Ralston Valley continues to be out front of the CHSAANow.com hockey ranking. (Jack Eberhard/JacksActionShots.com)
Regis Jesuit moved up three places in this week’s CHSAANow.com hockey poll.
The Raiders (3-0-0) were No. 7 last week, and are now No. 4.
Ralston Valley remained on top of the rankings, a spot the Mustangs have occupied since the preseason. They beat then-No. 4 Cherry Creek 3-0 on Saturday.
Monarch returned to the No. 2 spot, jumping Mountain Vista. Cherry Creek dropped one spot to No. 5.
CENTENNIAL — No. 1 Ralston Valley beat No. 4 Cherry Creek in hockey on Saturday, 3-0. The Mustangs got goals from Victor Lombardi, Austin Resseguie and Greg Dyba. Zack Larocque made 17 saves in recording a shutout.
Arapahoe’s Brendan Till launches a shot against Mountain Vista. More photos. (Kevin Keyser/KeyserImages.com)
CENTENNIAL — They kept pouring in. Midway through the first quarter, into the second. Even after halftime. Everyone, it seemed, wanted to be at Arapahoe High School on Saturday afternoon.
It was the first athletic event at the school since the tragic on-campus shooting on Dec. 13. The community came out in force — students, alumni, faculty, administrators past and present, parents, neighbors — to see their Warriors take on Mountain Vista in boys basketball.
“It was good. It’s the right step back to normalcy,” said Arapahoe senior Brandon Till. “It’s good to be back in our house.”
These Warriors hadn’t played or practiced in their gym since Dec. 12. Instead, workouts were held at nearby Lifetime Fitness.
“Think of that. That’s really hard,” Arapahoe coach Dan Synder said. “Lifetime could not have been more wonderful and gracious, and we really appreciate it, but it’s not the same. We were on a court with two hoops instead of six hoops, so as far as running a practice and stations and stuff like that, you can’t do it.”
“It’s a zoo in there,” Till said of practicing at Lifetime. “You’ve got kids walking around, yoga classes going on in the background.
“Playing back in front of all our fans — we had a great showing — and with our own hoops, our own rims, our own locker room — it’s just good to be back.”
By the time everyone filed out of the gym and into the delicate snowfall waiting outside Saturday afternoon, Arapahoe had emerged with a 63-55 win. It was emotional, and simply returning to the gym was important. It was also a big win from a basketball standpoint.
For starters, both teams entered unbeaten and ranked in the top-10 of the latest CHSAANow.com 5A poll. But more importantly, No. 5 Mountain Vista (8-1) was “definitely the best team we’ve played so far,” Snyder said.
The Golden Eagles came into the game averaging a state-best 85.1 points and 22.1 assists. They feature a fast-paced offense and a high-pressure defense, which averages a 5A-best 15.4 steals.
In the first quarter, that defensive pressure overwhelmed No. 7 Arapahoe (7-0) as the Warriors turned the ball over seven times.
“They’re a great team, aggressive defensively, and that caused us to panic a little,” Till said.
Yet, Arapahoe trailed just 14-13 after that quarter, then stormed out to a 26-16 lead with 3:14 to go in the half. But Mountain Vista closed the second quarter on a 10-0 run, including a layup with 3 seconds left, to go into the break tied at 26. The tie remained following a frantic third quarter, with the teams locked at 44.
Then, as the fourth quarter opened, Till took over. He scored nine of Arapahoe’s first 11 points in the frame as the Warriors went up 55-51. Till finished with 26 points, including 10 in the final quarter.
“He’s quite a good scorer, as you can see,” Snyder said. “He can score in a lot of different ways. He’s a really good shooter, but he … sees the court really well. And that allows him to go to the right spot at the right time, so it’s more than just a good shooter. Tremendous game out of him.”
Senior Corbin Atwell followed Till’s spurt with perhaps the game’s most important points. Atop the key, Atwell drove to his left to beat his man and continued past two others before laying it in. He was fouled, and the ensuing free-throw made it 58-51.
Two-and-a-half minutes remained, but Mountain Vista wasn’t able to recover.
“Maybe this sends a message that we’ve got to get better,” Golden Eagles coach Bob Wood said. “They beat us, and kind of took the air out.”
Atwell finished with 16 points. The Warriors’ James Dalrymple and Ethan Brunhofer each added eight. Brunhofer scored all of his in the second half.
Graham Smith led Mountain Vista with 17 points. Ray Beresford had 11.
When the buzzer sounded, Arapahoe faithful stormed the court to celebrate. The joy was contagious.
“I’m proud of our kids because of their resiliency,” Snyder said. “I made the comment (while practicing at Lifetime), I said, ‘Look, we’re fortunate to be able to practice anywhere. So we’re not going to complain about the circumstances.’ Yeah, it was less-than-ideal.
“We’re really happy to be back in our building, and we just talked about that,” he continued. “Sports is such a positive thing, and so that was neat. We have wonderful student support, kids who really are terrific.”
More photos. Arapahoe’s players rush to celebrate their win over Mountain Vista on Saturday. (Kevin Keyser/KeyserImages.com)
Denver South senior Ibrahim Sylla (10) works his way around Green Mountain senior Will Zeiner on Friday night. (Dennis Pleuss)
LAKEWOOD — Denver South turned up the defensive pressure and cleaned things up on the glass in the second half Friday night at Green Mountain High School.
The Rebels evened up their record to 5-5 this season with a 71-64 road victory in boys hoops action. Denver South trailed 40-34 at halftime, but turned things around in the second half.
“The main focus is we felt we were getting beat on the boards,” Denver South coach Malik Fletcher said after the Rebels’ first game back from winter break. “We dedicated the second half to cleaning up the rebounds on both ends.”
Green Mountain senior Tyler Myers, middle, splits Denver South seniors Tyson Purifoy, left, and Keeshawn Gleason, right, during a non-league game Friday night at Green Mountain High School. Purifoy scored a game-high 28 points in Denver South’s 71-64 victory. (Dennis Pleuss)
The Rams rarely had second-chance opportunities after halftime. Green Mountain senior Will Zeiner hurt the Rebels several put-backs in the first half. Zeiner poured in 13 points in the first half, but was held scoreless in the second half.
Denver South took the lead for good with 5:05 left in the fourth quarter when senior Antonio Garcia drained a 3-pointer to give the Rebels a 57-55 lead. Senior Tyson Purifoy hit another 3-pointer a minute later to push Denver South’s lead to 60-55.
“It felt good coming off of break,” said Purifoy, who finished with a game-high 28 points. “It was tough being behind coming into the second half. We had a slow start, but we got it done.”
Purifoy and senior Lorenzo Snoddy (20 points) led the way for the Rebels. Denver South outscored Green Mountain (3-4 record) 25-14 in the final quarter.
Denver South’s 6-foot-8 senior Ibrahim Sylla had a quiet 15 points, but had a couple of key baskets in the final two minutes to keep Green Mountain at bay.
Green Mountain sophomore Austin Fritts had a team-high 24 points for the Rams. He drained six 3-pointers and was fouled on two other 3-point attempts that led to five made free throws.
“We were prepared coming in knowing (Fritts) was going to make some shots,” Fletcher said. “We just wanted to stay positive if he knocked some down.”
With Denver South picking up its defensive intensity, Green Mountain didn’t get many open offensive looks in the second half while being held to 24 points in the second half.
Green Mountain senior Will Zeiner goes up for a shot over Denver South senior Antonio Garcia during the first half Friday night at Green Mountain High School. (Dennis Pleuss)
“We’ve got to work harder on screens. We’ve just got to work,” Fritts said. “We had wide-open looks in the first half, but when they came up on us in the second half we needed to run more offense and be more aggressive.”
Senior Daniel Brughelli had a solid second half for the Rams. He finished with 13 points in what was Green Mountain’s third straight loss.
Green Mountain plays one final non-league game at 7 p.m. on Jan. 6, before heading into its 14-game 4A Jeffco League schedule. The Rams will host defending 5A Jeffco champion Chatfield next Monday night.
The Chargers (6-2, 2-0 in league) will come into Green Mountain High School on a four-game winning streak. It will also be Chatfield’s first game since the winter break.
“This is exactly what we need,” Fritts said. “These two games (Denver South and Chatfield) are big for us. It shows what we are going to be going up against and shows what we are made of.”
Denver South hosts Hinkley at 7 p.m. on Jan. 7.
Denver South seniors Tyson Purifoy, left, and Shun Jackson, right, close in on Green Mountain senior Tyler Myers during a non-league game Friday. The Rebels held the Rams to 24 points in the second half to grab a 71-64 victory. (Dennis Pleuss)
Nearly every classification is happy with its current format, except one, according to the results of a basketball survey that was sent to CHSAA member schools last fall.
The survey, which focused on statewide and individual classification concerns, had 496 respondents, of which 309 were administrators (athletic directors, district athletic directors, principals and/or superintendents). The remaining respondents were coaches.
Class 1A had 66 overall responses, of which 58 were administrators. Class 2A saw 98 responses with 68 administrators, while Class 3A had 101 respond, including 57 administrators. In Class 4A, 120 people responded, including the 68 administrators. Meanwhile in Class 5A, there were an overall total of 110 responding, including 58 administrators.
The CHSAA Basketball Advisory Committee had commissioned the Association staff to survey the membership on a number of topics that it felt important for its work looking to the 2014-2016 competitive cycle. While the complete results are linked to this story, they have been separated by overall results and administrator results. The comments that were provided by individual responders have also been included on the survey results posting.
(Pam Wagner)
The survey also looked at game limits, the viability of eliminating consolation bracket in 1A, 2A and 3A, championship sites, male and female participation rates and attendance concerns as a means to help the basketball committee look at the future of Colorado high school basketball. Another question was focused on the 4A Great 8 sites and whether those should be played at the home site of the higher seed. Additionally, the committee asked those responding to weigh in on the prospects of a championship weekend, where 6 or 10 championship games would be played at a central site.
Classes 1A, 2A, 3A and 5A show a general satisfaction with their playoff formats, all approving of those formats by nearly a 66 percent to 33 percent margin. The lone exception, Class 4A, showed a perfect split of 50 percent to 50 percent from its 68 administrative respondents.
To get a clearer general view of each classification, some of the findings are noted below. They all reflect the information gleaned from the administrators’ responses. But, to get a feel for all the results, click on the links embedded in each classification below.
The most obvious conclusion in Class 1A is that this classification is most happy with its current district, regional and state format (86 percent of the total like the format). Those taking the survey also noted that 24 qualifiers was the appropriate number of qualifiers and that a limit of 19 regular season games was appropriate. Travel and expenses should remain a priority when developing a playoff format, say those taking the survey said. Class 1A did not believe that eliminating the consolation bracket was appropriate.
Attendance at 45 percent of the classification’s boys’ and 47 percent of the girls’ games is declining, while only 22 percent say that they’re attendance is increasing. While that information is reflective of what is happening in small schools, too, is the declining participation rates for both boys and girls. According to the survey, 43 percent of the schools are seeing a decline in boys’ basketball participation and 33 percent in girls’ participation.
On the matter of the central championship game format, where either all 10 state championship games, or six of the 10 would be played at a central site, Class 1A was the least support, by a 57 percent to 43 percent margin.
The survey results in Class 2A show some desire for the committee to address travel and expense at the regional level. Although the classification is generally happy with its format, 65 percent believe that the format should keep boys’ and girls’ teams from the same schools in the same regions. And, 68 percent noted that a more balanced approach to regional travel needed to be adopted.
Like their 1A counterparts, the classification felt that 19 games was appropriate for the classification and taking 32 teams to regionals was the right number. On the question of the consolation bracket, the responses where split 50 percent to 50 percent with 34 responders taking each side.
When looking at attendance, most schools said that their attendance for both genders has not changed, or was increasing. Only 25 percent said their boys’ attendance was declining, while just 27 percent said the same thing in girls.
The vast majority of 2A responders would like to see a weekend championship event, with most preferring a 10-team championship series at a central site. The second preference was a two-site championship format with six games at one site and four at another.
Travel is one area that the basketball committee needed to address, 58 percent of the Class 3A respondents said. They survey results also showed that 56 percent like to have the committee look at a Final Four concept similar to Class 4A and 5A.
The classification was in agreement that 19 games and 32 teams qualifying to regionals was an appropriate number for both areas. As far as the consolation bracket goes, the respondents noted by a 68 percent to 32 percent margin that the elimination of the first round losers would be appropriate, leaving the third place and state championship games for the final two days of the tournament.
The classification also showed stable numbers as far as attendance, with 64 percent saying that attendance at both genders’ games had not changed. In fact, 26 percent said that attendance was growing for boys’ games, while 19 percent said the same for their girls’ games. Participation numbers for the boys’ showed no change for 63 percent of the responding schools, while on the girls’ side, 28 percent said they had declining numbers, 28 percent said that had increasing numbers and 44 percent said there has been no change in the participation rate for girls.
Certainly, with a 50-50 split on satisfaction of the playoff format, there are several interesting results from the survey that leave much for the basketball committee to consider. The respondents noted that it would be okay to have home teams host through the Great 8 (63 percent-23 percent) or to use large neutral high school gymnasiums as Great 8 sites (62 percent-38 percent).
By a large margin (68 percent-32 percent), the respondents noted that too many teams were qualifying to the state bracket, preferring to go down to 32 from 48 qualifiers. The survey results also showed that 60 percent of the responders preferred 23 regular season games to a game limit less than that. The CHSAA Legislative Council will vote on a proposal that will limit 4A regular season games to 19, sponsored by the Northern League.
As for the questions on attendance at games, 44 percent said their boy’s game attendance has not change, while 26 percent said it was increasing and 32 percent noted a decrease. On the girls’ side, 52 percent said that attendance had not changed, 10 percent said they saw an increase, while 38 percent saw a decrease.
The survey revealed that the boys’ participation rate in the classification had not changed (60 percent) and actually saw an increase for 29 percent of those responding, while 10 percent noted a decrease in attendance. For the girls’ it was a different story. The survey showed that just 46 percent did not show an increase in attendance, while 29 percent saw a decrease. Just 25 percent noted that their girls’ participation rate was increasing.
Class 4A respondents also noted that they would like to see a weekend championship series for all classifications (79 percent), indicating a preference for one-site and 10 games but also in support of a six games at one site, four at another concept, as well.
The majority of respondents approved of the Denver Coliseum as a site for the Great 8 (64 percent-36 percent), but also supported a smaller venue that more appropriately accommodates the crowd size for the 5A girls’ Great 8 (71 percent-29 percent). The classification was lukewarm on the idea of changing the format to neutral high school gymnasiums for the Sweet 16 games (47 percent-53 percent).
Fifty percent reported that 48 teams was the appropriate number of qualifiers in 5A, although 31 percent noted that 32 was the right number of qualifiers. Twenty-three regular season games, the number each school is now allowed, was deemed appropriate by 60 percent of the respondents.
Fifty-nine percent of the survey responders noted that attendance at their boys’ games had not changed and 22 percent said that attendance was increasing. Just 19 percent said they had a decrease in boys’ attendance. On the girls’ side 43 percent of those responding noted no change in attendance, but another 43 percent said their girls’ attendance was decreasing, causing concern. Only 14 percent reported an increase in attendance.
The participation rate for the two genders showed some similar results. On the girls’ side, 29 percent said their girls’ participation had remained stable, while 36 percent said they had seen an increase. But, 35 percent said their girls’ participation rate was decreasing. For the males, 55 percent reported now change in the participation rate and 35 percent report an increase. Just 10 percent said that they were seeing a decrease in boys’ participation.
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The complete survey results have been imbedded by classification for individual perusal.
The CHSAA Basketball Committee meets February 6 at the CHSAA Office to look at the next competitive cycle. If a school or coach would like to provide input into the process, contact the Basketball Committee chair Paul Cain at paul.cain@d51schools.org, or Bert Borgmann, CHSAA Assistant Commissioner at bborgmann@chsaa.org.
If you are not a coach or administrator, please go through your local school athletic director to provide comment.
Cherry Creek and Dakota Ridge are among a host of contenders this season. (Jack Eberhard/JacksActionShots.com)
The 2013-14 hockey season emerges from its annual winter break on Thursday. We take a look at where things stand:
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Ralston Valley, last season’s champion, has just about rolled through its entire 2013 schedule. So have Monarch — last season’s runner-up — Mountain Vista and Regis Jesuit.
Those four teams are all winning games by an average of at least 6.6 goals thus far. (Monarch is winning games by an average of 10.6 goals; Mountain Vista by 9 goals.)
These teams are dominant — so far. Regis, Monarch and Mountain Vista have only played three games; Ralston Valley has played four. Thus, these stats don’t so much reveal a trend, but rather a lack of data.
So here’s what we’re saying: It’s early. Very early. Those four teams are very much contenders to win this season’s championship. But they aren’t alone.
Steamboat Springs. (Mark Adams)
There’s also:
Lewis-Palmer (7-1-0). The Rangers have a number of quality wins — Standley Lake (3-2-1), Bishop Machebeuf (3-2-1), Resurrection Christian (4-2-0) — and the lone loss came to Ralston Valley, 5-2. That was the Mustangs’ closest contest of the season thus far.
Cherry Creek (5-1-1). The Bruins’ lone loss came 4-3 to Mountain Vista in overtime on Dec. 20; their tie came with Dakota Ridge (4-0-2) on Dec. 11.
Dakota Ridge (4-0-2). As noted above, one tie came with Creek, the other with Columbine (5-0-1).
And others on the bubble, such as Pueblo County (5-0-2), Columbine (5-0-1), Battle Mountain (4-1-1) and Steamboat Springs (4-3-0).
Surprise team: Columbine.
The Rebels are unbeaten, and have already matched their win total from last season, when they went 5-14-0. Furthermore, the program was 20-69-2 (.211) from 2008-09 to last season.
“By far the best start we’ve ever had. Absolutely,” said Columbine coach Chris Gassman, who is now in his third season at the helm. “We’ve gotten better every year I’ve been there, but this is by far the best one.
“We are definitely a surprise to everybody.”
At the break, Columbine is tied for second in the Foothills Conference with four points. (Only conference games count toward the point total, and the Rebels are 2-0-0. Cherry Creek leads with five points at 2-0-1.) The Rebels are ranked No. 5 in the most recent CHSAANow.com poll.
“Would I say I saw us starting out undefeated? No,” Gassman said. “But … we feel we’re a top-5 team in the conference this year, just with the kids we’ve got coming back.”
The difference? Prior to the season, Gassman and coaches from Cherry Creek and Regis Jesuit put together a “preseason” league. Six high school teams competed as club teams — Cherry Creek, Cheyenne Mountain, Columbine, Heritage, Regis Jesuit and Resurrection Christian. Each team played the others two times.
Columbine’s team also played a few preseason tournaments, and ended up playing “20-something games preseason-wise,” Gassman said.
“Instead of only having two or three weeks (together) before the season started, we had three months,” Gassman said. “It gave us basically a season before CHSAA started.”
So now, Columbine is already in mid-season form.
“We’ve got pretty much the same group from last season, I think we added like five kids. It’s kind of the same good, solid group for a while,” Gassman said. “Something clicked, and they’re starting to figure it out.”
Among Columbine’s wins are Steamboat Springs, which at one point was ranked, and Heritage, which is just on the fringe of the most recent poll. There’s also the tie with Dakota Ridge. Still, there isn’t yet a defining win. They get that chance with a game against Mountain Vista on Saturday. Six days later, Ralston Valley awaits.
“We’re right back into it, right away,” Gassman said.
Brothers Jacob Seibold and Logan Seibold both have seven points thus far to lead the team. Jacob has five goals and two assists, Logan has three goals and four assists.
The Rebels have also had outstanding goaltending via senior Ashton Opperman (2-0-1, 0.31 GAA), Forest Czarnecki (2-0-0, 2.68) and Evan King (1-0-0, 2.65).
“Ashton has been the backup the last couple of years, and this year, he has just kind of taken the team by himself. He has been unbelievable,” Gassman said. “Our other two kids … they’ve both given us a chance to win in every game we’ve played.
“Goaltending has not been any part of a discussion or issue with this team, at all. It’s been nothing to worry about at all. It’s been fantastic.”
Gassman said Opperman will likely play the majority of the games as the season heats up.
Looking ahead: Things are really going to start taking shape as soon as this weekend. In addition to the Columbine game, Mountain Vista also plays Regis Jesuit on Friday.
There’s also Monarch at Battle Mountain on Friday, and Ralston Valley at Cherry Creek on Saturday.
We’ll start to get a good idea of where each team falls with each passing week. But things will happen fast: the regular season ends Feb. 15.
Points
T1. Sam Horning (Palmer): 17
T1. Jack Longenecker (Bishop Machebeuf): 17
T3. DJ Jones (Lewis-Palmer): 15
T3. Julain Claudio (Lewis-Palmer): 15
5. Ryan Case (Cheyenne Mountain): 15
Goals
1. Sam Horning (Palmer): 13
T2. DJ Jones (Lewis-Palmer): 10
T2. Isaac Ruybal (Pueblo County): 10
T4. Nick Rems (Bishop Machebeuf): 9
T4. Cody Oakes (Cherry Creek): 9
T4. Tim VanTuinen (Resurrection Christian): 9
