Category: Ball Fever

Well if we’ve learned anything so far this season, it’s that you’ve gotta bring it every night!

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A Look Back

Monday, Jan. 9

• Rock Canyon, now No. 6 in our poll, pulled out their usual defense and offense will only get better as transfer Tyson Gilbert scores 16 in win over Columbine.
• Nice stat line for J. Pfaffinger, who led the way for Fort Collins over Thompson Valley with 23 points, 5 rebounds, 3 assists.
• Junior Alfredo Chaucer helped Lincoln pull away from Prairie View with 19 points Monday. Not be out done, junior Kam Vincel had a “monsta” 30-point, 10-rebound double-double on 10-11 shooting in the loss. Impressive!
• Upset City! Denver East moved up to No. 3 in our poll this week and got 23 points from new addition Daylen Kountz, but seems they are still trying to figure things out as a new roster and got surprised by Lakewood, which beat them 90-77 in their visit to the Tigers territory! Speaking of figuring things out, Colorado Mesa-bound senior Kolton Peterson commented on Lakewood being one team when on the same page vs. when not: “We took it upon ourselves to stay together and bring it against East,” Peterson said in our Ball Fever midweek chat. The Tigers were disappointed severely after a bad loss to Chatfield last week. “We just played soft and were not engaged” against Chatfield Peterson added. “The loss Saturday (to Chatfield) was a wake up call for us. We are two completely different teams when we play together.”

Tuesday, Jan. 10

• Heritage took care of business beating Northglenn by more than 30 and Jeff Tucker took in the action.
• Junior Tyler McGinnis scored 17 and Windsor earned a road victory at Skyline by 7 points.
• Luke Johnson led the way for Longmont scoring 19 points in home league win over Niwot. Thomas Bounds, a sophomore, scored 19 as well in the loss.
• Mountain Range received its first votes in our 5A poll this week but Fairview was having none of it with senior Sam Grad scoring 15 points as the Knights held on for the tight 2 point win.
• Monarch jumped out 21-4 and never looked back winning big 73-47 over Horizon. Monarch is starting to get it under Coach Brenning!
• Loveland held a scoring Sabercats offense to only 17 second half points but it wasn’t enough to complete the comeback as Fossil Ridge held on for the low 47-42 win.
• Senior Sam Foster was “cookin,” scoring 28 points for Broomfield in 15 point over Poudre.
• “Cookin” in scoring out west was Boulder’s Luke Wilson scoring 29 big ones as the Panthers beat Legacy 60-55.
• Errrrrrybody got in the act when FNE Montbello put up 96 points in blowout of Thornton. Senior Aaris Bonds scored 19 to lead.
• Sierra, just outside of our 4A top 10, gave up ONLY 4 points to Woodland Park in the first half and cruised to the win.
• A couple new additions to the Regis roster but they found Aurora sledding no easier beating Hinkley 60-52.
• A rare off shooting night for Brevin Brimble but he still scored 19 leading No. 9 Doherty to win over Pine Creek.
• No surprise in the Fever camp to see Matt Johnson Jr. heat up and he did just that scoring 31 points but the Trailblazers won 71-66 over Rangeview in the A-Town showdown.
• No. 6 Mead got 23 points from Michael Ward beating Frederick by 21.
• The Huskies went into Lincoln and got a solid road win for the Douglas County program 80-70.
• No. 9 Holy Family played everyone in blow out of Berthoud and soph Kyle Helbig scored 13.
• The Chaparral young guns didn’t have enough as they faced a George Washington squad that wasn’t happy after losing the No. 1 spot and falling one spot. The Patriots put up 92 in the nonleague home game.

Wednesday, Jan. 11

• Chatfield raced to 19 wins in Jeffco and Dennis Pleuss caught their thumping of foe Arvada West.
• 4A top-10! Pueblo South, now No. 10 in 4A, won a serious road victory at No. 4 Vista Peak. The Colts just battle and can grind out wins, folks! Katie Pickrell caught photos.
• Sand Creek, now No. 3 4A, jumped out 16-9 on Discovery Canyon and didn’t look back winning by 20.
• After a disappointing start to tough Centennial League play, Smoky Hill has two nice wins in a row, this time taking down Overland 68-63.
• Cherry Creek breaks into our 5A poll at No. 7 this week and our Fever crew loves the fact they have different players stepping up each time out. Senior Rashon Johnson scored 19 in the win over Mullen this night. Jack Eberhard has photos.
• Mountain Vista 65-52 over Fairview in nonleague action!
• Lewis-Palmer and Falcon were “runnin & gunnin” in this one. The Rangers win 90-80.
• No. 5 Eaglecrest rode their star’s 23 points and Colbey Ross led the squad to another league win at Arapahoe.
• 4A top-10 bout folks!! D’Evelyn had to cherish this one knocking off No. 1 Valor 70-60. Valor just became No. 1 and may lose that spot and D’Evelyn looking to move up!
• No let down for Lakewood after their HUGE upset of Denver East as senior Kolton Peterson scored 23 points (six 3-pointers!) beating Columbine by 17.

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Midweek Thoughts

Oh folks, we have to show up and play EVERY night. Early in this week we’ve seen our top 5A and 4A squads already lose and we expect that to continue.

No clear cut favorites as we are finding out more about teams like D’Evelyn, and Lakewood beating what we thought was an East squad coming into power speaks volumes.

Our midweek Ball Fever chat with Kolton Peterson of Lakewood brought the word “together” to the table a few times. Teams are getting bolstered with transfers and new additions but that may not gel as easily as expected!

Regis brought on new players midseason this week but only mustered an eight-point win over Hinkley, at home, which was expected to be a coming out party.

The Fever crew keeps a theory that our best ball is not played in weeks 5 and 6 just after the holidays and winter break. This week showed a bit of that, but trust that rosters will be tweaked, talent will rise, and we are in store for some awesome league play setting up tourney play!

Stay tuned …

As if we needed more fireworks in our 2016-17 hoops season, the first week of 2017 provided just that!

How? Our Class 5A and 4A No. 1 squads both took tough losses, teams have been strengthened by mid-season additions, and eye-popping individual performances continue to rule the day.

Speaking of “eye-popping” performances, this week’s Ball Fever “Chat” caught up with a young man, Daylen Kountz, of Denver East who will provide many jaw dropping plays over the next couple years.

Let’s get to this first week of 2017 that offered heated league play setting the stage for what’s to come!

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A Look Back

Monday, Jan. 2

• That sound you heard coming from down south? That was D’Shawn Schwartz starting the year off with a 43-point BANG! Dan Morhmann was on the spot with photos as well.
• A different team won each quarter which was not surprising as these squads looked evenly matched in Rangeview’s impressive win over Arapahoe 63-57.

Tuesday, Jan. 3

• Speaking of starting the year off hot: Dennis Pleuss is all over the 5A top-10 match-up where Chatfield charged to a 25-3 lead over Doherty.
• Heritage held Fairview to seven points or fewer in three of the four quarters leading to a 52-43 defensive win.
• 33, 7, & 5!! Jalen Sanders was straight “stat-stuffin” in Valor’s 2017 debut and Matt Mathewes was on the scene.
• Niwot senior Adam Barber was hot shooting 10-13 from the field scoring 23 points in the 63-48 victory for Niwot over Greeley Central.
• The Action Shots from Jack Eberhard caught Sam Bannec’s 27 points in Regis’ home win over Lincoln.
• Junior Tyler McGinnis scored 15 as Windsor came out the gate strong with 59-38 win over Frederick.
• Legacy’s youth looks strong as junior Caden Sehr led scoring with 18 points along with soph Jack Olson’s 12-point, 10-rebound double-double in win over Horizon.
• Fort Collins and the FNE (Montbello) Warriors are two squads who can cause fits and the Lambkins pulled of the 55-50 win in this tale of two halves. The “Bellos” were up 28-22 at the half but J. Pfaffinger’s 16 points helped Fort Collins complete the comeback.
• Corey Seng brought his hot streak right on into 2017, scoring 23 at Overland leading No. 3 ThunderRidge to a win in a week they will also visit No. 1 George Washington.
• Sophomore Kyle Helbig’s 14 points leads No. 7 Holy Family to the win over Skyline.

Wednesday, Jan. 4

• Top-10 4A ALERT! Dan Mohrmann was on the scene as Sand Creek got “three-point happy” vs. Lewis Palmer to open league play.
• Big man Jake Belknapp came out strong 2017 scoring 23 points and pulling down 8 rebounds in Mountain Vista’s 8-point win at Boulder.
• Our first “monsta” double-double of the year didn’t take long as Grandview’s big man Gage Prim scored 31 points and had 12 rebounds in the Wolves first conference win over young Smoky Hill. The Wolves are hot but unfortunately their stud-point guard suffered an injury in this one.
• “Action Shots” Jack Eberhard caught the Bruins first league win as Dimitri Stanley scored 18 for Cherry Creek in win over Cherokee Trail.
• Eaglecrest is a senior-led squad and Colbey Ross went into Overland and scored 20 points to lead the Raptors to first league win.
• Watch out for sophomore Connor Jones! Mountain Range putting folks on notice early 2017 as they are on a nice run and on this night upset 5A No. 2 Rock Canyon 52-50. Jones led all scorers with 17 in the upset.
• Vista Ridge starts league play getting defensive holding Falcon to 7 total points in the second and third quarters while Hunter Maldonado led the scoring with 20.
• The shooting duo of Connor Nelson and Tucker Cargile poured in 22 and 19 points respectively as Denver South won an overtime shootout at Castle View!

Thursday, Jan. 5

• Golden enters 2017 as our No. 3 4A squad and won by 17 over Wheat Ridge.
• Chatfield doesn’t just “rip n run” offensively … they can lock down with pressure on defense as well holding Pomona to 53 while scoring a blazing 92!
• No. 4 Valor’s two big guns Jalen Sanders and Kayle Knuckles both scored over 20 points as the Eagles took down Green Mountain leading up to their top 5 showdown vs. Golden on Saturday.
• No. 9 D’Evelyn got 27 big ones from CJ Olson in a win over Evergreen and Katie Pickrell has the photos!

Friday, Jan. 6

• The Fever Crew was having a little fun on Twitter reminding folks, “You got Seng’d” when ThunderRidge’s Corey Seng poured in the points. No team felt Seng’s sting like No. 1 George Washington as the Grizzlies were fearless coming into the city for the upset covered by our digital guru Ryan Casey.
• The long awaited arrival of 2018 star Daylen Kountz sporting the Angels red and white was NO DISAPPOINTMENT as the junior led Denver East to a tough road win over fiesty Chaparral scoring 31 points, pulling down 8 rebounds, and 6 assists. This lefty is for real folks! We were able to catch up with Kountz for our Ball Fever “Chat” this weekend and the junior is cool and composed off the court as he is on! Regarding his long awaited return, “It was great to be on the court with my team. Finally able to have all our weapons playing together,” said Kountz. He was not the only to play his first game for the Angels and only time will tell how good this team can be with new additions. “We have high expectations for this team … I’m also excited because we have a big team with a lot of threats so we can create a lot of issues for teams trying to match up with us,” Kountz added. This Angels star will shine bright if this stellar first performance in any sign!
• When you pick a squad as your Ball Fever 5A favorite you better see them often! The Fever Crew made it out to the Eaglecrest gym on this night as they led Mullen from beginning to end. We have stated before the belief that this Raptor squad is much deeper than folks think and the 13 players in the stat sheet on this night speaks to that. Colbey Ross and crew cruised on this night … looking forward to seeing them against tougher Centennial competition.
• Monarch was in search of a signature win and got just that. Fossil Ridge’s Braxton Bertolette scored 22 points but not enough as the Coyotes finished strong to win by 4!
• No. 7 Grandview came in undefeated and as hot as any squad but the Warriors are hard to beat in Sitting Eagle Gym where Arap pulled off the upset.
• Rock Canyon couldn’t suffer another loss after the surprise to Mountain Range but the young Rangeview Raiders almost pulled it off leading stretches of the game in the Jags house but steady Sam Masten paced the Jags with 30 points in the overtime win, including 16-18 from free throw line. Senior-point guard Matt Johnson Jr. scored 16 and sophomore Jodaun Dotson 12 for the Raiders in the overtime effort.
• Many have been waiting for a Rampart “explosion” and Dan Morhmann caught it vs. Fruita Monument.
• When you have eight contributing seniors you can do some damage in high school ball. Cherry Creek has rode their senior led crew to a 10-1 record to start the season and Jalen Meeks 23 points led them this night to 10-point win over Overland in league play.
• We see you up there Michael Ward! The Mead senior scored 32 to lead No. 6 Mead to win over Erie on the road in league start.
• University of Wyoming loves to see commit Hunter Maldonado’s BIG TIME “stat-stuffin”: 32 points, 7 rebounds, 4 assists, and 5 steals in Vista Ridge win over Lewis Palmer.
• Twelve players hit the scoring column as No. 7 Holy Family shut down Frederich. Cameron Miller with 12 in the balanced effort!
• Denver South gets another nice win this week by 3 over Heritage. Connor Nelson and Courtney Dean were in double figure scoring.
• Durango is earning votes in our 4A poll and has started this season hot. K Kilpatrick led with 17 points on this night over Montezuma-Cortez.
• Smoky Hill jumped into our top-10 but ran into a buzz saw named Gage Prim early in the week. They impressively bounce back to beat Cherokee Trail on the road who was without their star Jaizec Lottie. Even with Lottie missing this is a big win for the Buffaloes as road wins in Centennial are tough!
• 4A No. 1 Pueblo West continues to roll with 62-57 tournament win over Fruita Monument.

Saturday, Jan. 7

• Chatfield continues its “Jeffco dominance” and Dennis Pleuss is all over it.
• Valor is out for league “revenge” and Dennis Pleuss covers this portion of the revenge tour.
• Rampart got 23 points, 6 rebounds from Jackson Erhlin in their convincing win over Fruita Monument by 19.
• Monarch used a strong 11-point third quarter advantage to string a couple wins together and beat Gateway 75-67 at home.
• Junior Garrett Martin scored 28 points but wasn’t enough to help Standley Lake get the win vs. Green Mountain losing by 15 in the league game.
• FRESHMAN ALERT: As noted earlier, this young Chaparral team was a game opponent vs. power Denver East this week and they finished with a win over Hinkley with a freshman leading the way as Kobe Sanders scored 19 points!
• D’Evelyn finished a strong week blowing out Wheat Ridge 73-47 in the league game. Senior Jason Gardner scored 19 in this one.
• Fossil Ridge sharp shooter Braxton Bertolette dropped 33 big ones but not enough as the Sabercats lost to Highlands Ranch by 2. Impressive win for the Falcons who are playing without stud senior-point guard McKale Williams due to injury.
• Our 4A No. 1 Pueblo West has suffered their first loss to Rampart. The Rams have been looking for that signature win and Dawson Carper’s 21 points was a big part of the Cyclones first loss.
• Everyone got in the scoring column as No. 6 Doherty got back on track and ran away from Coronado to close the first week of 2017!

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A Look Ahead

Monday, Jan. 9

• Denver East continues to fine tune roster at Lakewood.
• Rock Canyon vs. Columbine is nice as well!

Tuesday, Jan. 10

• Monarch continues to turn the corner vs. Horizon.
• Mountain Range impressive of late must pass Fairview test.
• Expect Denver South to roll at A Central.
• Mead and Frederick say “hello” again.
• Overland and Rangeview with some A-Town Pride on the line!
• ThunderRidge takes their roll to Palmer.
• Chaparral’s young guns will give George Washington fits!

Wednesday, Jan. 11

• Chatfield will continue to defend and run vs. Arvada West.
• Cherry Creek continues its streak vs. Mullen.
• Smoky Hill looking to make Centennial step vs. Overland.
• Pueblo South and Vista Peak in 4A!
• Top-10 4A! D’Evelyn and Valor.
• Will Duhart or Lottie return for Grandview/Cherokee Trail?
• Centennial tough Arapahoe and Eaglecrest!

Thursday, Jan. 12

• Pueblo East and Denver South! 4A renewed…
• A. Central at Lincoln.
• Prairie View and Northglenn.

Friday, Jan. 13

• Mountain Range vs. Boulder.
• Legacy, quietly 8-2, faces Monarch.
• Rangeview vs. GW!
• Sand Creek and Falcon down south.
• Mountain Vista and Chap in early Continental!
• It’s big already in Eaglecrest/Grandview.
• Valor looks to roll vs. Wheat Ridge.

Saturday, Jan. 14

• Northridge and Vista Peak rekindle!
• Holy Family & Denver South.
• Longmont vs. Mead.
• ThunderRidge and Regis!

Plenty of hoops to choose from folks … see you at a gym soon!

December HS hoops should be about traditional non-league challenges and taking on new foes to inspire and prepare your team for the long season ahead.

This week was the definition of exciting non-league action — and how about ELEVEN Colorado teams heading to Las Vegas and California to face top national competition. Ten of those teams traveled to the increasingly popular “Tarkanian Classic” in Las Vegas and full results can be seen here

Great to see our big school 5A/4A teams taking on the challenge in and out of state!

In this week’s No. BallFeverChat we caught up with top 2017 Colorado guards, the “leader” Matt Johnson Jr. (Rangeview) and “sharp shooting” Kolton Peterson (Lakewood).

Catch our mid-week roundup here.

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A Look Back

Thursday, Dec. 15

• Seniors stepping up for Boulder as Peter Chopra scored 14 along with Luke Wilson’s 12 in Boulder’s road win at Aurora Central.
• Pueblo County’s Jake Wilson scored 22 and his squad held Air Academy to 9 fourth quarter points to complete the comeback win.
• Tye Thompson put in 22 and sophomore Dee Dennis 10 in a “private” battle between Colorado Academy and Mullen but it wasn’t enough for CA as Mullen won the battle of the Mustangs by 20!
• Tournament Action: Pomona loses by 12 to Wyoming South.
• Senior Michael Ward scores 24 in Mead’s blowout of Grand Junction Central.
• Stud point guard Brevin Brimble has No. 9 Doherty playing well and they got defensive vs. Mountain Vista!
• Niyeme Smyer-Williams was a critical part of No. 1 Pueblo West’s run to the title last season and he dropped 20 along with David Simental’s 17 in West’s route of Palmer.
• Matt Matthewes was in the house as Highlands Ranch got a needed win over Broomfield.
• Lewis-Palmer is now No. 10 in 4A, and A Batitstelli led the Rangers balanced 54-47 win over Pueblo South with 14 points.
• Monarch got their second win of the season 60-48 over Fountain-Fort Carson in tourney play.
• Goodness! Our Fever crew has talked about the way Chatfield can get up and down the court but 94-67 over Fossil Ridge is eye catching for the new 5A No. 10 squad.
• We heard a lot of preseason chatter about this Rampart squad but saw nothing early showing dominance … until now! Senior C Roberson led four players in double figure scoring in the 93-59 blowout of Denver South.
• Adam Thistlewood scored 24 for No. 3 Golden in Rocky Mountain Classic tourney win over Cheyenne Wyoming East.

Friday, Dec. 16

• Top-10 Alert!! Highly anticipated game as No. 9 Sierra and No. 6 Sand Creek got it on down south and Dan Mohrmann was all over the star power.
• Cherry Creek has been playing strong ball early and earned a tight 66-64 win over Rangeview on Friday. Senior Jalen Meeks led the Bruins with 24 points in the win. Speaking of “leadership” our Fever Crew got to spend spring/summer 2016 with Rangeview’s senior leader Matt Johnson Jr. (27 points vs. C Creek) in Chicago, Las Vegas and major tourney venues. We had no doubt that Matt’s spring/summer would roll right into high school ball with numerous RMAC schools recruiting him as well as Ivy League Cornell showing interest due to Johnson’s 4.3 GPA. Johnson notes that, “We have a very young team and my role as a leader has changed a lot this year. We are still in the learning process and I have to be more of teacher/leader for the squad.” Matt Jr. realizes the season is a process stating, “We’ve had some tough losses to good teams but continue to stay positive and learn from our mistakes. We will come back stronger every game!” Johnson’s quiet confidence has a way of simply making you a believer in what he says! The Raiders have an impressive young man leading the way.
• Winning in Regis’ house is no easy feat but that’s exactly what Kolton Peterson and the Lakewood Tigers pulled off Friday night!
• In this week’s “Ball Fever Chat,” Peterson was quick to point out Lakewood’s two losses came at the buzzer to tough teams stating, “We lost to CT, who was No. 4 at the time, on a FT tip-in … and lost to No. 4 Thunderridge in OT at the buzzer.” Kolton feels these losses can be a blessing in disguise saying, “This keeps us humble, and makes us want to play even harder.” Peterson notes that this squad is full of players who have played together for years and the chemistry is starting to pay off. Peterson feels the 5-2 start and tough schedule “proves we can play with anyone” and continually credited his teammates and coaches for his personal success averaging 18 points per game. Kolton’s team/coaches believe in Peterson, which leads to his confidence on the floor. Opposing coaches will always plan to play Peterson “tight” and as teams start to focus their defense on him he sees teammates stepping up big, making opponents pay! Kolton has committed early to Colorado Mesa in Grand Junction after choosing the Mavericks over Fort Lewis and Asuza Pacific. The RMAC has a good one coming their way!
• Strong senior Aaris Bonds 16 points, 6 rebounds led FNE (Montbello) Warriors to lopsided win over Westminster.
• Sam Masten was at it again scoring 28 in No. 2 Rock Canyon’s eleven point win over Dakota Ridge.

A number of squads were competing in the Tarkanian Classic on Friday:

• Valor loses its first game in Las Vegas to Roosevelt out of California by 11. The Eagles are competing in the top level of Tarkanian tourney comp.
• Chaparral cruised to easy win over Agassi Prep in their first tourney game in Vegas.
• No. 1 George Washington beats Redondo, Calif., 68-61!
• Colbey Ross’ 19 points helped Eaglecrest coast to easy win over Durango, Nev.
• Gage Prim and Lechaun Duhart both in double figures as Grandview blows out Spring Valley in their bracket.
• Iseri Palacio with 19 in Fort Collins 20 point win over Putnam, Ore.
• Overland loses a close one by 3 to American Fork, Utah.
• No. 4 Thunderridge wasn’t messing around beating Bountiful Utah by 29!
• Denver East ran into one of the most talented squads in the nation, Bishop Gorman of Las Vegas, and were throttled 76-40.

Saturday, Dec. 17

• The frigid winter conditions hampered some of our local action but didn’t stop No. 2 Valor from handling Cathedral Catholic by 23 on the road.
• Mead finished off the Pueblo East “Coaches Classic” with 23 point win over Pueblo County.
• ThunderRidge got another Vegas win over Faith Lutheran by 12!
• Good to see Denver East bounce back after their ugly loss to Gorman and win 72-67 over Florida’s Windemere Prep in Vegas.
• Not fair as Grandview rolls 62-26 over Layton Christian Academy in tourney play.
• Liberty shut down a strong Vista Ridge by a surprising 24 points with senior Matthew Kirk scoring 20.
• Those young Buffaloes did it again! Smoky Hill makes a comeback on Rangeview to end their week with a win.
• Our coverage ends with No. 1 George Washington handling one of Utah’s top squads Timpview 92-74. The Fugget brothers were at it again: Jon’il scoring 27 and Calvin 18. Explosive Jervae Green poured in 26 points as well!

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Last Week Thoughts

Absolutely love the early competition and aggressive schedules our big school top squads are taking. Hearing a lot of chatter about the soon to be released RPI standings leading to teams “loading up” strong opponents in December non-league play. Hey, if RPI brings us this type of scheduling, that’s a good thing!

Pueblo West and Valor continue to look like the cream of the crop in 4A but D’Shawn Schwartz of Sand Creek and Sierra’s CJ Jennings battle showed their respective squads will be hard to take down.

George Washington continues to roll in and out of state! The Fugget brothers, bit Tray Pierce “rim protecting” on the inside, and dynamic Jervay Green on the win is vicious combo.

Feels weird to say this, but Denver East’s 30-point plus loss to beast Bishop Gorman almost makes them a must see when they return to Colorado. They were quickly rising and many want to know did they run into an all-star giant in Gorman or were we giving the Angels too much credit?

Eaglecrest, Rock Canyon, and ThunderRidge almost quietly did their work this week but round out our state’s top 5 of teams not far behind the No. 1 Patriots!

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A Look Ahead

Monday, Dec. 19

• Denver East early vs. Bingham, Utah in tourney play.
• ThunderRidge vs. Las Vegas.
• Unbeaten Pine Creek meets Legend.
• Grandview is 7-0 folks and continues tourney play!
• Valor in Vegas vs. Clark, Nevada.
• Smoky Hill took down Utah’s No. 1 squad Lone Peak and now our No. 1 GW gets their shot in Vegas!

Tuesday, Dec. 20

• The annual Arapahoe/Heritage neighborhood brawl!
• Vista PEAK puts undefeated record on the line vs. Palmer Ridge.
• Mead vs. Roosevelt.
• Rocky Mountain vs. Smoky Hill.
• Regis vs. Doherty will be back and forth!

Wednesday, Dec. 21

• No. 1 Pueblo West vs. always-tough Windsor!
• Pueblo South vs. Holy Family.
• Mullen vs. Paxton.
• Dakota Ridge vs. Denver South who will be looking to show 5A what’s up!

Thursday, Dec. 22

• Hold on Gateway…the Chargers from Chatfield are coming!
• Pueblo South/Windsor.
• Top-5 Alert! Pueblo West vs. Holy Family.
• George Washington, the state’s best right now, look to run away from Hinkley!
• Regis vs. Fort Collins.
• Arvada West vs. FNE (Montbello) Warriors.
• Very nice 5A/4A battle in Vista PEAK veterans vs. Smoky Hill youth.

Friday, Dec. 23

• Bear Creek vs. Arapahoe.
• Very nice “present” to end the week and 2016 with Thunderridge matched vs. Cherokee Trail.

It’s freezing outside, but our big-school hoops are in no way cooling off! Enjoy folks …

Our new rankings are out, folks, and it reflects the tremendous starts teams like George Washington, Denver East, Smoky Hill, Pueblo West, and Vista PEAK are having (just to name a few).

As exciting as the action was out-of-state and locally last week this one is shaping up to be just as tremendous with monster early-season matchups.

Let’s take a look at the big games and see if we can’t find a few gems that may normally go overlooked.

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A Look Back

Monday, Dec. 12

• Our 4A No. 2 squad, already senior-heavy with Jalen Sanders and Kayle Knuckles leading scoring, just got better and state champ quarterback Dylan McCaffrey just joined the hoop squad. He started off with 10 points, 5 rebounds, and 2 steals in Valor’s win over Thomas Jefferson.
• We don’t scour the 3A action much but there’s a player at Manual HS demanding attention! Jayden Bowles again displayed why he’s one of the most talented sophomores in the state regardless of division scoring 33 points in the Thunderbolts close 77-73 win over Pinnacle. Bowles was an amazing 14 of 15 from the field and hauled in 11 rebounds for the double-double!
• Mountain Range used a 20-3 second quarter advantage after starting down 9 to Horizon to seal the win behind Max Castillo and Mike Polson’s 15 points each.
• Palmer has a brutal early schedule and the Terrors got in the win column over Castle View with sophomore Darien Meyers scoring 17!
• Luke Wilson’s 21 points helped a feisty Boulder squad to a 1 point half time lead but an Eaglecrest team with something to prove after dropping to No. 5 in our poll, pulled out this 61-51 victory. A 23-13 fourth quarter did the trick for the Raptors!

Tuesday, Dec. 13

• There hasn’t been a Tuesday this action-packed (especially this early) in a few years and there was no larger match than No. 1 George Washington hosting quickly rising Smoky Hil,l who has jumped into the top-10 at No. 8 after their impressive road trip and start to season. Dan Morhmann was our man on the scene as the Patriots “raced” to the huge home win.
• We were joking on twitter that if the Grandview Wolves pop up on your schedule: be sure to have a point guard and big man to match what the Wolves have! Rampart, with all of it’s size in starting five, found out that is easier said than done as Gage Prim was again workman-like, scoring 15 points. Bt the man of the night was Lechaun Duhart who poured in a season high 33 points!
• Montbello’s FNE Warriors have been playing good ball early but this night they ran into the “run-n-gun” pressure defense of No. 10 Chatfield and Dennis Pleuss has you fully covered.
• Senior point guard Brevin Brimble was cookin’ early as he went 7-10 from the field scoring 20 in only three quarters of play as the No. 9 Spartans took down Dakota Ridge by 19 points. We were able to catch up with the senior for a bit of a Ball Fever Chat and Brevin credited the team’s “family feel” to their offseason work, stating, “We’ve been working hard ever since we lost in the Elite 8 last year. We’ve become more of a family … closer as team.” With teams like Mountain Vista and Regis coming up for the 4-1 Spartans, Brimble embraces it: “Having a tough schedule is great!” He hopes the tough schedule proves just what a special team the Spartans have this season. He feels the brutal non-league schedule will “help us prepare for March when it’s time to compete for a ring.” With senior leadership like Brimble there’s no reason the Spartans shouldn’t visit the coliseum again!
• Jack Eberhard has your action shots from the streaking Cherry Creek Bruins 19-point win over Monarch.
• The Vista Ridge duo of Hunter Maldonado (29 points) and Noah Beatty (16 points) again proving to be one of the best tandems in the state as Vista Ridge blows out 5A Loveland. Vista Ridge will be a 4A terror late season! The Fever Crew was alerted to take to Twitter for this unbelievable dunk by Wyoming-bound Maldonado:
  

  ?? HUNTER BE FLYING??

  VideoCreds:@WillHaywood22 Dunker:@therealhunter24 pic.twitter.com/tZdI61BEzT

  — Mr. Nice Guy? (@TeQuanBaker) December 14, 2016

• No Surprise Mountain Vista and Fossil Ridge raced to a 77-67 final score as both teams can get up and down! Seniors stars showed up as Braxton Bartolette scored 28 but not enough as Jake Belknapp’s 26 helped Vista secure the win.
• J Pfaffinger led four Lambkins in double figure scoring when Fort Collins only allowed 34 total points to Aurora Central at Fort Collins.
• Boy, Vista PEAK again looks balanced with four starters scoring 14 points or more. The Bison are undefeated and passed another early test beating Lewis-Palmer by 5 at home.
• Sand Creek dropped from No. 3 to No. 6 in our 4A poll after suffering their first loss last week and they took it ALL out on Ponderosa in a blow out Tuesday!
• Rock Canyon remains No. 2 in this week’s poll and they again held court vs. tough Overland 55-47 with junior star Sam Masten scoring 20.
• Three seniors score 14 points each as Heritage shuts down Littleton 69-35.
• The Grizzlies remained undefeated and held onto their 5A No. 4 spot in our latest poll. They welcomed a Lakewood team that can score with anyone on Tuesday going to overtime. ThunderRidge needed Corey Seng’s last-second heroics as he drove for a game winning drive to seal it as part of his 23 points.
• Top 10 4A match up and it looked to be the slug fest we expected as No. 5 Holy Family used a 15-8 fourth quarter comeback to beat No. 9 Sierra by 5 down in the Springs. KKTV did catch this sweet throw downby star CJ Jennigs who led Sierra in the loss.
• Mitch Sundel scored 20 as Thompson Valley upset No. 8 D’Evelyn by 2!
• Cherokee Trail moved up a spot to No. 6 this week and were tested immediately by Legend but pulled off the 46-42 win with Jaizec Lottie scoring 16.
• Back-and-forth the entire way in this one as Chaparral had a new sophomore, Joe Dalton (20 points), lead the way as they pull off a big win over strong Arapahoe 68-63 at home.

Wednesday, Dec. 14

• Junior Kirk Relford scored a game high 17 as Windsor were not kind guests to 5A visitor Gateway winning 55-47.
• Had the opportunity to spend good time Prairie View senior Trey Marble last spring and this quality young man put up 26 points carrying the load but the Thunderhawks went down to Mountain Range 77-55.
• Wheat Ridge traveled south to tangle with Harrison but came up short 65-62 while Quinzel Harding scored 18.
• Ashton Rogers shot 50% from the field scoring 24 points to lead Coronado to victory over Air Academy.
• After a strong showing at Eaglecrest Monday, Boulder bounced back with a win at Aurora Central 53-46 as Peter Chopra scored 14.

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Midweek Thoughts

George Washington has certainly made a statement that the Patriots are back! They fully earned the No. 1 spot with early play and solidified that with impressive win over Smoky Hill adding to the resume.

Intrigued to see Sand Creek in 4A. The Scorpions took a surprising loss last week but came back with a vengeance as previously noted. Couldn’t keep up with Tuesday’s overall action across the state and it makes us hungry for more!

Stay tuned …

We covered the early tourney play heating on Thursday and now it’s time to take a look at how the tourney finals along with non league action closed out!

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The Look Back

Thursday, Dec. 8

• How do you top beating 5A No. 1 Eaglecrest in Colorado? How about taking the Rock Canyon show on the road and beating Brackenridge, Texas 79-56! Many people will be asking, “Who’s that No. 5 for the Jags?” … and that question was truly relevant in Texas when Sam Masten scored 42 points in a mystery jersey while luggage was at the airport! Cool story for the ages. We got to chat with junior star Masten and he simply said beating Eaglecrest, a 5-0 week, and scoring 42 “was simply a week I’ll remember for a long time!” Sam’s a man of few words and we have the feeling he knows there’s still work to be done despite this blazing start.
• Our 4A No. 3 Sand Creek is led by star D’Shawn Schwartz which has been documented but fellow seniors David Jabedo and Jeffrey Gary scored 18 and 25 points respectively proving this is not a one man show! Four-point win over Widefield in tourney play.
• Five contributing seniors is going to make this Vista PEAK team a tough out in 4A play. A 12-point tourney win over Coronado with Dylan Holt scoring a steady 11 points.
• Monarch oh-so-close to getting over the hump as junior Tyler Trinh poured in 25 points but not enough to stop Pine Creek in overtime with Q Gutierrez scoring 27 in the win.
• Noah Beatty is as steady as they come in senior-point guards scoring 16 points, grabbing 6 rebounds, 3 assists, 2 steals for Vista Ridge while running mate Hunter Maldonado, who was covered this week, scored 27 in win over Fountain Fort Carson.
• Chaparral has a ton of young talent and four sophomores led the way topped with Ronnie DeGray Jr.’s 24 points as the Wolverines ran away from Grand Junction.
• A 17-5 fourth quarter advantage to pull an 11-point win feels good for Evergreen!
• Boulder Panther senior Luke Wilson put 23 points but not enough to hold court vs. the racing Chatfield Chargers who won by 12.
• Dennis Pleuss covered a cool b-day win where Green Mountain got defensive, as well, only giving up 36!
• Regis Raiders are on the road as well in California and came up short to St Patrick-St Vincent despite Sam Bannec’s 19 points.
• The Far Northeast (Montbello) Warriors have a special senior play maker who we believe has the ability to play at the next level and Dan Morhmann caught Aaris Bonds skills on display has he hit the game winner vs. Rampart

Friday, Dec. 9

• Balanced and tough is one way to describe Rock Canyon and with four players in double figures the Jags went 2-0 in Texas beating McArthur by 4 jumping out in the first quarter 14-6.
• Senior Connor Hobbs scored 23 on the west coast visit helping Regis get on track with a 14-point tourney win over Serra (CA).
• Junior Noah Martinez was a hot 8-11 from the field as Falcon beat Mitchell by 14.
• Score Keeper Alert!! Pueblo Centennial kept the table working running up 105 points as a team vs. Moffat County. Senior R. Vaughn led all with 26 points.
• Rivalry game … but a 23-5 second quarter advantage along with Sierra’s CJ Jennings 24 points took down Palmer.
• Seniors Jalen Sanders and Kaylen Knuckles both scored in the 20’s as No. 3 Valor left no doubt in blowout of Grand Junction.
• Broomfield was tough throughout the Fairview Festival and beat the host in the third place game 61-56.
• With a stud-point guard and stud big man inside you can get a lot done on a high school court. That is exactly the foundation for Grandview this year as Lechaun Duhart runs the show and fellow senior Gage Prim takes care of the paint. Both scored in double figures as the Wolves won the A-Town battle vs. Rangeview.
• Looking for a possible new No. 1 to give Rock Canyon competition? Look no further than the GW Patriots, who have a win over the Jags and packed the house Friday night vs. defending champ Overland. Jervay Green stole the show on this night and was the buzz all over Twitter with this electrifying dunk that was part of his game-high 18 points.
• Golden held Conifer to a 4-point first quarter and Dennis Pleuss was all over the rivalry contest.
• Senior vs. Sophomore action! Ronnie DeGray III was back and forth vs. the veteran-point guard Brevin Brimble and DeGray’s 26 points wasn’t enough as Doherty locked down in the fourth quarter for the win.
• Charles Dinegar 8-11 with 20 points as 4A No. 8 D’Evelyn finished strong beating Fort Morgan.
• Not a shootout by any means but these two teams who will get some upsets battled to a 42-35 football score as ThunderRidge edged Cherry Creek in tourney play with Corey Seng scoring 18.
• Our Fever Crew has mentioned we love Jaize Lottie’s leadership and ability to get in the paint making the Cougars our sleeper to advance late in the season and Friday night Tim Visser caught him “stat-stuffin” again as Deon Barfield sealed it with the last-second tip.
• Centennial League, and all of 5A for that matter, please take notice of young Smoky Hill coming your way! The Buffaloes also traveled this week for out of state competition and took down the No. 1 team in Utah perennial power Lone Peak 68-64. Way to rep on the road Smoky Hill! The Buffs will climb the 5A rankings quickly.
• The late night treat on Friday was the Fairview Festival title game where DPL rivals East and South battled. Big 7-foot-2 sophomore Asane Diouf had a bit of a coming out party controlling the paint with 21 points and 10 rebounds leading the Angels to the tourney championship 72-57. Kwane Marble, the Angels’ leading scorer this season as a sophomore, also added 15. Although Marble is handling heavy scoring duty he credits defense saying, “We didn’t like the way last season ended so we push hard everyday in practice. We work hard on defense, put a lot of effort in on defense because that’s what it will take to keep going undefeated.” For the Rebels, sharp shooting senior Tucker Cargile scored 15 points in the loss.

Saturday, Dec. 10

• The Bison are hot! Vista PEAK now has two tournament championships under their belt in the early season and convincingly beat Manual with seniors Dylan Holt and Marquise Johnson both scoring 16.
• Tim Visser was our man on the scene as Jalen Sanders led four Eagles in double digit scoring with 23 points, 10 rebounds in No. 2 Valor’s win over Rocky Mountian.
• Mesa Ridge has been putting up some major points and this time it was 95-44 over Palisade!
• The Angels continue to impress early following up the Fairview title game with a throttling of Hinkley 77-36. Smooth sophomore Kwane Marble led once again with 22 points. Our Fever Crew caught up with Marble and were impressed by his mature approach to the game and leading as a sophomore. Marble stated, “It feels good to be the leading scorer as a sophomore but my team pushes me as hard as they can … on and off the floor. On the floor they get me the ball where they know I will succeed.” Up next for the Angels is a trip to Las Vegas for a tourney at hoops landmark Bishop Gorman High School. “We are extremely excited for our trip to Vegas,” Marble said. “We will play as hard as we can because we have something to prove and want to represent for Colorado.” He noted that the team hasn’t reached it’s peak.
• Warrior defense kicked in fourth quarter in the annual Arapahoe vs. Dakota Ridge Saturday fun with Kyle Lucasiewicz scoring 21 in the win along with 12 assists! Sweet double-double the hard way Kyle!
• Cherry Creek doubled-up young Chaparral 22-11 in the first quarter and never looked back in 62-48 tourney win.
• What a week for No. 2 Rock Canyon! The Jags finished their San Antonio visit 4-0, winning the tourney title over South San Antonio 64-49. Seniors Colin Rardin and Sam Masten score 19 and 18 respectively.
• A grueling and physical tournament seemed to have taken a toll on No. 3 Sand Creek who was upset by Pueblo Central in tournament play cooling off the Scorpions.
• Young sophomore shooter Jamil Saffiediene came to play scoring 17 for Regis in California but the Raiders suffered a loss to Clayton Valley Charter 72-64.
• HELLO Kaison Hammonds! How about 38 points for the junior as No. 4 ThunderRidge held court vs. a tough Doherty team 68-57.
• Smoky Hill continues to impress and junior Will Becker was a double-double machine on their successful tourney road trip! 66-52 over Wakefield.
• J. Binkerhoff led four D’Evelyn players in double figures with 16 in the fourteen-point win over Longmont.
• As mentioned previously, Grandview is not deep but with LeChaun Duhart scoring 31 and big man Gage Prim 24 they get it done again vs. a strong Mountain Vista squad to close Saturday out!

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The Look Ahead

Monday, Dec. 12

• The big games this week starts with Boulder visiting an Eaglecrest squad that won’t be happy!
• Thomas Jefferson vs. Valor.
• Castle View vs. Palmer if you’re down south!
• Horizon and Mountain Range face off with 4 wins each early.

Tuesday, Dec. 13

• Rampart and undefeated Grandview.
• Dakota Ridge vs. Doherty.
• Longmont vs. unbeaten Green Mountain.
• Mountain Vista vs. Fossil Ridge.
• Two HOT teams in Smoky HIll vs. GW!
• Vista PEAK looks to stay hot vs. Lewis Palmer.
• Arapahoe seniors vs. Chaparral youth!
• Holy Family and Sierra both 3-1.
• Kolton Peterson for Lakewood and Corey Seng for ThunderRidge will let the 3’s fly!
• Overland visits another tough spot for Rock Canyon’s return from Texas.
• FNE (Montbello) Warriors will attempt to race Chatfield!

Wednesday, Dec. 14

• Don’t look now but Ponderosa and Sand Creek both 5-1.
• Wheat Ridge, 3-1 early, takes on Harrison.
• Praire View vs. Mountain Range.

Thursday, Dec. 15

• Castle View and Columbine tangle.
• Things get private between Colorado Academy and Mullen.
• Green Mountian & Rocky Mountain.
• Denver South playing well sees Rampart’s size.
• Doherty and Mountain Vista will put up some points!
• Chatfield vs. Fossil Ridge.

Friday, Dec. 16

• Lakewood vs. Regis looks good!
• Rock Canyon vs. Dakota Ridge.
• Cherry Creek vs. Rangeview Aurora flavor!
• On the road Denver East takes on Bishop Gorman.

Saturday, Dec. 17

• Pueblo County vs. Mead
• Centaurus vs. Vista PEAK.
• Legend vs. Doherty.
• Arapahoe vs. Arvada West.
• Braggin’ Rights: Rangeview vs. Smoky Hill

What a week of outstanding performances on our Colorado courts but the Fever Crew was thoroughly impressed with how some of our squads performed on the national tourney stage as well. Looking forward to another action packed week of ball!

An outstanding Week 1 as those familiar names of Colbey Ross, D’Shawn Schwartz, Kyle Lucasiewicz and Jaizec Lottie stood out for their squads and didn’t disappoint.

Team efforts from Overland and Denver East proved they are not to be counted out as new, young rosters take over this season. Speaking of youth, how about the first week for Smoky Hill, which will be out of state this week taking on some perennial national powers!

Tournament play and early season non-league play continues just as strong this week. Time to take a look at Monday through Wednesday in our midweek report!

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Monday, Dec. 5:

• Tournament play started with five Eagles scoring in double figures as Broomfield spanked a rebuilding Aurora Central 75-49 behind senior Spencer Wolff’s 15 points.
• Not to be outdone, No. 3 Denver East also had five players score in double figures at the Fairview tournament as they ran away from Palmer 69-41. The Angels have the complete package with size of Alex May and Asane Diouff along side perimeter play of young Kwane Marble and senior leader Joe Abiakim who scored 12.
• Denver South, now 3-1, has a nice looking junior in Courtney Dean who scored 18 points in an exciting over time win vs. Sierra. The Rebels outscored the Stallions by 10 in the extra stage! 
• Not many players in the state starting as hot as the Sabercats’ Braxton Bertolette, who again scored 30 but it wasn’t enough as Fossil Ridge went down to a top-10 4A squad in Golden 73-55. Quite a statement by the Demons! Check out Matt Mathewes’ shots here.
• Sophomore Mark Dolan came to play scoring 18 points as Fairview opened up its Festival tournament play with a 65-49 win over Arvada West.
• Colton Peterson pacing the Tigers to a win as Lakewood downed Castle View down South 74-55.

Tuesday, Dec. 6:

• The Fever Crew got out to Montbello on this cold night as 3A Manual took the challenge of traveling to FNE (Montbello) 5A Warriors. One Thunderbolt, Jaedon Bowles, came to play scoring 42 points on 17-27 shooting but the Warriors slashing Sindou Cisse (18 points) and “do it all” Aaris Bonds (20 points, 8 rebounds, 3 assists) flexed 5A muscle in the 88-71 win for Montbello.
• How about No. 1 visiting No. 2 early in the season? Eaglecrest traveled to Rock Canyon and suffered their first loss as Sam Masten scored 28 points in what will lead to an early shake up in our rankings! John Priest has your outstanding video coverage!
• Some guys simply lead by example and our Fever Crew had the pleasure of spending a big chuck of spring/summer 2016 with this young man Matt Johnson Jr. who broke the new Rangeview gym in with a 31 point, 4 assist, 2 rebound effort as the Raiders took down Dakota Ridge. With a 4.3 GPA Johnson has schools like Cornell taking a look!
• There’s that duo again of Hunter Maldonado and Noah Beatty down south scoring 25 and 18 for Vista Ridge but Rampart took home bragging rights in this one with a last second 1-point victory as Dawson Carper poured in 18.
• Have your track shoes ready when facing Chatfield! They “charged” past Monarch this time by almost 30!
• Greeley West got the win at Wheatridge but our Dennis Pleuss covered Coach Dowd’s off the court journey that means much more!
• Young soph Caleb Tamminga came to play for Legend but not enough as a senior led Grandview team won 63-51.
• No. 6 George Washington continues to impress early with easy win 74-50 over Poudre.
• Top-10 4A match up won by 3, 60-57 with Mead taking down D’Evelyn!
• Longmont is earning votes in our 4A poll and junior Luke Johnson is doing his part scoring 29 points in the route of Discovery Canyon.
• Holy Family got 18 from senior Michael Zeman as our 4A No. 5 ran away from Niwot by 30!
• Air Academy looking to get back on track this week and junior Brock Brendrick scored 16 helping the Kadets to a 72-50 win over Mitchell. Quindell Bryant led all scorers with 21 in the loss.

Wednesday, Dec. 7

• CJ Jennings starting to get Sierra on track as they pull the tight tourney victory 46-44 over Arvada West.
• Statement by Cherry Creek as they start the Thunderridge tournament with a 70-39 thumping of Lincoln!
• Sweet 4A vs. 5A action as No. 2 Valor took on No. 8 in 5A Doherty where Jalen Sanders scored 18 points but not enough as the Spartans used a 25-9 third quarter run to put this away!
• Round 1 of this 4A monster match goes to Golden as the Demons handled Longmont 49-39 in a low scoring affair.
• Broomfield always comes to fight but this night they faced 5A force Denver East at the Fairview Festival tourney and battled but came up short 65-54.
• ThunderRidge senior Corey Seng wasn’t messing around dropping 28 points in tourney play as the Grizz came out strong with a 30+ win over Rocky Mountain in tourney play.
• Coach Fletcher and staff are truly grassroots building a strong neighborhood program at Denver South and earned a huge tourney win tonight at Fairview 67-50!

We had a frigid start to the week hoops fans but there are some tournament titles to be had over the next three days and Ball Fever will be hot on the trail!

As we say, 72 and sunny in the gym … get out and enjoy! 

This feels a little bit like déjà vu but it seems we again have some heavy favorites in Class 5A and 4A big school boys hoops along with some hungry squads eager to prove they are worthy to raise the Gold Ball at the Coliseum this March.

Our “Fever Crew” will be out once again at all the top match ups but we truly love to dig for some of those tidbits that may be overlooked! Humble beginnings from a bunch of “hoop junkies” has become something we never imagined and our guy Ryan Casey has supported us for all eight years! Looking forward to another year of memories on the court. Let’s get to it!

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Season preview

Class 5A: Leading our CHSAANow 5A top-10 is our pick to return to the title game Eaglecrest Raptors! Gatorade Player of the Year and Pepperdine commit Colbey Ross will lead the Raptors again this year but please don’t make the mistake of thinking this squad is a one-man show. Names like Garnes (football stud, too) and Ozor will quickly become well known Raptor names.

If you like hard work and defense you’ll love No. 2 Rock Canyon led by do it all guard Sam Masten. Our Fever “sleeper” in 5A is led by one of the top unsigned PG’s in the country Jaizec Lottie. Cherokee Trail’s lead man has the ability to take over games late (especially driving the paint) and can put the squad on his back come tourney play.

Class 4A: Atop our 4A poll are the two squads that faced each other in Boulder for all the marbles last March: Pueblo West and Valor Christian. They are the clear favorites to return with hungry starters David Simental and Jalen Sanders, respectively.

Other 4A squads aren’t lacking for star power either with names like Sand Creek’s D’Shawn Schwartz (CU commit), CJ Jennings (Sierra), and Adam Thistlewood (Golden).

Our Fever “sleeper” in 4A is led by another big name in Vista Ridge’s Hunter Maldonado (Wyoming commit) who with fellow senior point guard Noah Beatty have the fire power to take down anyone!

Let’s get to the Week 1 tournament and non-conference action!

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Week in Review

Wednesday, Nov. 30:

• No. 1 Eaglecrest didn’t disappoint as they came out strong with a non-league win by 20 over young Chaparral. Defending Mr. Gatorade, Colbey Ross, starts with 23 points.
• Two teams that may surprise in Lincoln and Mullen started their seasons and it came down to the final two seconds as the Mustangs Matt Bursnado scored 31 including the game-winning free throws! Senior Umar Jalloh with a 30 point, 10 rebound double-double for the Lancers in the loss.
• There will be a lot of good times to come on Smoky Hill road and Laredo! The Buffaloes were stung by the injury bug and Coach Harden is hyped up to let his young, healthy crew loose. Kenny Foster, one of our best young athletes, put in 12 points but we also had a FRESHMAN ALERT as class of 2020 guard Quinten Rock introduced himself to the CHSAA community dropping 27 points in his first-ever game. Watch out Centennial League, the Buffs are legit!
• A lot of early buzz regarding Rampart being one of the best teams from down south this year but they ran into a buzz saw in tournament play as Kyle Lukasiewicz poured in 36 points and the always tough Warriors out rebounded Rampart to seal the victory.
• In that same Rock Canyon/Mountain Vista tournament the Jaguars got extremely defensive shutting down Loveland 61-19.
• Our own Brock Laue covered the multi-talented George Washington roster last week and they came out strong 84-57 over a solid Monarch team in tourney play.
• The Fossil Ridge tournament up north closed things out for us on opening night. The host Sabercats have an outside scoring machine in Braxton Bertolette and he didn’t disappoint putting up 30-point game right out of the gate!
• Game of the night candidate! How about three overtimes on opening night? That’s exactly what Wyoming-bound Vista Ridge senior Hunter Maldonado and crew pulled off vs. Denver South in Fossil Ridge Tourney. Vista outlasted the Rebels in the third overtime session behind Maldonado’s 36 points and stand out point guard Noah Beatty’s 20 points, 7 rebounds.

Thursday, Dec. 1

• Overland OBVIOUSLY lost a ton of senior talent to graduation but don’t think coach Danny Fisher and staff aren’t motivated to show what they can do with their new crew of talent. Our Jack Eberhard was on the scene as Daijon Smith scored 26 in the Trailblazers’ huge upset of No. 5 Regis.
• With DU-bound Elijah Blake out for the season, the Rangeview Raiders will be looking for senior leadership and it was provided immediately as 2017 point guard Matt Johnson Jr. (4.3 GPA) came out the gates with 21 points. Matt J has some young help as well with freshman C Speller’s 18-point, 10-rebound double-double and sophomore Jodaun Dotson’s 8 points, 3 assists, 3 steals in win over Palmer.
• Seniors leading the way for Cherokee Trail as Ian Kelly scored 24 while Jaizec Lottie added 19 in the Cougars win over Mesa Ridge.
• Doherty has another strong 2017 point guard running their show as well in Brevin Brimble! How about 25 points, 4 assists, 3 rebounds, 2 steals to get the Spartans started over Bear Creek.
• Hey Highlands Ranch and Lakewood!!! We need your stats…McKale Williams? Kolton Peterson? Two of the best our state has and we want to know how the boys are doing!
• Arguably the best player in our state, CU commit D’Shawn Schwartz started the season with a 50-point bang as No. 3 Sand Creek ran Thornton out of the gym!
• We’ll get familiar typing that name Thistlewood as Ryan booked 29 points in 4A No. 4 Golden’s tight win over Lewis Palmer.
• DSST Stapleton got a 29 point effort from senior Blake Pullen to get an opening win over Mountain View.
• Cheyenne Mountain got 23 points from junior Luke Martin in opening tourney win over Glenwood Springs.
• Our 4A No. 5 had four players score in double figures led by Kyle Helbig’s 12 as Holy Family took down Conifer in early tourney play.

Friday, Dec. 2

• The Fever crew has to let our bias show just a bit when it comes to high academic 2017 point guards Matt Johnson Jr. and McKale Williams from Rangeview and Highlands Ranch respectively. Honor society off the court and “tough as nails” on the court for their squads. Matt J got the best of this Rangeview/H-Ranch early season matchup scoring 26 points, 2 rebounds, 3 assists, and 3 steals: STAT-STUFFIN!
• No. 5 Regis bounces back from lost to Overland and put a whoopin on private rival Mullen.
• What a shoot out 79-76 as No. 1 Eaglecrest edged Chatfield. Amazing that the Chargers didn’t crack our top-10 preseason poll. Expect that to be changing! Matt Mathewes was in the house for the action!
• Even in a 49-40 slug fest Sam Masten manages to score 20 for No. 2 Rock Canyon as they put the clamps on Fever’s beloved Arapahoe Warriors.
• Denver South bounced back from the 3-OT loss and sharp shooters Conner Nelson and Tucker Cargile led the way both scoring in double figures in the 67-57 win over Rocky Mountain.
• There’s that man again. Jaizec Lottie with 20 points to pace Cougars past Palmer easily. Six seniors making contributions for Cherokee Trail can make a world of difference!
• The Fever crew is pulling for Lincoln but didn’t see Columbine pulling the 58-55 win.
• Top 10 5A match as No. 6 George Washington started hot with a 21-10 first quarter and never looked back downing No. 10 Mountain Vista by 15 points despite Jake Belknapp’s 18 points.
• Aaris Bonds put up 19 points down at Fossil Ridge but Braxton Bertolette and crew held court as he scored 27 in the Sabercats tight 3 point win.
• Goodness! Our No. 1 4A squad gave up one fourth quarter point to doubling-up Air Academy in a 72-35 rout.
• Top point guard CJ Jennings has his Sierra squad coming in at No. 6 in our coach/media poll and scores 29 in win over Falcon. Junior Noah Martinez scores 25 in the loss.
• 4A top 10 alert: No. 4 Golden with a 75-64 win over No. 7 Mead.
• We have another early upset in tourney play as Lewis Palmer took down No. 5 Holy Family 45-41 in a low scoring tussle.
• Sam Schlagel put up 18 points as Silver Creek is hot early knocking off our No. 10 4A squad Evergreen in early non-league play.
• We talked about this tough Vista Ridge squad earlier and they gave 5A power Denver East a battle with Noah Beatty scoring 14 points but it wasn’t enough as the Angels used a 16-6 third quarter advantage to spread this one out.
• Numerous seniors on this top-10 ranked Vista Peak squad and M. Johnson led with 20 points as they beat Cheyenne Mountain by 10.

Saturday, Dec. 3

• Heritage finished up their California road trip 1-2 with a 59-53 loss to Vacaville (Calif.).
• Fruita Monument got 17 from junior Trey Morrill beating Gateway by 8 to finish tourney play.
• Impressive for Denver South to bounce back again in tourney play and beat Dakota Ridge 59-41 to end the week.
• Two new names leading the way for solid programs as Will Otten’s 23 for Arapahoe wasn’t enough as Connor Staib put in 24 for Mountain Vista to pull off the tight 1 point victory.
• Serious talent on this floor in the Fossil Ridge tourney as FNE (Montbello) pulled off the 1 point overtime victory over a hot Vista Ridge squad 49-48. Two of our state’s top seniors battling as Aaris Bonds scored 17 for the Warriors and Hunter Maldonado led all with 24 in the loss.
• Youth was served in Fossil Ridge tournament final as rising sophomore Kwane Marble scored 18 leading Denver East to a 10-point victory over host Fossil Ridge. The Angels ranked No. 3 in our poll will get even stronger when GW transfer Daylen Kountz joins the party! Braxton Bartolette poured in 29 for the Sabercats in the loss.
• Can’t ask for more than when early season tourney play brings you a top-10 5A match up where No. 2 Rock Canyon was upset by No. 6 George Washington 68-65 in a tight one!
• Lakewood finishes the week and tourney play 3-0 with a 20 point win over Palmer.
• Cherokee Trail, No. 7 in 5A, had the experience advantage as Jaizec Lottie scored 26 in the 49-31 win over young Rangeview.
• Tre Early led eleven Bison who scored in this game as No. 9 Vista Peak beat Fort Morgan by 50!
• No. 1 Pueblo West more than doubled Air Academy 72-35!
• Michael Ward had 17 pacing No. 7 Mead in a blow out of Pueblo Central.
• For the second time this week No. 3 Sand Creek was led by D’Shawn Schwartz and put up 99 points total AGAIN! Put your track shoes on when lacin’ them up vs. this crew!
• Sophomore Trey Brushke scored 20 points but it wasn’t enough for Mountain View as they fell to No. 8 D’Evelyn 67-52.

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The Look Ahead:

Monday, Dec. 5

• This week’s 5A and 4A big school hoops action starts off with Palmer taking on Denver East in tourney play.
• Denver South vs. Sierra in another “Springs vs. the City” match.
• Fossil Ridge vs. Golden is an excellent 5A vs. 4A match up!

Tuesday, Dec. 6

• Holy Family vs. Niwot always a tangle.
• Manual signed up for a real test taking on FNE (Montbello) Warriors early this season.
• Mead and D’Evelyn in a 4A top 10 tilt.
• Grandview and Legend face while both are 1-0!

Wednesday, Dec. 7

• Heavy top 5 match in Eaglecrest and Rock Canyon. Point guard play at it’s best!
• Valor Christian vs. Doherty is big time.
• Cherry Creek opens vs. Lincoln.

Thursday, Dec. 8

• Chatfield vs. Boulder.
• FNE (Montbello) vs. Rampart.

Friday, Dec. 9

• Overland vs. George Washington will be rockin!
• Lakewood vs. Cherokee Trail. Peterson and Lottie will be fun!
• Rangeview vs. Grandview for A-Town pride.

Saturday, Dec. 10

• Young Chaparral vs. Valor.
• Dakota Ridge vs. Arapahoe annual tilt!
• Longmont vs. D’Evelyn.
• Hinkley vs. Denver East.

Get in a nice warm gym and enjoy the hoops folks! What a start.

Well hoop fans, it is on now! We had a few No. 2 seeds lose early in Class 4A, but the remainder of the brackets played out well for the 1’s and 3’s.

We expect some shake up and surprises in the coming week! Let’s check out how we got here:

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Week in review:

5A Round 1:

• Our Ball Fever buddy “J-Dubb” James Walsh had himself a night scoring 17 points with 6 rebounds to lead Arapahoe to the Round 1 win.
• Good to see Isaac Essien back for Mountain Vista with the wicked 15 point, 10 assist double-double in 10-point victory over Fairview.
• Highlands Ranch was our sole squad to go on the road and get a victory surprising Monarch by 6!
• We picked Lincoln as our 5A bracket buster and Tino Chavez scored 16 as the Lancers got by Legacy.
• FRESHMAN ALERT: JoVon Nelson putting in 13 as the FNE Montbello Warriors roll Bear Creek!
• Performance of the week? Braxton Bertolette with 8 three pointers and 37 points to help Fossil Ridge roll.
• Arvada West held Castleview to 2 points in the fourth quarter and won big!
• Jack Buckmelter 23 and Daytone Jennings 18 as Denver East coasted past Hinkley.
• The Fever Crew got out to Aurora Central/Heritage on this night! We love senior guard play in the tourney and Elijah Coleman’s 17 points along with Ladarius Thomas’ 16 points (including a sweet dunk to close the game) led the Trojans to the win.
• Dan Mohrman caught Rampart’s fast start!
• Dominic Coleman continues to be the go to “stat-stuffer” for Chaparral and Stephen Priest covered them Round 1.
• Palmer advanced and Josh Watt has the photos.
• TJ Clark with the last second heroics for Liberty in a win over Westminster and Matt Matthewes was in the house!

4A Round 1:

• Vista Peak by 17 over a tough Thompson Valley team and Stephen Priest has you covered.
• Dan Morhman made it to Pueblo to catch Durango move on.
• Long ride for Glenwood Springs to Valor and the Eagles weren’t kind!!
• Dylan Mileto with 29 but it’s not enough to get Mesa Ridge past Pueblo West.
• Windsor meant business as Colton Mclean’s 21 points led four in double figures as they spanked Thomas Jefferson Round 1.
• Mitchell put up a fight but good looking sophomore Courtney Dean’s 20 point, 12 rebound double-double helped Denver South advance.
• Kion Wingo with 17 points and 7 steals for Sierra as they march on over Wheat Ridge.
• Charles Davis (22 points) and D’Evelyn are riding a hot streak and knock off Sand Creek in an upset.
• Vista Ridge has some scoring punch and take down Pueblo Central by 23!
• Colton Bachman with 15 as Longmont throttles Sky View.

5A Round 2:

• Josh Watt caught BJ Hardy and Dalven Brushier putting in work for Doherty.
• How about a 20-3 start to the game for Cherry Creek! Jack Eberhard has the action shots.
• Eaglecrest by 16 over Highlands Ranch.
• Clay Verk and ThunderRidge said “take that Ball Fever upset prediction!” and rolled past Lincoln.
• Will we ever stop using the word “balance” when it comes to Regis hoops? They were at it again and Jack Eberhard snapping the shots.
• Lechaun Duhart scored 32 but it wasn’t enough as Will Wittman and Dallas Walton both put up double-double performances on the night for Arvada West who won by 2.
• Seniors Ronnie Barfield and David Thornon with 19 points each to lead Cherokee Trail over Palmer.
• Jack Buckmelter likes it out west as he torched Grand Junction for 37 points and also chipped in 5 assists for Denver East in the win.
• It took overtime and 24 points from Landon Taliaferro for Boulder to take down Montbello!
• Big De’Ron and Jervae Robinson both with 14 as Overland looks fierce right now!
• A 15 point fourth quarter from Sam Masten helped Rock Canyon win the neighborhood battle over Arapahoe.
• A 20-4 second quarter advantage blew this one open for Legend as they surprisingly beat Fossil Ridge by 22! Wow…didn’t see that coming. Monroe Porter with 17 in the win.
• Cordell Gillingham scored 18 but it wasn’t enough for Greeley West as they traveled well but fell short to the streaking GW Patriots!
• Tyler McFarland and Devante Jones both in double figures for Dakota Ridge in impressive 4-point nod over Mountain Vista.
• Ladarius Thomas finished his career with 28 points as Aurora Central gave Chatfield a fight but lost by 7.
• We all know about No. 1 Rangeview’s scoring ability but what’s up with holding Chaparral to 26 in the lopsided win?!!

4A Sweet 16:

• Dan Mohrmann extended the Pueblo stay and caught Pueblo West getting defensive!
• Valor cruised again and Matt Matthewes caught the fun.
• Michael Scheid scored 19 and Windsor is looking good taking down Pueblo South!
• No. 1 Lewis Palmer rolled again beating Evergreen by 21!
• Mead won the north/south battle taking down our 4A Ball Fever sleeper Sierra by 10.
• “THREE”S PLEASE” – Denver South knocked down 19 from behind the arc and junior Tucker Cargile had 4 of them scoring 19 in the Rebels win over Vista Peak. Watch for the Bison next year as they have a core of youth returning!
• Vista Ridge takes down 2 seed Golden behind 31 points from Hunter Maldonado!
• D’Evelyn was on a nice late season run but then ran into Longmont who beat them by 22!

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Previewing the week ahead

5A Sweet 16

Jim Baggot Region

Denver East and Eaglecrest tangled back in January and Colbey Ross straight “went off” for 38 points hitting buckets from all over the gym. If the Angels have any hope at making this visit different it’s time to get the ball out of Ross’ hand and not allow him to cross half court so freely.

Balance can be used to describe Dakota Ridge and Regis which will make this one a fun battle. Expect a low scoring affair right down to the wire!

Bill Weimar Region

Arvada West pulled out a close one in round one but allowed Duhart to score 32 of Grandview’s points. They will have MULTIPLE scorers to deal with as they face the No. 1 Rangeveiw Raiders who will have to use a “by committee” approach vs. big man Dallas Walton inside. Intriguing match here!

Nice: the Legend squad who many say haven’t lived up to the potential of a talented senior heavy crew vs. a Cherokee Trail squad who is eager to prove their tough losses this season that were oh so close has prepared them for this stage. The Cougars gym will be rocking and Legend travels well!

Ray C. Ball Region

As previously noted, Overland has just been on a tear since their surprising home loss to Grandview. Boulder has some scorers who can keep this one interesting but who’s going to stop big De’Ron inside? This will be better than expected!

We talked last week that we almost hated to see Doherty and Rock Canyon in the same region. Not surprising to our crew at all that they both advanced to see each other. Someone has to lose and this one will be wildly entertaining. These two have the stuff to beat anyone!

Chauncey Billups Region

This one lines up to be a heavy weight fight between top squads from the Continental and Centennial. Two excellent coaches in Brookhart and Ortiz who will have their squads well prepared. This will be chess, not checkers as the Grizzlies are well known but Creek has the roster to pull the upset.

Two teams that both scored in the 70s in Round 2 games and expect them to produce even more points when they tangle Wednesday. Chatfield went into GW and got an 88-83 win over the Patriots in Game 2 of the season but as we all know this a matured Patriot squad that has seemed to gel right at the perfect time.

4A Great 8

Richard Tate Region

It was a tight 52-46 win for Longmont when they faced Mead early in the season. Mead is playing confident and fresh off an upset of a two seed. They took down lefty D’Shawn Schwartz and are very familiar with the lefty they’ll see this time in Justinnian Jessup!

Mark Randall Region

Windsor took down two perennial 4A powers in Pueblo South and Thomas Jefferson but now their toughest test vs. Valor who haven’t been challenged since the late season loss to D’evelyn which has seemed to spark their fire.

Maceo Broadnax Region

Fully expect this to be a high scoring, up and down the court match as both teams averaging in the 70s thus far in the tournament in Denver South and Pueblo West. The Rebels have multiple ways to beat you but can they corral David Simental?

Guy Gibbs Region

Vista Ridge and Lewis-Palmer have seen each other twice this season: Polar Opposites! The first game neither team reached 40 points and in the second Lewis-Palmer won by 10 at a much faster pace. Jonathon Scott and Hunter Maldonado are two of our best from down south. Hard to beat a team three times in one season but that’s what the Rangers hope for!