever fav” Grant Witherspoon doing his thing for D’Evelyn with 27 points as they get the big win over 4A foe Thomas Jefferson. Josh McNair with 24 points, 7 rebounds in the loss. Two of 4A’s best going at it there!
    • The anticipation of this one didn’t last long as Pueblo Central jumped out to a 23-4 first quarter advantage and Michael Ranson scored 23 in a lopsided win over Kent Denver.
    • 4A No. 1 Longmont “doubled-up” Centarus 70-35 as Justinian Jessup led with 16 points. Clint Sigg added 14 points, 8 rebounds, 5 steals.

    Wednesday, Jan. 7:

    • Overland got conference play off to a win with a balanced effort 64-50 over Mullen. Austin Conway’s 23 points, 7 assists led the way for Trailblazers while Mullen athletic wing Nate Davis had a monster double-double of 30 points, 15 rebounds in the loss.
    • Dennis Pleuss was all over the 4A top 10 matchup of Golden and Conifer.
    • Blend Advili’s 25 points along with Colby Ross’ 22 helped Eaglecrest beat Smoky Hill 86-64 on the road.
    • Matt Mathewes was on point with the action as the Neff brothers were “stat-stuffin” leading the way in Arvada West’s rivalry win over Ralston Valley.
    • Jack Eberhard has you on the spot photos for Cherokee Trail’s league-opening win over rival Cherry Creek in overtime. Jaizec Lottie led 3 Cougars in double figuring scoring with 11 points.
    • Jared Burr helped Grandview earn that first Centennial win with 22 points in the 10 point win at Arapahoe. Andrew Joiner added 17 points.
    • Another rivalry Match up north as Jacob Montour’s 24 and Jonah Radebaugh’s 26 points was too much for Thornton on this night.
    • Big win for Prairie View, who is quietly at 7-3, with Luke Schwindaman and Alonzo Ramirez both scoring 14 points in victory over Fariview.

    Thursday, Jan. 8:

    (Kevin Keyser/KeyserImages.com)
    In perhaps the game of the year so far, Chaparral edged Denver East in two overtimes. (Kevin Keyser/KeyserImages.com)
    • Coach Valdez has the Lancers playing strong ball despite not having some strong transfers hitting the court as many hoped. Lincoln held court 64-59 over visiting Broomfield.
    • The Fever crew had to catch Denver East visiting Chaparral where Brian Carey’s unbelievable 46 point night was overshadowed by the Wolverines senior duo of Jake Holtzman and Chris Moody. Our main man, Ryan Casey, has you covered if you missed it.
    • Palmer jumped out 17-6 over Liberty and Antonio Handford’s 18 points, 6 rebounds helped seal the win.
    • Tyler Converse was “stat-stuffin” again with 18 points, 5 rebounds, 5 assists, 3 steals in Legacy’s win over Westminster.
    • Grand Junction traveled west to Jordan and DJ Wells 17 points led three in double figures but wasn’t enough to get the road win.
    • Matt Mathewes has the photos and run down of Mountain Vista Brady Subart’s late game heroics in an exciting finish over Fossil Ridge.
    • This sophomore David Semental keeps popping up on the radar and his 27 points, 3 steals, 4 assist helped Pueblo West beat Montrose by 13.
    • Sierra wasn’t messing around as they jumped out to a 26-3 start and Tevion Thompson’s 22 points helped stop Mesa Ridge.

    Friday, Jan. 9:

    Overland Eaglecrest boys basketball
    Eaglecrest and Overland didn’t disappoint on Friday. (Kevin Keyser/KeyserImages.com)
    • Friday’s top game was a top 10 match featuring Overland’s visit to Eaglecrest and Kevin Keyser got up close and personal! Check out Brock Laue’s coverage of the Raptors taking advantage of De’Ron Davis’s absence.
    • David Thornton scored 22 points and a new name to the Fever crew, Isiah Gilbert added 19 as Cherokee Trail logged their 2nd league win over Smoky Hill. Watch out for sophomore Shae Wyatt who scored 27 for the Buffaloes in the loss.
    • 5A’s No. 1 squad was flexing their perimeter muscle as they knocked down 14 three point shots on the road at Rangeview in a convincing 78-53 win. Jack Eberhard was on site.
    • Nice city vs. the suburbs match up as Highlands Ranch traveled to 4A Thomas Jefferson. Josh McNair and Pat Sullivan did not let their perspective squads down! Sullivan hit an amazing 7 of 11 three-pointers leading to 31 points, but McNair’s “stat-stuffer” of the week performance of 27 points, 10 rebounds, 4 assists, 3 blocks, and 1 steal helped the Spartans secure the 4-point home win.
    • Dennis Pleuss covered Dakota Ridge remaining undefeated and holding off a feisty Arvada West.
    • Arapahoe held off a late Mullen run to get Coach Jansen’s first Centennial win behind Kyle Lukasiewicz 18 points led the way.
    • Castle View defended their home court despite Thornton’s Dee Henderson’s 17 point, 10 rebound double-double.
    • 4A No. 6 Sand Creek got it done over No. 3 Air Academy and Dan Morhmann was all over it.
    • Mountain Vista 10-2 at the halfway point and continue to look ready for the tough continental league as Ray Beresford and Brady Subart both in double figures in the win over Fountain Fort Carson.
    • Despite big man Tristan Von Neda’s 10 point, 10 rebound double-double Rock Canyon won a slug fest 47-43 led by Tyler Garcia’s 11 points.
    • We mentioned to R-E-L-AX on the early criticism of Legend hoops and they are now on a seven-game win streak. They traveled to George Washington and got the 14-point win on Friday.
    • Donovan Oldham scored 14 points and Rampart finished the fourth quarter 25-8 to shut down Montrose.
    • This young soph Kolton Peterson continues to light it up and his “stat-stuffin” 33 points, 7 rebounds, 4 assists led to Lakewood’s 9-point win over Pomona.
    • Another “stat-stuffin” nominee as Elijah Coleman scored 25 points, 5 rebounds, 5 assists, 1 steal, and 1 block but it wasn’t enough to stop 5A No. 2 ThunderRidge ‘s size from getting the road win.
    • The rosters are different but always fun when we can get a 4A title game rematch! This time big Chuck Gavin made his presence felt for Denver South with 9 points, 12 rebounds and point guard Devante Loggins rare double-double of 10 points, 11 assists helped the Rebels secure the 20-point victory over Pueblo East.
    • Serious balance as JT Sheperd led five Lewis Palmer players in double figure scoring with 14 points as they earned the 5-point win over Vista Ridge. Hunter Maldonado scored a big 25 in the loss.
    • Grant Witherspoon’s 18 and Cameron Brown’s 13 points helped D’Evelyn to a 6-point win over Wheat Ridge.
    • 4A No. 7 Pueblo Central back to its winning ways with Michael Ranson and Kobi Betts again scoring big time in the win over visiting Ponderosa. Ranson 11-11 from the free throw line!
    • 4A No. 1 Longmont made it a perfect 9-0 with a 7-point win over at Northridge.
    • Terae Johnson scored 17 as Coach Childress’ Vista Peak squad quietly trucks along at 7-3 after the win over visiting Fort Morgan.

    Saturday, Jan. 10:

    Golden Valor Christian boys basketball
    Golden knocked off Valor Christian on the road. (Ray Chen/ArrayPhoto.com)
    • Had to do a “double-take” at this score, but Heritage poured it on Mullen 70-36 and quietly moved to 8-3 overall. Eric Lawson led 3 players in double figures with 18 points for the Eagles.
    • We had a top 5 matchup in 4A between Air Academy and Pueblo South and Caden Colson was snapping the action.
    • Boulder held on for the 57-51 win over sliding Rangeview Saturday. Brutal recent schedule for the Raiders, Panthers improving!
    • David Simental scored 17 points and Pueblo West got a strong road win at Rampart69-65. Donovan Oldham with 14 point, 11 rebound in the loss.
    • Doherty earned an overtime win vs. Liberty and Emin Cecanjanin’s 15 points, 7 rebounds led the way.
    • Ray Chen was out South for a highly anticipated top-10 4A match where Golden visited Valor Christian. Cole Greff and Ryan Thistlewood both in double figures!
    • Windsor, now 6-3, traveled to Rock Springs and got the 7-point win and Landon Schmidt’s 16 points, 5 rebounds were big.
    • Holy Family, now in 4A, has started 7-2 and Chris Helbig’s 17 points along with Luke Golter’s 23 points were a part of the tight 45-43 win over Machebeuf. Sam Donnellon with 15 points and Kyler Hensel’s 12 led Machebeuf.
    • Niwot and Silver Creek both 7-3 after as Niwot finished the second half strong for the 11-point victory.
    • Greeley West pulled away from Greeley Central and Cordell Gillingham’s 18 points led the way in this rivalry game.

    [divider]

    Weekly preview:

    Air Academy Pueblo South boys basketball generic tipoff
    (Caden Colson/cadencolsonphotography.com)

    Monday, Jan. 12:

    • Mountain Vista at Montbello in a battle of thriving 5A squads
    • Thomas Jefferson travels to 5A Westminster
    • Manual at Denver West in DPL play

    Tuesday, Jan. 13:

    • Boulder at Fort Collins
    • Monarch at Fossil Ridge
    • Northglenn at Legacy in a better battle than folks may think!
    • Montbello at No. 1 Regis in a possible game of the week!
    • Rangeview at George Washington — both need a win!
    • ThunderRidge at Pine Creek
    • Rampart at Doherty down south
    • 5A/4A in Heritage at Denver South
    • Conference action in Pueblo West at Pueblo East
    • Niwot looks to test No. 1 Longmont

    Wednesday, Jan. 14:

    • Take your pick of the Centennial league battles. They look “favorite over underdog,” but will there be an upset?
    • Air Academy at Palmer Ridge down south
    • Falcon at Lewis Palmer as well!
    • D’Evelyn at Golden

    Thursday, Jan. 15:

    • Fairview at Mountain Vista
    • Chaparral at Liberty
    • Denver South travels south to Mesa Ridge

    Friday, Jan. 16:

    • Eaglecrest at Cherry Creek will be a packed house “game of the night” in Centennial
    • Legend at Mountain Vista shaping up as game of the week in tough Continental
    • Loveland at Boulder, but don’t sleep on Legacy/Fossil Ridge in Front Range action
    • Dakota Ridge at Chatfield in conference action
    • Lincoln at Northglenn will go down to the wire!
    • Falcon at Sand Creek
    • Vista Peak at Elizabeth

    Saturday, Jan. 17:

    • Highlands Ranch at Grandview
    • Oh my goodness! The SaberCat gym will be rocking when No. 1 Regis travels up north to Fossil Ridge.
    • Chaparral at George Washington in a battle of senior leadership vs. young Patriots
    • Vista Peak at Rangeview
    • Denver South at Thomas Jefferson in a DPL battle of 4A contenders!
    • Sand Creek at Palmer Ridge
    • 5A Montbello at 4A No. 1 Longmont to finish off the week!

    Awesome match ups to catch folks! Get to a gym near you and enjoy.

  • Notebook: ThunderRidge, Broomfield among many contenders in 5A girls hoops

    Broomfield ThunderRidge girls basketball
    ThunderRidge and Broomfield have already played twice so far this season. Will they meet again when the 5A title is up for grabs? (Pam Wagner)

    In a span of seven days earlier this month, ThunderRidge and Broomfield girls basketball went head-to-head twice. The second time, T-Ridge was ranked No. 1 in 5A, with the Eagles No. 2. Total margin of victory in the two games — both ThunderRidge wins — was 11 points.

    Here’s the point: We’ll very likely be seeing these two teams matchup again come the postseason in Class 5A, and it may come at CU’s Coors Events Center.

    ThunderRidge, which is still ranked No. 1, is now 7-1, with the lone loss coming to Fremd (Ill.) at the annual Nike Tournament of Champions in Phoenix. They already own wins over Fossil Ridge (last year’s runner-up), Holy Family (No. 3 in 4A), and Fairview (No. 8 in 5A). The Grizzlies, to be sure, are legitimate threats for a title at this point.

    Broomfield, meanwhile, is having an incredible amount of early success after moving up from 4A this season. The Eagles were unbeaten all year last season before falling to Mesa Ridge in the 4A title game.

    This season, they’ve won some big games — including a 19-point win over then-No. 6 Ralston Valley on Dec. 11, as well as a victory over a Denver East (5-2) team which has strung together three wins over out-of-state schools at a tournament in Las Vegas in the past week.

    There’s also the 47-45 loss to ThunderRidge on Dec. 13 which shows what the Eagles (5-2) are capable of. Heading to break, they are ranked No. 4.

    So these two teams may very well be on a collision course.

    But others will have a say in this. 5A is as open as it’s been in years.

    Grandview (current No. 2, and led by Michaela Onyenwere), Highlands Ranch (No. 3, and coached by the legendary Caryn Jarocki), and Monarch (No. 5, just won the Prairie View Tournament) are all contenders come tournament time. And that’s not even to say anything of a team like Regis Jesuit, which has struggled somewhat out of the gate, but can’t be counted out.

    [divider]

    Alumni meet in NCAA volleyball championship

    When Penn State beat BYU to win the NCAA volleyball championship on Saturday, it was Doherty vs. Longmont — at least as far as we’re concerned.

    Haleigh Washington, the super talent out of Doherty, averaged 2.63 kills per set for the Nittany Lions as a freshman this season. She had three kills and four total blocks in the championship match.

    Tambre Nobles (whose maiden name is Haddock), a 2011 graduate of Longmont, averaged 2.12 kills and 1.89 digs per set for BYU as a senior this season. She had seven kills and a team-high 12 digs in the championship match. Nobles was also a standout basketball player and track athlete in high school.

    Penn State also features sophomore Laura Broerman of St. Mary’s.

    [divider]

    CSU-Pueblo’s championship team loaded with local talent

    It’s fairly often that Colorado’s high school athletes are maligned nationally.

    So when CSU-Pueblo won the Division II national football championship on Saturday, it made a statement. Eighty-two of the 122 players on the ThunderWolves’ roster were from in-state high schools. Furthermore, 13 of CSU-Pueblo’s 22 starters hailed from in-state.

    Yes, it’s Division II, and because of that pundits will thumb their noses at it, but this is an incredible achievement for this program, and says a lot about the state of Colorado’s talent. This is a team that was overwhelmingly — both in terms of overall numbers, and in terms of contributors — made up of local talent.

    Colorado’s level of talent is so much better than it gets credit for nationally. This championship is just further proof of the type of kids produced by our high schools.

    [divider]

    Short stuff

    • How fast was girls swimming’s Coaches Invitational on Saturday? Valor Christian’s Brooke Stenstrom swam 23.49 in the 50 free, which beat the 4A state meet record. And she finished second to Rock Canyon’s Abigail Kochevar.
    • New Colorado State football coach Mike Bobo was introduced on Tuesday. He talked about the importance of recruiting in-state kids: “I believe (recruiting) starts in the state, in Colorado. This is our state, and we’ve got to start from top to bottom in this state and recruit the best high school football players year-in and year-out. Does that mean we’re going to get every high school football player in this state to come to Colorado State? No. But we’re going to try.”
    • Cherry Creek football finished at No. 64 in MaxPreps’ final computer rankings. The Bruins, who won the 5A championship, are the highest-ranked Colorado team. Valor Christian, the 5A runner-up, is the next-highest at No. 128, while Ralston Valley is No. 129.
    • Strasburg wide receiver Brian Nichols and Legacy tight end Logan Paulson are members of USA Football’s 2015 U.S. Select Team which will play an international game at Cowboys Stadium on Jan. 31. Meanwhile, Cherry Creek offensive lineman Jimmy Pallotto (under-18 team), Glenwood Springs quarterback Dante Sparaco (U17), Cherry Creek linebacker Santino Marchiol (U17) and Cherry Creek defensive lineman Omid Manshadi (U16) will also take part in the 2015 International Bowl as members of various national teams.
    • Resurrection Christian senior Zach Lish set the hockey program’s career scoring record.
    • Here’s a look at Denver East’s first year as a hockey program. The team is off to a 6-1-0 start.
    • The NFHS has completed a position paper out of its Concussion Summit Task Force. The ideas set by the paper will be discussed at a meeting in January. It states that “minimizing the risk of head trauma and concussion in all sports is a priority for the NFHS.”
  • Ball Fever: R-E-L-A-X, it’s still early for some boys basketball teams

    Cherry Creek Pine Creek boys basketball
    (Jack Eberhard/JacksActionShots.com)

    Welcome back hoops fans. Quite a loaded week of big school action as we close out 2014. Some teams continue to roll and others who stumbled early made strong statements of “R-E-L-A-X — it’s still early!”

    Lets get to the action that stood out this week.

    Week in review

    Monday, Dec. 15:

    • Orlando Ruiz did all he could scoring 26 points for Adams City but it wasn’t enough as visiting Arvada squeaks out the 1-point win 57-56.
    • George Washington was not a friendly visitor as they invaded Aurora beating Gateway 92-68 after a 32-10 first quarter explosion!
    • Justin Lee with 17 points, 5 rebounds as Niwot pulled away from Skyline 63-39.
    • Our No. 2-ranked 5A squad Thunderridge got the week started defensively and Dennis Pleuss was on hand.
    • Vedin Kozic led three in double figures with 17 as Wheatridge handled Frederick 65-37.
    • Dan Moorhman took in Coach J’on St. Clair getting another shot at Denver South but this time with Rampart.
    • Denver North used a 23-19 fourth quarter advantage to pull out the 71-64 win over Englewood.
    • Luke Golter checking in with the first double-double of the week as his 23 point, 12 rebound effort helped Holy Family get the win at Silver Creek. Chris Helbig added 16 in the win.

    Tuesday, Dec. 16:

    Golden junior Cole Harris is able to save the ball from going out of bounds during the first quarter Tuesday night at Golden High School. (Dennis Pleuss)
    Cole Harris and Golden beat Fort Collins on Tuesday. (Dennis Pleuss)
    • Andrew Romero III continued his hot shooting for Mountain Range and Pam Wagner was there for the photo shots.
    • Smoky Hill was without their senior leader Dalontae Kelly and Rangeview took full advantage winning 70-61 in this Aurora battle. Tyrei Randle was "fillin’ it up" for the Raiders with 25 points including three deep balls from behind the arc. Jalen Davis added 13 points, 2 assists in the win.
    • Coming in at No. 2 in last week’s 4A poll was a hot Golden squad and Dennis Pleuss got their win over Fort Collins before they hit the tourney road. Ryan Blodget’s 10 point, 12 rebound double-double helped Golden to the 10-point win.
    • No surprise to hear the name "Neff" when talking Arvada West hoops but this time it was younger brother Luke who led with 24 points, 4 rebounds, 2 assists in the win at Castle View. Caedon Davis put up 21 points in the loss.
    • Suburban bragging rights on the line as Highlands Ranch and Valor Christian tangled out south. Pat Sullivan stole the show here with 25 points for the Falcons. Sid Turnbull-Frazier had 21 for the Eagles in the tough two point loss.
    • Cameron McMurry was the "big man on campus" after hitting a game winner for Erie vs. . Fort Morgan and our Kai Casey was there for the action.
    • The Prairie View backcourt of Alonzo Ramirez and Luke Schwindaman score 17 points each as the Wolves get the 64-61 win over Douglas County.
    • Donovan Oldham’s 17 points, 4 rebounds helped Rampart pull away from Cororado 78-55.
    • Legend is one of those squads saying, "RELAX" and Monroe Porter’s 17 helped them earn the 63-59 win over Doherty.
    • Andrew Joiner’s hot hand put up 22 points for Grandview as they pulled off the tight one point win at Lakewood.
    • Western State commit Brady Subart was "stat stuffin" 22 points, 5 rebounds, 7 assists, 1 steal as Mountain Vista earned the 3 point road win at Chatfield.
    • Jonah Radebaugh and Jacob Montour combined for 55 of Northglenn’s 74 points in the win over Broomfield.
    • No surprise to the Fever crew at all that seniors Sergio Garcia, Josh McNair, and Jalen Rose scored in double figures for Thomas Jefferson when challenged by 5A Cherokee Trail, but it wasn’t enough as Jaizec Lottie and Ronnie Barfield both scored 10 in the Cougars balanced two point win.
    • Pueblo Central, up to No. 3 in last week’s 4A poll, rode their back court duo of Kobi Betts and Michael Ranson, who both scored in the 20’s, to a 75-65 win over Mesa Ridge.
    • Keeping it down south, Pueblo South’s Bryson Smith’s 20 points led three in double figures scoring in the win over Liberty.

    Wednesday, Dec. 17:

    • The Fever crew got out to one of our favorite gyms on Wednesday for Aurora Central at Montbello. This game was the battle of the zone defenses early as both squads tried to probe and figure things out offensively. Low scoring the whole way until Montbello got defensive in the fourth quarter and used their size/length on that end to create easy offense. The Warriors outscored the Trojans 21-7 in the fourth behind Malik Hart’s 18 points. Bouncy guard Ladarius Thomas led all scorers with 24 in the loss.
    • Elijah Martinez led all scorers with 19 points in Westmintster’s 66-60 victory over Standley Lake. Eric Turner had 18 points, 5 rebounds, 6 assists in the loss.
    • Rock Canyon got their Vegas road trip off to an awesome start as senior guard Tyler Garcia scored 30 points with 3 assists and 5 steals. Freshman Alert:  Sam Masten certainly wasn’t afraid of the road or tourney action as he added 19 points, 4 rebounds in the 82-72 win over Mars.
    • Fossil Ridge signed up for a "big boy" bracket in their Vegas tourney and Ryan Quaid put in a MONSTER 23 point, 22 rebound double-double in their opening loss to Durango 56-54.
    • Last week’s 5A No. 5 squad Eaglecrest also went west for Vegas action and opened with a 76-63 win over Desert Pines.
    • The Trailblazer duo came ready to play as De’Ron Davis’ double-double of 18 points, 11 rebounds along with Austin Conway’s 16 points, 7 assists led to the 10-point win over Bountiful in Las Vegas.
    • Windsor earned a 24-point victory over Brighton as Viktor Kaiser and Michael Scheid both scored 13 points each.
    • Silver Creek used a 20-5 second quarter and Austin Hartman’s 13 point, 11 rebound double-double to get the road win at Evergreen.
    • Widefield’s beginning to earn top 10 votes and got a 76-68 win over Adams City where Brandon Branch’s 18 point, 13 rebound double-double along with Adriernne Hampton’s 16 point, 11 rebound effort got it done!
    • Our 4A No. 1-ranked squad continues its undefeated roll in a big way 64-31 over Poudre as Kevin Mitchell’s 17 points led three in double figures. Check out Longmont "D’ing Up!" in a 21-2 second quarter.
    • Vista Peak won big over Niwot 74-58 and Noah Butler’s 21 points, 5 assists led the way here.

    Thursday, Dec. 18:

    Monarch Northglenn boys basketball
    Monarch boys basketball is off to a strong start this season. (Matt Mathewes/MVPSportsPics.com)
    • Dakota Ridge remains quietly undefeated with a 60-47 win over Grandview. Andrew Joiner with another 20 point effort for the Wolves in the loss.
    • The Cherry Creek annual tourney got started and Jack Eberhard was on hand for Cherry Creek vs. Pine Creek.
    • Pueblo South with a nice 13 point win over 5A Horizon.
    • It was a low scoring affair between two squads off to strong starts in Monarch and Northglenn. Matt Mathewes was on hand as the Coyotes advanced to 8-1.
    • Cordell Gillingham powered Greeley West with 19 points, 6 rebounds, 4 assists in 12-point win over Mountain View.
    • Fairvew won a lopsided affair over Thornton and Kamran Shahbaz’s 29 points was huge!
    • Abraham Lincoln used a big 21-9 fourth quarter to take the city vs. suburbs match against Highlands Ranch.  Keith Coleman Jr. with 19 points in the loss for the Falcons. 
    • Matt Mathewes with some more awesome shots as Mountain Range rolled over Prairie View in tourney play.
    • Rangeview received 20 votes in last week’s 5A poll and they will likely break in as senior Jalen Davis is starting to assert himself with high flying dunks and overall game. Davis’s 23 points, 4 rebounds, and 2 assists led to a huge 15 point win over Aurora rival Cherokee Trail for the Raiders.
    • That cool Converse name keeps catching the Fever eye and this time he scored 18 for Legacy in the win over DougCo.
    • National power Bishop Gorman of Las Vegas flexed its muscles on Overland in a 72-59 loss for the TrailBlazers. De’Ron Davis and Austin Conway both with 12 points.
    • Dan Morhman highlights Colorado Spring Christian’s explosive third quarter that led 3A’s No. 1 ranked squad to the win over Mesa Ridge.
    • Tyler Garcia strikes again with 27 points, 4 rebounds in Rock Canyon’s 74-56 win over Eastlake in tourney play. Mitch Lombard added 15 along Sam Masten’s 14, 6 rebounds in the win.
    • Northridge quietly 5-1 and used a huge fourth quarter comeback to beat Pueblo West 64-59.
    • MItchell gave Pueblo East a scare but they hold on for the one point win where Jacob Disalvo led 5 in double figures with 16.
    • Out west, Owen Riley’s 24 point, 12 rebound double-double led Battle Mountain over Eagle Valley.
    • Palisade ended Lutheran’s undefeated early run with a 67-65 win in a close one!

    Friday, Dec. 19:

    • Mullen hosting their own tournament and get the 14-point win over Castle View.
    • Our Pam Wagner was on hand as Holy Family’s Chris Helbig had 18 in the win over D’Evelyn.
    • Coach Wood has the Mountain Vista boys "runnin’ the floor" again as they put up 88 points in win over Lakewood. Brady Subart with 30 huge points and Ray Beresford 25 … quite the duo!
    • Montbello was not a nice host as they ran up 95 points with 13 players getting in the score box led by Malik Hart’s 21 points, 9 assists vs. Pueblo Centennial.
    • Had to get over to the Creek tourney to see with my own eyes if Fever’s beloved Dan Snyder was truly on the bench with Coach Brookhart for the Bruins. Wow, that is quite a coaching tandem for the Centennial League to deal with. The Bruins took down Abraham Lincoln in tourney play on this night.
    • George Washington took their young squad on the road to Arvada West but came up just short 46-43.
    • Mesa Ridge and Doherty in a high scoring 84-80 affair and Pryce Adams 24-point, 10-rebound double-double along with Dalen Jackson’s huge 29 point effort got it done despite Dalven Brushier and Kayden Washington scoring 20 points each in the loss.
    • Boulder came to the city and handed Aurora Central a 15 point loss behind Landon Talieaferro’s 17 points.
    • Fossil Ridge finished up their trip with a 67-64 win over Jordan and Zacc Drovdal had 20 points.
    • Overland continues to challenge the best of the best and Prestenwood Christian beat the Trailblazers by 15 despite Reggie Gibson and De’Ron Davis both putting up 14 each.
    • Mitchell and Vista Ridge had a nice overtime battle where Noah Beatty’s 27 points wasn’t enough as Vista loses by 3.
    • Air Academy, now 6-1, had five players in double figures led by Paul Ambuul’s 22 in blowout of Coronado.
    • Big man Chuck Gavin with 17 point, 15 rebound double-double as Denver South beat Garden City by 16 points. Devante Loggins again with the rare double-double of 10 points with 13 assists.
    • Golden suffered first loss on their tourney road to Pine Crest 54-39.
    • Eaglecrest continues to get battle-tested as they went down to Orem in Las Vegas 53-46.
    • Valor Christian made a huge 4A statement in a highly anticipated matchup with Pueblo Central. Kobi Betts and Michael Ranson didn’t disappoint scoring over 20 points each again, but the standout on this night was Khameron Davis, who hit 5-three pointers en route to 27 points.

    Saturday, Dec. 20:

    Legacy Douglas County boys basketball
    Douglas County coach Earl Boykins. (Matt Mathewes/MVPSportsPics.com)
    • Dakota Ridge looking to move up a notch in the 5A top 10 as they went into Arapahoe and remain undefeated at 8-0 with the 70-56 win. "Lefty" Devante Jones was impressive and all over the court for Dakota Ridge in the win. Arapahoe finished 5-3 before the break. They have a couple injuries and only two seniors on their roster so they should be ready for league play.
    • Monarch will certainly be knocking on the top 10 door after capturing the Prairie View tournament and Matt Mathewes captured the action.
    • Mullen hosted their tourney and brought home the title beating Sand Creek 79-72. Mullen goes into the break 6-2 after the solid tourney showing.
    • Matt Matthewes also took in Legacy’s win over Loveland.
    • There’s that "RELAX" theme again as Legend handed Cherry Creek their first loss in the title game of the Creek tourney 43-40. The Titans were led by Danny Garrick’s 19 points and it seems they are beginning to reach that potential we’ve heard of.
    • Chaparral going into the break 6-1 after the 55-49 win over Fairfax.
    • Riley Stewart’s 24 points helped Highlands Ranch go into break at 5-5 after they finished tourney play with a 9-point win over Fountain Fort Carson.
    • Nice win for Coach Boykins’ squad behind Cetta’s 17 over Broomfield.
    • Fossil Ridge finished up travel with a nice 1-point win over Desert Pines and come home 6-3.
    • Boulder continues its strong early play with the 60-59 overtime win over Cherokee Trail.
    • Well "hello there" Troy Green! Montbello’s senior wing scored 30 points, 7 rebounds as the Warriors enter break 8-1 after win over Hinkley 81-64. His running mate Malik Hart added 20 points, 8 assists.
    • Denver East is missing Brian Carey in a major way while he’s out with ankle injury and the Angels drop to 3-6 after 61-57 loss to Foothill in Vegas.
    • The "utility knife" Blend Advili with 21 points, 7 rebounds in Eaglecrest Vegas blowout of Durango.
    • Matt Matthewes was still snapping the action shots for Northglenn’s win over Prairie View.
    • "Oh My!" Big De’Ron Davis left his mark in Vegas with a 34 point, 9 rebound effort in Overland’s win over West Linn by 4. The Trailblazers return with a 4-4 mark.
    • Big man Tristan Von Nieda captured a 21 point, 9 rebound night as Fort Collins won in overtime at Ponderosa.
    • braham Lincoln 6-4 after impressive 16-point win over DPL rival Thomas Jefferson in final game of  Cherry Creek tournament.
    • Pueblo South showed no mercy to defending champ Pueblo East in the 31 point win vs these rivals.
    • Our No. 1 4A squad finished up 6-0 with the 67-39 win over Windsor to close out our coverage for Week 3!

    The early tournament play and non conference fun has proven again that things are wide open and that it’s also much too early to count some teams out.

    Enjoy the holidays and can’t wait to get back to the hoops!

  • Ball Fever: Boys basketball teams show well at out-of-state tournaments

    Fairview Niwot boys basketball
    Boys basketball’s Week 2 is in the books. (Kai Casey/CHSAANow.com)

    Welcome back hoops fans! Week 2 of the season brought some excellent in and out-of-state tournament action along with fun non conference battles.

    The out-of-state action included our new No. 1 ranked squad Regis Raiders staying undefeated in trip to Arizona.

    Let’s get to the action!

    [divider]

    Week in review

    Fairview Niwot boys basketball
    Fairview boys basketball took care of Niwot on Monday. (Kai Casey/CHSAANow.com)

    Monday, Dec. 8:

    • A low scoring 16 point half for the home Mullen Mustangs spelled doom as Mountain Range’s Ben Egan poured in 21 points in the 64-50 road victory. James Potter’s 19 along with Andrew Romero’s 17 added the balance!
    • Didn’t take long for the first “oh my!” of week two to roll in as sophomore Kolton Peterson caught fire for 38 points, 3 rebounds, 3 steals, 3 assists, but that wasn’t enough to stop Heritage behind Jack Peck’s 24 points, 5 assists. The Eagles protect home court 81-71.
    • Former league rivals Wheat Ridge and Alameda hooked up Monday. Dennis Pleuss was all over it.
    • Fairview was “feeling it” from three-point range and Kai Casey’s photo report took it all in.
    • Greeley West cooled off a hot Aurora Central 61-54 in tourney play. Preston Marion with the huge double-double of 17 points, 15 rebounds along with Connor Thompson’s 15 points did the trick. Elijah Coleman led with 22 points, 8 rebounds in the loss for the Trojans.
    • Boulder walked in the Patriots house and took down the young GW squad 64-47 behind Landon Taliaferro’s 22 points and Garrett Turner’s 20 points, 6 assists.
    • Denver South was without their senior point guard Devante Loggins in a previous loss last week but he returned in a giving mood dishing out 15 assists in the Rebels 61-44 win over Broomfield. Loggins added 7 steals which we’re sure led to some of those assists. Fellow senior Turner Dumas Peterson led scoring with 13 points.
    • Denver North squeaked out a solid one point road victory 70-69 at Arvada Monday night. Belmin Salihovic put in 18 points in the home loss.
    • Monarch continues its strong early play as they record the 9 point 52-43 win over Sierra.

    Legend Dakota Ridge boys basketball
    Dakota Ridge edged Legend on Tuesday. (Dennis Pleuss)

    Tuesday, Dec. 9:

    • Palmer used a 40-point first half to blow away Douglas County 78-54 and Will Ross led four Terror’s in double figure scoring with 19.
    • Rock Canyon locked D’Evelyn up defensively only allowing 34 points as Tyler Garcia scored 17 with 3 steals.
    • The 5A leading scorer, Thomas Neff, continues his hot start with 33 points in Arvada West’s 61-46 win over Legacy.
    • Fossil Ridge took care of Highlands Ranch and big man Ryan Quaid collected a 19 point, 10 rebound double-double in the 71-53 win. Riley Stewart had 19 for the Falcons in the loss.
    • Holy Family used a 14-4 first quarter start to beat Poudre 63-42 behind Chris Helbig’s 20 points.
    • Two teams quietly off to nice starts tangled Tuesday in Grandview and Montbello. The Warriors won this one 58-51 behind Malik Hart’s 21 points. Andrew Joiner led the Wolves again with 17.
    • Doherty had some serious balance on display as they kept Castle View winless with five players scoring in double figures led by Emin Cecunjanin’s 14 point, 11 rebound double-double. Jontrell Herman scored 16 in the loss.
    • Senior Dee Henderson continues his double-double ways for Thornton with 22 points, 14 rebounds but Pomona got the two point win 51-49.
    • Tim Visser was in the house as Cherokee Trail ended Denver East’s in-state win streak. The Angels’ Brian Carey scored 37 on a bad ankle but C Trail’s overall balance proved too much.
    • Rangeview’s senior Tarren Storey-Way had the hot hand this night as the Raiders pulled away from Rocky Mountain 74-49 with Storey-Way dropping 22 points. Benji Williams with 19 in the loss.
    • Jack Eberhard covered the action shots as Smoky Hill traveled to ThunderRidge.
    • Pueblo Central is ranked No. 7 in this weeks 4A poll and their backcourt duo of Kobi Betts and Michael Ranson can flat out fill it up! They both scored 28 in this win over Falcon.
    • Dennis Pleuss on top of the two-point thriller between Legend and Dakota Ridge.
    • Ridgeview Academy notched a big win for their guys over Manual 70-61 and C Torres was absolutely on fire scoring 38.
    • Dan Morhmann covered Jonathon Scott stepping up big to help Lewis-Palmer hand Pueblo East their first loss in a long while

    (Jack Eberhard/JacksActionShots.com)
    Cherry Creek handed Denver East a rare second-straight loss on Wednesday. (Jack Eberhard/JacksActionShots.com)

    Wednesday, Dec. 10:

    • Our guy Jack Eberhard took in the Pepsi Center environment as Cherry Creek handed a short-handed Denver East their second straight loss.
    • Chaparral has weapons and Chase Coon dropped 23 points in the Wolverines 88-66 win over Chatfield. Check out our Fever buddy Jake Holtzman’s big time double-double of 18 points, 15 rebounds.
    • Donovan Oldham logged a double-double for Rampart of 20 points, 11 rebounds in their win over Castle View. Jontrell Hermann giving his all and “stat-stuffin” 21 points, 6 rebounds, 7 steals, and 4 assists!
    • Colorado Springs Christian, our No. 1 3A squad, flexed some small school muscle beating Pine Creek 48-44.
    • A little more 3A muscle flexing? A hot Mead squad took down Prairie View 75-52 with Blake Goodwin putting up a 26 point, 11 rebound double-double.
    • The Farmers are showing some scoring balance early in the season as Vedin Kozic’s 20 points led four in double figures as Wheat Ridge thumped Gateway 76-48.
    • Check out Erie with two players getting double-doubles in Kyle Leahy’s 29 point, 11 rebound effort along side Cameron McCurry’s 15 points, 16 rebounds. Fourteen point win over Standley Lake.
    • A good one down South as Falcon outlasted Mesa Ridge 61-59. Shawn LiVecchi’s 23 points got it done.
    • Tons of talented youth on the floor in George Washington at Valor Chrisitan. Jalen Sanders with a 19 point, 15 rebound huge double-double. And how about Dylan McCaffrey transitioning from football to hoops with a nice 13 point, 11 rebound double-double as well. Looks like Coach DeGray has more weapons to work with!

    Montbello senior Troy Green (24) dribbles past Ralston Valley senior Jake Jelinek (42) during the second half Thursday night. (Dennis Pleuss)
    Might it be time to look out for Montbello? Maybe so after a win over Ralston Valley last Thursday. (Dennis Pleuss)

    Thursday, Dec. 11:

    • Overland dropped to No. 4 in our 5A poll this week but the Trailblazers started their Utah road trip with an impressive 76-65 win over Wasatch Academy who traditionally has several D-I players on their prep school roster. Big man De’Ron Davis with a 23 point, 10 rebound double-double.
    • Montbello is starting to open eyes and Dennis Pleuss was on hand as they took down Ralston Valley in tournament play.
    • Senior Dalontae Kelly stole the show with 21 points, 6 assists in the Aurora showdown between Hinkley and Smoky Hill. Buffaloes win by 19.
    • Danny Garrick joined this week’s double-double crew leading Legend over Horizon with 25 points, 12 rebounds. Mateo Romos with 20 points in the loss.
    • Rock Canyon turned it on in overtime outscoring Arvada West 15-9 in the extra period. Mitch Lombard 22 and Tyler Garcia 18 points in this one.
    • After back-to-back Colorado losses Denver East got a 52-41 win as they hit the tournament road in Utah versus Jordon.
    • Andrew Romero continuing his hot streak in Mountain Range’s twelve point win over Grand Junction scoring 26 points.
    • Dakota Ridge, ranked No. 8 last week, stayed undefeated with 75-65 win over Doherty. Check out nice sophomore Brevin Brimble who scored 22 points, including five three pointers for the Spartans in the loss.
    • Our state’s No. 1 ranked Regis Raiders made easy work 78-38 of Westwood as they hit the tourney road in Arizona. Hard working Kip Boryla led with 15 points.
    • Northglenn is playing some strong early ball as well. Good 72-60 win over Lakewood.
    • Mountain Vista is knocking on the door of 5A’s top 10 and they put the score keeper to work putting up 95 points in landslide win over JFK. Brady Subart with 22 points.
    • Fossil Ridge headed south to Lewis-Palmer and Ryan Quaid’s monster 25 point, 13 rebound double-double got the win 71-63.
    • Air Academy No. 8 in last week’s 4A poll came back for the 58-52 win at Evergreen behind Paul Ambuul’s 16 points.
    • “Oh my” performance of the night by Michael Ranson who put up 38 points in Pueblo Central’s solid win over Vista Peak.
    • Another big scoring performance as Grandview’s Cooper Murphy poured in 32 points along with Jared Burr’s 14 in the fifteen point win at Mountain View.
    • Sam Boone’s 18 points helped Ponderosa finish the week 4-2 with a 61-57 win at Fort Morgan.

    Friday, Dec. 12:

    • A big one Friday as Chaparral visited Eaglecrest and Chris Moody stepped up big in Chap’s 68-64 road win scoring 22 points and pulling 9 rebounds. DU commit Jake Holtzman added 15 point, 11 rebound double-double in the road win.
    • Regis rolled again in Arizona. This time 58-31 over Higley and Kip Boryla along with Taylor Kallsen double figures scoring.
    • Props to Air Academy for battling 5A Mountain Vista but the Eagle earned the six point win with 5 players in double figures.
    • Cherokee Trail’s David Thornton with 18 points, 8 rebounds as the Cougars took down Highlands Ranch 58-48.
    • Can’t wait for the stats to come rolling in on this up and coming Northglenn squad. They continue the strong start with 54-47 win over Legend.
    • Grandview wins over Legacy to go 4-1 early on behind Andrew Joiner’s 22 points. Tyler Converse with 21 in the loss.
    • Denver South put up 80 points beating Greeley West by 13. Point guard Devante Loggins with an 18 point, 13 assists “ridiculous” double-double for the Rebels.
    • Monarch capped a hot start at 7-1 with 50-47 win over Fairview.
    • To add some serious credence to Overland’s win over Wasatch Academy, the prep school took down Denver East 72-43 in a lopsided contest.
    • This Warrior squad will be jumping into the 5A top 10 next week as Montbello beat Rock Canyon 65-60 in the Ralston Valley tourney finale. Montbello’s point guard Frankie Penn led with 15 and Mitch Lombard threw in 26 in the loss.
    • Nice win for Columbine over Valor Christian 59-45 to advance to 4-1.
    • Overland’s big two stepped up in the 67-55 win over Timpview in Utah. De’Ron Davis with 22 point, 10 rebound double-double went nicely with Wyoming commit Austin Conway’s 17 points, 7 rebounds, and 6 assists.
    • Senior Jalen Davis with 17 points in Rangeview’s eleven point win over Holy Family.
    • Sand Creek moves to 3-1 as they get the 21 point victory over Mitchell.
    • The Fever crew has heard nothing but good things about young sophomore David Simental who scored 21 in Pueblo West’s 71-55 win over Montrose.
    • 5A No. 7 ranked Aurora Central now 7-1 after Ladarius Thomas puts up 22 points in win over Sierra. Junior guard Elijah Coleman with 15 points, 6 steals.
    • Erie battled Centaurus to a 60-59 win behind Andrew Campbell’s 18 points. Steven Lopez dropped 5 three’s and 27 points in the loss.

    Saturday, Dec. 13:

    • Arapahoe gets season started 4-2 after the Warriors 61-41 win over Westminster. Ryan King with 14 points in the win.
    • Legend got back on the winning side with 56-49 win over Smoky Hill. Titan transfer from Regis, Jared Small joined the party with 19 points for Legend.
    • Dakota Ridge looking to solidify it’s spot in 5A top 10 finishing week 6-0 as Tyler McFarland scored 17 in win over Castleview.
    • Denver East bounced back with a 47-36 win over Orem, UT.
    • Matt Gosselin scored 17 as Liberty took down Lewis-Palmer 54-46.
    • Two power-house programs as Overland faced Loan Peak Utah in out of state action. De’Ron tracked another double-double and Austin Conway scored 21 but it wasn’t enough as Lone Peak won 75-71. Junior guard Reggie Gibson added 10 points, 6 assists.
    • Two teams folks may not have thought would start 5-1 battled as Mountain Range took down Northglenn behind Andrew Romero’s 27 points, 9 rebounds.
    • Kobi Betts and Michael Ranson combine for 48 points as Pueblo Central beat Ponderosa Saturday.
    • Jalen Davis led the way for the Raiders as Rangeview brought home the Fort Collins tourney title and our guy Brock Laue was up north.
    • Mead moves to 3-1 after Kyle Leahy’s 27 points helped get the win over Erie.
    • Doherty and Sand Creek tangled down south with Dalven Brushier’s 21 points helping the Spartans bring home the win.
    • Ray Beresford’s 19 and Brady Subart’s 13 helped Mountain Vista top Evergreen despite Austin Fritt’s 33 point output.
    • Josh McNair finding his groove for 4A No. 3 Thomas Jefferson scoring 24 points in win over Centaurus. Had the honor to follow this young man McNair in Chicago and Las Vegas tournaments this summer. He’s a better young man than he is “two sport stud” for the Spartans. Guard Henry Cooper with 10 points, 2 assists, 2 steals on the night.

    [divider]

    A Look Ahead:

    Grand Junction Horizon boys basketball
    Grand Junction has a big game at Sand Creek on Thursday. (Tim Visser/TimVisserPhotography.com)

    Monday, Dec. 15:

    • Columbine at ThunderRidge
    • Denver South travels to Rampart
    • Holy Family at Silver Creek

    Tuesday, Dec. 16:

    • Rangeview at Smoky Hill in Aurora action
    • Valor Christian at Highlands Ranch for bragging rights out south
    • Monarch at Loveland. Legend at Doherty
    • Mountain Vista at Chatfield
    • Cherokee Trail at Thomas Jefferson
    • Fort Collins at Golden
    • Falcon at Sierra

    Wednesday, Dec. 17:

    • Aurora Central at Montbello could be a top 10 battle
    • Eaglecrest on road in tourney play vs. Desert Pines
    • Overland continues travel vs. Bountiful
    • Erie at Niwot

    Thursday, Dec. 18:

    • Dakota Ridge at Grandview
    • Pine Creek at Cherry Creek
    • Pueblo South at Horizon
    • Highlands Ranch coming to the city vs. Abraham Lincoln
    • Thomas Jefferson vs. Fountain-Fort Carson
    • Serious Aurora battle in Cherokee Trail at Rangeview
    • Cheyenne Mountain at Ponderosa
    • Grand Junction at Sand Creek
    • Colorado Academy vs. Harrison in big vs. small school
    • Mitchell at Pueblo East

    Friday, Dec. 19:

    • Pueblo Centennial vs. Montbello
    • Columbine at Doherty
    • George Washington at Arvada West
    • Boulder at Aurora Central
    • Garden City at Denver South
    • Coronado at Air Academy
    • Pine Crest vs. Golden
    • Pueblo Central at Valor in a 4A “biggie.”

    Saturday, Dec. 20:

    • Dakota Ridge at Arapahoe
    • Cherokee Trail at Boulder
    • Denver East tangles with Silverado on the road
    • Lakewood at Rampart
    • Columbine at Standley Lake
    • Fort Collins at Ponderosa
    • Windsor at Longmont

    Plenty of action to see! Enjoy the hoops.

  • Ball Fever: Week 1 sets up a wide open year in boys basketball

    Golden Vista PEAK boys basketball
    What does this season hold for boys basketball? “Wide open” comes to mind. (Kai Casey/CHSAANow.com)

    Welcome back Colorado prep hoops fans!

    The two words tossed around the b’ball community this preseason were overwhelmingly “wide open” when it comes to our boys Class 5A and 4A divisions. Week 1 did nothing to prove that theory wrong. We have a ton of parity and any number of teams who are capable of carrying that Gold Ball in March 2015!

    No need to delay — let’s take a look back at some of the standout performances and top teams in a busy week 1.

    [divider]

    Week in review

    Monday (Dec. 1):

    • Arapahoe had eleven players contribute to the stat sheet in Warrior fashion. There is a new regime at Arapahoe and Max Whitehead’s 11 points, 6 rebounds, and 3 assists helped bring home coach Brad Jansen’s first win as the Warriors head man. This will be one of many to come for coach Jansen and his experienced staff!
    • Arapahoe’s Centennial league partner Cherry Creek also got the season off to a convincing start with a 62-37 win over Mountain Range. Not a lot of early talk about the Bruins but they have a balanced squad who will make a lot of noise.
    • Senior Trey Vann poured in 20 points leading Douglas County to first-year coach Earl Boykin’s first win as the Huskies’ head man. Benji Williams with a 22 point, 11 rebound double-double in the loss for Rocky Mountain.
    • Landon Taliaferro’s 17 and Garrett Turner’s 16 points powered Boulder to a big 74-35 blowout of Ralston Valley in their opener.
    • Fort Collins had three players in double figures led by senior Brydon Campanella’s 15 points in their 60-46 win over Westminster. Jacob Pfaffinger was a perfect 5-5 from the field. Have to keep an eye on this sophomore!
    • Castle View traveled north to Northglenn and Jontrell Hermann’s 17 point, 7 rebound, 6 assist performance was not enough to top Jonah Radebaugh’s 25 point, 11 rebound double-double. Jalyn Johnson also poured in 21 points for Northglenn.
    • Skyline got defensive and didn’t allow Greeley Central a single quarter in double digits, winning 49-28.
    • The Fever crew made it out to South High on opening night as the Rebels hit the century mark rolling over Discovery Canyon 100-74. The Rebels will be a force to be reckoned with in 4A as they have size, veteran leadership, and fearless youth ready to make their mark on the hoop scene. Devante Loggins led on this night with a rare 18 point, 10 assist double-double.
    • Oscar Morales scored 17 as Arvada used a 20-13 fourth quarter advantage to hold off John F. Kennedy.
    • Senior guard Michael Sparks putting his bid in early as the state’s leading scorer dropping 34 points (14-14 from the free-throw line) and a perfect 6-6 from 3-point land in Lincoln’s 73-66 win at Wheat Ridge.
    • Our 4A preseason No. 2-ranked squad Pueblo South put the score keeper to work as they ran up 97 points in a landslide win over Mesa Ridge.

    Overland Regis Jesuit boys basketball
    Regis Jesuit beat Overland in an early No. 1 vs. No. 2 matchup. (Tim Visser/TimVisserPhotography.com)

    Tuesday (Dec. 2):

    • The most anticipated game of opening night was easily the preseason 5A No. 1 Overland hosting No. 2 Regis in an Aurora backyard battle. Check out Zach Marburger’s story on how the Raiders showed no fear in this goliath early tilt.
    • When the Eaglecrest/Rock Canyon game popped up on night two of the season you had to think “GUARD PLAY.” Only half of the Rock Canyon Garcia/Lombard guard attack was available on this night and the Ross brothers from Eaglecrest stole the show with Colbey scoring 20 points and UCCS commit Elijah 13. We also had a double-double on the night as the “utility knife” Blend Advili added 18 points, 11 rebounds for the Raptors. Senior Isaac Hirsh led the Jaguars with 15 points in the loss.
    • There was a lot of off-season talk of how defending champ Denver East Angels would fare after losing four senior starters all playing college hoops right now. Well, rest assured Coach Carey’s crew is going to be just fine if Tuesday’s performance at the tough road environment of Legend HS was any sign of what’s to come. The Angels floor general Brian Carey led with 22 points, 6 assists while fellow senior Jordan Willis had a monster double-double of 13 points, 16 rebounds in a break out performance for him. The Angels defense held the Titans to 11 first half points en route to an impressive 53-42 win for the preseason No. 3-ranked squad.
    •  Junior Jack Peck dropped 20 points as Heritage got their season off to a nice start with a 55-41 win over rival Littleton.
    • Guard Michael Skinner led with 20 points and an impressive 9 steals as Horizon poured it on Thornton 72-43. Stud senior Daeziontae Henderson amazingly had 28 of 43 points and added 9 rebounds in the loss.
    • Legacy had five players score in double figures led by Tyler Converse’s 21 (gotta get the Converse name in there!) as they ran away from Pomona 74-38.
    • The Columbine Rebels with a solid start for their program in a tight 60-59 win over Lincoln led by Keaton Matthies 19 points.
    • University of Denver commit Thomas Neff is primed for a stellar senior season and starting off with a monster 35 point, 10 rebound double-double in Arvada West’s 64-48 win over Smoky Hill showed why the Wildcats are excited! Senior Dalontae Kelly did his part for the Buffaloes pouring in 23 points in the loss.
    • Mullen hoops is in a time of transition with first-year coach Pete Spiessbach taking the helm but one constant the Mustangs will be able to count on is Nate Davis who scored 27 points and added 7 rebounds in their road win 54-48 at Brighton.
    • Paid a visit to a spirited Aurora Central gym where the Trojans got off to a 53-50 win in this battle that went back and forth throughout. A. Central was settling for the perimeter at 4-of-22 3-point shooting but when they attacked Ladarius Thomas scored 18 and Elijah Coleman finished with a 15-point, 11 rebound double-double. The Spartans senior tandem of Jalen Rose and Josh McNair scored 15 and 14 points respectively looking impressive as well.
    • Down south a hot 20-6 first quarter propelled Sand Creek over rival Palmer 71-53. Sand Creek had five players who scored in double figures led by Garrett Bingham’s 17.
    • The shocker on Tuesday in 4A was unranked Pueblo Central beating preseason 4A No. 3 Lewis Palmer 56-51. Junior guard Michael Ranson had the hot hand scoring 25 points in the win. Then entire city of Pueblo will be well represented in 4A this year.
    • Valor Christian’s youth was on display with sophomore’s Kalye Knuckles and Jalen Sanders scoring in double figures along with Khameron Davis who had 20 in the 66-53 win over Liberty. Valor coming in as preseason No. 5 in 4A.
    • Faclon’s offense impressive with an 81-64 win over Elizabeth that boasted four double digit scorers led by Kwe’Shaan Thomas’ 20. Senior Jake Gavitt caught fire for Elizabeth in the loss scoring 34 of their total 64.
    • Another high scorer filling up the stat sheet in Fort Morgan’s Eric Kembal who tallied 36 points in the 71-67 win over Standley Lake.

    Wednesday (Dec. 3):

    • This young man Andrew Joiner earned the nickname of “Drew Buckets” from teammates during a hot-shooting summer and he continued that with 22 points to help first-year Grandview coach Mike Rogers notch his first win for the Wolves.
    • Well hello 6-foot-4 junior Nate Lehnerz! His 27 points helped Broomfield to a 25-point victory over Westminster to start the season.
    • A lot of positive talk in the city regarding George Washington’s youth and the Fugett brothers (sophomore Calvin and Freshman Jon’il) combined for 25 points, 8 assists, 3 steals in the Patriots 68-49 win over Doherty. Not to overlook the Patriots leading scorer freshman Daylen Kountz who scored 16.
    • Down south Pine Creek used Jared Savage’s 17 points to top Cheyenne Mountain 74-62. Isaiah led with 26 points in the loss. Here’s Dan Mohrmann’s full story.
    • The duo of Jalyn Johnson (23 points) and Jonah Radebaugh (16 points) has folks taking notice in Week 1 and Northglenn upset preseason 5A No. 8 Arvada West 65-56.
    • Speaking of “duos,” Cherokee Trail has one of their own in juniors David Thornton and Ronnie Barfield. Thornton led the 75-64 road win over Denver South with a 20 point, 12 rebound double-double while Barfield added 17 points with 5 steals. Senior Devante “Moo” Loggins with 18 points and 7 assists in the loss.
    • Junior Austin Fritts came out strong scoring 22 points as Green Mountain took down Thompson Valley 54-47.
    • Our 4A defending champ Pueblo East came in preseason No. 9 this season and beat Englewood 58-32 behind Nick Fesmire’s 14 points.

    Golden Vista PEAK boys basketball
    Golden’s Ryan Blodget (33) shoots over Vista PEAK’s TeRae Johnson (23) on Thursday. (Kai Casey/CHSAANow.com)

    Thursday (Dec. 4):

    • The Fever crew made it out to Thomas Jefferson for this 4A/5A match-up looking forward to top seniors Jalen Davis, Tim Wyatt, Jalen Rose, and Josh McNair battling it out. They did not disappoint but check out Danielle Ennis’ story on how sophomore Ravel Moody stole the show.
    • Likely to be the new No. 1 this week, Regis continued their strong start beating Columbine 80-44. Check out the photos here. Looks like we should get familiar with the name Tony Caseria for the Raiders. The Regis senior led all with 18 points.
    • Cherry Creek basketball started things off on the road with tourney action in Las Vegas and posted a strong 72-51 win over Durango HS Las Vegas.
    • Mountain Vista boasts two seniors who already have committed to play college hoops, and Ray Beresford’s 27 along with Brady Subart’s 23 points displayed their high level talent in the Eagles 82-62 win over Loveland.
    • Northglenn continues to impress early as it must have been a thrilling double overtime 71-67 win at Horizon with Jacob Mountor leading four in double figures behind a 17-point, 10-rebound double-double.
    • Elijah Coleman’s 21 point, 9 rebound effort led Aurora Central to a 70-42 win over Grand Junction Central out west.
    • Arapahoe picks up win number two on the season behind Ryan King’s 18 points in the 61-58 win over Rampart.
    • Prairie View has a veteran back court and Luke Schwindaman’s 20 points along with Alonzo Ramirez’s 17 led to the 57-41 win over Littleton.
    • Pueblo South and Lewis Palmer came in ranked No. 2 and No. 3 respectively in preseason rankings and South took the early match up 62-49.
    • Check out our guy Kai Casey’s photo report of Golden taking down Vista Peak in early tournament play. Ryan Blodget with 20 points while Ryan Thistlewood and Cole Greff both added points/rebound double-doubles.

    Mountain Range Arvada West boys basketball
    Mountain Range upset Arvada West on Friday. (Pam Wagner/CHSAANow.com)

    Friday (Dec. 5):

    • Grandview advanced to 2-0 battling back from eleven points down winning 63-61 in overtime. Eleven points and 8 rebounds for senior Andrew Joiner in the win.
    • Seniors led the way for Chaparral in semifinal tournament action as DU commit Jake Holtzman scored 26 points and Chris Moody added 22 for the 68-54 victory over Cherokee Trail. Holtzman added 14 rebounds to reel in the double-double on the night.
    • The young, talented George Washington bunch challenged ThunderRidge in tournament play but big Zach Pirog (committed to Nebraska-Omaha) scored 19 points to lead the Grizzlies to an 11 point win.
    • Monarch is off to a nice start early this season but Mitch Lombard’s 15 points along with only allowing 1 second quarter point helped Rock Canyon win 47-37.
    • Mountain Vista used a 22-8 second quarter to pull away from Arapahoe winning big 73-48 behind Ray Beresford’s 18 points.
    • Doesn’t look like there was much of an answer for senior Andrew Romero as he scored 34 points leading Mountain Range to the 79-71 upset of Arvada West. Check out Pam Wagner’s photo report here.
    • The Fever crew loaded up the “Pacer” and headed north to one of our favorite venues and programs where Matt Johannsen is the head man for the Fossil Ridge “family.” The Sabercats were hosting another Fever friend on this night, coach Ron Bush and the Montbello Warriors whose veteran roster was able to survive the fierce environment and pull off a last second win when smooth Malik Hart hit fellow senior CJ Whittington under the hoop for walk-off game winning lay up 56-55. Hart finished with 21 points, 7 rebounds while Whittington added 15 points, 7 rebounds. Fossil Ridge made it to the final game in Boulder last year and Coach Johannsen has more weapons, inside and out, to make another March run 2015.
    • The Velasquez name is well known for guard play down south and Tynan’s 19 points, 5 steals, 5 assists, continue that tradition in Doherty’s 64-62 win over Chatfield.
    • Watch out for those Cherry Creek Bruins who are taking full advantage of their Las Vegas trip with a 47-32 win over Cheyenne in tournament play.
    • Ponderosa had four players in double figures led by senior Sam Boone’s 20 points in their 10 point win over Gateway.
    • Rangeview lost a tough one on the road but returned home in a major way putting up 97 points in lopsided 26 point victory over Castle View. Senior Tarren Storey-Way earned a 21 point, 12 rebound double-double. Fellow Raiders senior Jalen Davis led all scorers with 23 points. We had the pleasure of watching Davis compete in Chicago and Las Vegas this summer and great to see him coming into the form he showed vs. some of the nation’s best.
    • Senior J.T. Johnson rained down 6-of-7 three pointers leading to 22 points as Vista Peak won 79-57 over Frederick. First year coach at Vista Gary Childress has inherited a talented team.
    • Whoa — a 31-13 fourth-quarter comeback helped Fairview get on the winning track with a 71-62 win over Denver South behind Johnny Feauto’s 21 points. Senior Chuck Gavin did his part for the Rebels with a 13 point, 17 rebound double-double in the loss.
    • Golden’s duo of Ryan Blodget and Cole Greff both scored in the 20s leading their squad past Pueblo Central 78-76 while Kobi Betts and Michael Ranson combined for 51 total points in the loss.
    • Aurora Central closed out a busy week one 5-0 with a 65-43 win over Palisade led by Ladarius Thomas’ 25 point, 6 rebound, 6 assist effort.
    • Holy Family, after winning a title last year, has moved up to 4A this season but didn’t get a warm welcome from Niwot, who held court with the 48-42 win. Luke Golter scored 19 for Holy Family in the loss.
    • Cole Robinson’s 26 points helped Thompson Valley top Cheyenne Mountain 81-70. Nathan Resty piled up 30 points in the loss.
    • Take a look at this Air Academy duo as Paul Ambuul scored 26 points and David Louthan added a 27 point, 12 rebound double-double hand Valor a 66-58 loss. Air Academy used a 25-12 fourth quarter on the road to pull this one off.

    Saturday (Dec. 6):

    • Highlands Ranch evened its record at 1-1 behind 27 points from Riley Stewart routing Bear Creek 72-48.
    • Our annual private school Mullen vs Regis battle was a tad one-sided this year as sharp shooting Brian Staerkel’s 15 points finished off an excellent week for the Raiders winning 70-41. Here are photos from the game.
    • Rock Canyon finished a solid week one with an impressive tournament win 64-61 over Mountain Vista. Their back court duo of Lombard and Garcia combined for 35 points, 7 assists in the win.
    • Dalvin Brushier’s 17 points along with Kayden Washington’s 12 point, 12 rebound double-double led Doherty to a 65-42 win over Fairview to finish the week. A lot look forward to for this Spartan squad.
    • Monarch finished a solid 3-1 week with a 58-47 over Arapahoe.
    • Tons of talent and speed on the floor as George Washington finished the week 2-1 with impressive 12 point win over Cherokee Trail.
    • Aurora Central used a first quarter shut out and 19 points from Marquise Johnson in the low scoring 40-28 win over Fruita Monument.
    • Fountain-Fort Carson was off to a 2-0 start but it was Grand Junction who ended week one undefeated at 3-0 with a 69-57 win.
    • Eaglecrest continues to look “scary” early and Colbey Ross’ 30 points in the 19 point win over Palmer will add to opponents fear!
    • Lewis-Palmer took two losses in Week 1 but we have our first “oh my!” as junior Jonathon Scott went for 46 points in the Rangers 91-65 thrashing of Frederick.
    • Golden finished the week and tournament 3-0 with a 72-58 win over D’evelyn as Ryan Thistlewood’s 31 points (21-24 free-throws) was enough to top our Fever favorite Grant Witherspoon’s 28 points in the loss.
    • Mesa Ridge squeezed out a one point win behind Tevin Still’s 17 points to top Coronado.
    • To close out our coverage for Week 1, Vista Peak’s five players in double figure scoring led by Dylan Holt’s 17 caught our eye! Vista took down No. 2 preseason-ranked Pueblo South 74-68 with this balanced team effort.

    Throw some of the preseason rankings right out the window as week one proved that, yes, this year may just be “wide open” in our big school prep hoops!

    [divider]

    A look ahead

    Golden Vista PEAK boys basketball
    (Kai Casey/CHSAANow.com)

    Here’s some of the nice match ups to keep an eye on this week:

    Monday (Dec. 8):

    • Boulder at George Washington
    • Greeley West at Aurora Central
    • Broomfield at Denver South
    • Monarch at Sierra

    Tuesday (Dec. 9):

    • If you are into speed check out Denver East at Cherokee Trail, a lot of friendly rivalries here!
    • Smoky Hill at ThunderRidge
    • D’Evelyn visits Rock Canyon
    • Highlands Ranch will be tested at Fossil Ridge
    • Grandview at Montbello
    • Pueblo East at Lewis-Palmer
    • Falcon at Pueblo Central down south

    Wednesday (Dec. 10):

    • Chatfield at Chaparral.
    • Cherry Creek returns undefeated from Las Vegas and heads to Denver East!
    • George Washington at Valor Christian

    Thursday (Dec. 11):

    • Horizon at Legend
    • Dakota Ridge at Doherty
    • Regis out-of-State at Westwood
    • Fossil Ridge heads south to Lewis-Palmer
    • Air Academy at Evergreen
    • Vista Peak at Pueblo Central (two teams looking to break into 4A top 10!)

    Friday (Dec. 12):

    • Will be a packed house when Chaparral visits Eaglecrest
    • Cherokee Trail at Highlands Ranch
    • Denver East travels to Utah for tourney play!
    • Overland looks to bounce back as they begin travel and tourney play as well

    Saturday (Dec. 13):

    • Chatfield at Lincoln
    • Lewis-Palmer at Liberty
    • Doherty at Sand Creek
    • Faith Christian traveling to Pueblo West

    Enjoy the Ball folks, easy to catch the Fever now that the season is here!

  • After move to 5A, Broomfield wrestling works to rebuild foundation

    (Kevin Keyser/KeyserImages.com)
    (Kevin Keyser/KeyserImages.com)

    [dropcap]W[/dropcap]hen Pat DeCamillis took over the powerhouse Broomfield High School wrestling program it didn’t take him long to find success.

    In year one with DeCamillis, the Eagles won the Class 4A state championship last February at the Pepsi Center in Denver.

    Broomfield defeated Thompson Valley 127.50 points to 120 points, thanks to senior state champions Phil Downing (160 pounds) and Zach Stodden (182). Fellow Eagle seniors Jarod Albo (152) and heavyweight Austyn Harris also took second for the Eagles.

    Downing actually became only the 17th wrestler in Colorado prep history to capture four state wrestling titles.

    This season, everything has changed for the Eagles. Not only did they move up to the Class 5A ranks, but they did so after losing six total wrestlers to graduation.

    “With the number of kids we lost to graduation it wouldn’t matter if we were 4A or 5A this year as far as working toward a championship,” DeCamillis said. “We are just trying to rebuild the foundation we have.”

    DeCamillis was a three-time state champ at Arvada from 1988-90. And he is no stranger to 5A. Prior to taking over Broomfield, he spent eight seasons as the head coach at 5A Pomona.

    Fueling the Broomfield charge this season will be senior Darek Huff.

    Huff was a state-runner at 126 pounds last season and is expected to remain at that weight class this year. Huff will be joined by three state qualifiers Brandon Tyson (113), Randall Baker (145) and Connor Ventura (160).

    “It’s not going to be an overnight fix,” DeCamillis said about getting his program back in contention to compete for a state title. “We have about 50 kids out for the program, so we have a lot of young kids, a lot of first timers. It has been a change of philosophy from teaching the elite to kind of having everybody come out and see what we have.”

    This is unfamiliar territory for Broomfield’s wrestling program. Broomfield has won four state wrestling team crowns in the last six years. The Eagles won state titles in 2009, 2010, 2013 and 2014.

    Since 2005, Broomfield finished no worse than fourth in the Class 4A state team standings.

    “I’m going to build from within, and coach the kids who I have in the room,” DeCamillis said. “I wouldn’t expect us to be battling Arvada West and Pomona this year or even next year, but we will be back battling once we kind of get our foundation. With that said, I don’t expect these kids (this season) to be out of the top 10. If we are not in the top 10, I will not consider it a failure, but certainly that we didn’t do our job as coaches.”

    Arvada West is the preseason choice to win the state 5A team title again. A year ago, Arvada West ran away from the competition with 179 points, followed by Pomona with 92 points.

    [divider]

    Wrestling preview

    • Regular season begins: Dec. 1, 2014
    • Regular season ends: Feb. 7, 2015
    • Championships: Feb. 19-21, Pepsi Center (Denver)

    [divider]

    Defending champions

    • 5A: Arvada West
    • 4A: Broomfield
    • 3A: Valley
    • 2A: Paonia