LITTLETON — Chatfield, a No. 3 seed, beat No. 6 ThunderRidge 53-43 on Saturday to move on Class 5A boys basketball’s Sweet 16 in the state tournament.
Month: March 2014
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2A girls basketball’s regional tournament brackets
Girls basketball’s 2014 regional tournament brackets in 2A.
Seeding procedures: 1-8 true seed; 9-24 true seed with geographic considerations; 25-32 placed based on overall geography.
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2A boys basketball’s regional tournament brackets
Boys basketball’s 2014 regional tournament brackets in 2A.
Seeding procedures: 1-8 true seed; 9-24 true seed with geographic considerations; 25-32 placed based on overall geography.
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Photos: Ralston Valley wins second-straight hockey title over Monarch
DENVER — Ralston Valley got a big first-period goal from Greg Dyba en route to repeating as hockey champion with a 4-1 win over Monarch.
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1A boys basketball’s regional tournament brackets
Boys basketball’s 2014 regional tournament brackets in 1A.
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1A girls basketball’s regional tournament brackets
Girls basketball’s 2014 regional tournament brackets in 1A.
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Valdez’s answer goal sparks Ralston Valley to hockey’s title game
(Tim Visser/TimVisserPhotography.com) DENVER — There was no panic. Ralston Valley has been here, on this stage, many times before. Shoot, it was just last season that the Mustangs were hoisting hockey’s championship trophy above their heads.
So, no, an early 1-0 deficit was no cause for concern.
Kyle Valdez scored a big answer goal with five minutes left in the first period which ignited Ralston Valley’s bench. Victor Lombardi scored just 29 seconds later as the Mustangs took a 2-1 lead, one they would never relinquish as they skated away with a 6-2 win in the state semifinals at the Denver Coliseum.
(Tim Visser/TimVisserPhotography.com) Valdez’s goal was “huge to get us back in the game and get it tied up real quick,” Ralston Valley coach Matt Schoepflin said afterward.
“There wasn’t a whole lot of panic on our bench,” he added. “I think that’s kind of one of the luxuries we have this year — we have a veteran group, we have 17 seniors. Roughly half that locker room in there won the state title last year. We’ve been in this situation before, we’ve played in big games.”
Upstart Cherry Creek, in the midst of a major one-season turnaround, jumped all over the Mustangs as the game started.
Matt Jung turned that energy into the 1-0 lead just 4:26 in. That held up until Cherry Creek’s Mark Saxelby went off for roughing and Valdez scored on the ensuing power play with 5:08 to go in the period.
“That was big to change the momentum in the game,” Valdez said. “That power-play goal really set the tone for the rest of the game.”
Lombardi then took a pass from Greg Dyba in front of the net, made one deke to his left and made it 2-1. Quickly, swiftly.
Three minutes later, Dyba streaked in from the right side, cut in front of the net and beat Cherry Creek goalie Aaron Jatana low to his right. It was 3-1. Just like that.
“We’re kind of a momentum team,” Schoepflin said. “If we get one, we like to stay hungry and get two, and then get three. Our big philosophy is just come wave after wave so it’s not just one line, it’s everybody.”
Neither team scored in the second period — despite six combined power play chances, including a 5-on-3 for each team — and it was Ralston which came out firing in the third.
(Tim Visser/TimVisserPhotography.com) Austin Resseguie scored 3:05 into that period. Tyler Morpurgo added a power-play tally on a deflection in front of the net 2:46 later. It was 5-1 in a flash.
Garrett Schaff added Ralston Valley’s final goal of the night, and Matt Jung closed the scoring for Cherry Creek.
Cherry Creek won just two games last season, but made a surprising run to the semifinals this year. The Bruins are set to carry a lot of momentum into next season.
However, Friday night, Cherry Creek finished 0-for-5 on the power play, and was outshot 48-17.
“We’ve got the best penalty killers in the league,” Valdez said. “Just staying active on them and not giving them any time to move around.”
Ralston Valley has allowed just 38 shots in three playoff games, and is constantly in shooting lanes.
“A big thing with this group is sacrifice, so if that means you have an opportunity to block a shot, you gotta block a shot,” Schoepflin said. “It’s part of it. We talk about it a lot, we focus on it a lot, and I think everyone in that room has definitely bought into that.”
The Mustangs have now won their past 29 games in a row, and are 32-0-1 over their past 33. Add in the fact that Ralston Valley is the defending champion, and it’s clear who the team to beat is in this sport.
“I think we’ve had a target on our back for the last couple of years,” Schoepflin said. “We talk a lot about how we’re going to get every team’s best game.”
Saturday, in the state championship, they’ll get another team’s best shot.
“This was our goal from day one of the summer,” Schoepflin said. “This is their goal, this is where they wanted to be. I think we’ll be ready (Saturday).”
(Tim Visser/TimVisserPhotography.com) 
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Monarch returns to hockey’s championship game with third-period rally
(Tim Visser/TimVisserPhotography.com) DENVER — He waited, waited, waited and time slowed. Monarch’s Cameron Taggart had the game on his stick.
It was 1-1 late in the state hockey semifinals, less then eight minutes remained. Taggart had corralled a rebound in front of the Regis Jesuit net during a 5-on-3 power play, and sat in the low slot looking for an opening.
Regis Jesuit goalie Sam Harden had been a wall most of the night, and as Taggart waited, he finally found an opening. And buried a shot in the top left corner. The goal held up as Monarch returned to the championship game with a 2-1 win over the Raiders at the Denver Coliseum on Friday.
(Tim Visser/TimVisserPhotography.com) “It was real slow,” Taggart said. “It was just so slow, and then finally it just opened up just enough for me to squeak it by.”
Said Monarch coach Jimmy Dexter: “Unbelievable that he had that kind of patience to wait and wait and look and kind of find that spot.”
Taggart’s goal came exactly 2:10 after Monarch was finally able to crack Harden. Walker Harris, the Foothills Conference’s leading scorer during the regular season, snuck a shot from the point past Harden, who was screened by Tagart. That, too, came on the power play.
“He did a great job,” Harris said of Taggart, “got right in front, and (Harden) didn’t see it. I just put a good shot on it.”
The goal ended more than two periods of frustration caused by Regis Jesuit’s outstanding defensive scheme which had limited scoring chances to that point. The frustration was compounded by the fact that the Raiders led 1-0 at the second intermission.
“We were definitely frustrated” after the first two periods, Dexter said. “It was nice to come in between periods and get these guys together and say, ‘We’ve got to come together as a team.’
“I see guys pouting, I see heads down. I’m like, ‘Guys, it’s 1-0. We can score four goals in a period easily.’ I’m like, ‘Let’s be positive and let’s do it.’ And they responded.”
(Tim Visser/TimVisserPhotography.com) Monarch came out a different team in the third period.
“We’re family,” Walker said, “and we didn’t want our season to end there.”
Walker’s goal, especially, signaled a huge shift in momentum.
“You could see it,” Dexter said. “They knew once they got one by Sam, they could get another. He’s tough to beat.”
Monarch did add another when Taggart notched his on the 5-on-3 opportunity. But the Coyotes couldn’t look ahead to Saturday’s title game quite yet — they took two minor penalties in the game’s final six minutes.
And, if not for some outstanding goaltending from Ian Oden, who finished with 22 saves, Monarch’s night might have ended much differently. Monarch killed both despite a flurry of Regis chances.
“It was scary. The last three minutes of the game we were holding on with taking penalties,” Dexter said. “Ian just stood on his head that last few minutes. Unbelievable. I don’t know, he wanted it.
“We’ve been waiting for our goalies to win us a game all year and Ian finally did it. It was awesome.”
Connor Brennan scored Regis Jesuit’s only goal on a 5-on-3 advantage. Harden finished with 29 saves.
The Coyotes now get their rematch with Ralston Valley in Saturday’s championship, which is at 3:30 p.m. The two teams met in last season’s championship game and the Mustangs skated off with a 5-1 win. Ralston also won 4-1 when the teams met this season on Jan. 14.
“We so excited. We need revenge,” Taggart said. “We’ve been waiting for this all year, to get revenge.”
“We got back (to the title game), we did what we needed,” Harris added. “Can’t wait for 3:30 (Saturday). We’ve got to come out and play better than we did today.”
(Tim Visser/TimVisserPhotography.com) 
(Tim Visser/TimVisserPhotography.com) 
(Tim Visser/TimVisserPhotography.com) 
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Lakewood powers into 5A girls hoops Sweet 16 with win over Doherty
Lakewood senior Jessica Brooks (2) shoots over Doherty’s Meagan Kramer and Ivory Masching on Friday night. Brooks had a game-high 18 points in the Tigers’ 62-31 victory. (Dennis Pleuss) LAKEWOOD — A motivated Lakewood girls basketball team made a statement in the second round of the Class 5A state tournament Friday night.
The Tigers (23-1) doubled-up No. 7-seeded Doherty with a score of 62-31, advancing the No. 2 seed from the Rhonda Blanford-Green Region into the Sweet 16. The 5A Jeffco League champions were a little miffed with being put in the same side of the bracket as defending state champion Regis (22-2) and last year’s state runner-up Highlands Ranch (20-4).
“A lot of teams don’t give us the credit I think we deserve,” Lakewood senior Jessica Brooks said after scoring a game-high 18 points against Doherty. “It feels great to show people that they are wrong and we are a really good team.”
Lakewood sophomore Madeleine Coughlin (5) attempts to get around Doherty senior Mariah Willey on Friday night. (Dennis Pleuss) Lakewood will host No. 3-seeded Highlands Ranch on Tuesday, March 4, at Lakewood High School in the Sweet 16. Highlands Ranch easy handled Cherokee Trail, 91-53, on Friday night in another second-round game.
Highlands Ranch eliminated Lakewood from the state tournament in the round of 16 last season. The Falcons ended the Tigers’ postseason run with a 60-40 defeat. Highlands Ranch eventually finished as the state runner-up to Regis.
“It was going to happen anyways. It just comes a little early,” Lakewood coach Chris Poisson said of facing the Falcons in the Sweet 16. “Highlands Ranch is a different team. We are a different team. We are both younger. We aren’t going to talk about the past.”
The Tigers are attempting to duplicate its deep run in the state tournament Lakewood had in 2008. Lakewood advanced to the state quarterfinals before losing to ThunderRidge.
Lakewood’s road won’t be easy. The region could be considered the deepest of the four regions. The top three seeds in the region — Regis, Lakewood and Highlands Ranch — were ranked first, third and seventh in the final CHSAANow.com 5A girls basketball poll.
Top-seed Regis handled Rocky Mountain 67-32 on Friday. Ralston Valley (20-5) is next up for the defending state champs. The No. 5-seeded Mustangs scored a 73-37 road victory at No. 4 seed Brighton on Friday. Regis will host Ralston Valley on Tuesday night.
Lakewood never trailed against Doherty on Friday night. The Tigers led 30-12 at halftime thanks to a huge first half from Brooks and sophomore McKenna Bishop. The duo combined for 20 points in the first half.
“Jess (Brooks) and Big Mac (Bishop) were great down low,” Poisson said. “They dominated and everyone else played the way they needed to play.”
Lakewood sophomore Marissa Morton, left, plays tight defense on Doherty freshman Aleita Amparan during the second round of the Class 5A girls basketball tournament Friday night. Lakewood advanced to the Sweet 16 with a 62-31 victory. (Dennis Pleuss) Doherty was focused keeping Lakewood’s leading scorer Mackenzie Forrest in check. The Spartans (11-13) used a box-and-one defense, limiting her to four points. The sophomore guard was never able to get on track offensively because of foul trouble. She eventually fouled out with 6:36 left in the fourth quarter.
“We knew we wanted to shutdown 33 (Forrest). If we could take away 20 points per game we felt like we had a chance,” Doherty coach Pat McKiernan said. “We just couldn’t shoot the ball.”
Senior Mariah Willey led the Spartans in scoring with eight points. Doherty was limited to single-digit points in three of the four quarters.
Doherty had a little run early in the third quarter to cut Lakewood’s lead to 35-21, but the Tigers quickly responded with a 12-0 run to push the lead to 26 points before the start of the fourth quarter.
Lakewood turned Forrest’s foul trouble into a positive. Sophomores Marissa Morton, Marisela Perez, Madeline Miller and Madeleine Coughlin all had strong games. Senior Gabby Carbone contributed a trio of 3-pointers in the Tigers’ 12th straight victory.
“It gave an opportunity and everyone stepped up,” Poisson said of having Forrest playing limited minutes. “Everyone played better defense. Everyone made key shots.”
Lakewood sophomore Madeleine Coughlin (5) looks for an open teammate while being covered by Doherty freshman Aleita Amparan during the first half Friday night. (Dennis Pleuss) -
Denver West, en route to reviving glory days, advances in 4A boys tournament
(Brock Laue) COLORADO SPRINGS — Denver West boys basketball had a tradition of producing great teams and players in the 1950s, 1960s, 1970s, and 1980s.
Robert Coyne played on a national championship team at Kansas in the 1980s and in the NBA. Gary Rhoades had an illustrious career at Denver West, setting the DPL single season record for points per game with a 29.9 average during the 1968-69 season and was an all-conference player at Colorado State. Prolific basketball coach Bob Caton, the head man at Highlands Ranch, was an all-city player for Denver West and then a starter at Colorado State.
The Cowboys have a history of excellence in boys basketball, but had been a consistent bottom feeder in the Denver Prep League in the 2000s.
Denver West is officially back in the hoops picture with one of the state’s premier 4A teams.
The Cowboys, led by first-year head coach Ray Valdez, the younger brother of Lincoln head coach Vince Valdez, displayed their best team in at least 15 years Friday afternoon. No. 3-seeded Denver West defeated No. 6 Frederick 81-72 in a fast-paced, hot shooting second round game at Sand Creek, the No. 2 seed in the Guy Gibbs Region and host school for the game.
Denver West, a young team with two sophomores and a freshman starting, began the game on fire with a 28-point first quarter led by Eduardo Rosales’ 11 points and Alpha Diallo’s ten points.
They held a 13-point lead to start the second quarter, but Frederick fired back as seniors Austin Rivera and Alex Therrien, the leading scorers this season for the Warriors, caught fire. Rivera pumped in 10 points and Therrien had eight in the quarter as the two combined for all of the team’s points.
Rivera tallied 17 first-half points, but Denver West continued their efficient display offensively and led 43-33 at the break.
“We’ve been preaching to them that they have to play each play like it’s their last and they did that tonight. They kept attacking,” Frederick coach Larry Frank said about Therrien and Rivera.
Frederick was unable to contain Diallo, though.
The ultra-talented 6-foot-6 sophomore wing used his quickness and all-around athletic ability to score 17 first-half points. He also grabbed several rebounds and showed off vision and passing ability in the open floor. Diallo is considered one of the premier sophomores in Colorado and looked it Friday.
“My teammates did a good job setting me up for open shots and I just had to repay them by hitting the shot,” Diallo said afterward.
“He’s really good,” Valdez said of Diallo. “We’re able to plug him into a hole where we think there may be a weakness and the other guys are so good at spacing around him. They do a really good job of getting into his vision lane. Our guys do a really good job of going to where he can see them and they space him really well, so that he is able to do some of the things that he is pretty dynamic at.”
Frederick’s Therrien, averaging 14.9 points per contest, continued to keep the Warriors within striking distance with 15 third-quarter points. He drained a ridiculously tough buzzer-beating 3 from just inside half-court to end the quarter down 61-53. He was dynamic shooting the ball as West struggled all evening getting out on the senior.
For how hot Therrien was throughout, Denver West was even hotter and never let up. Diallo had a quiet two points in the third, but closed strong with nine fourth quarter points and helped seal the 81-72 victory for the Cowboys.
“They were really, really good at handling their first playoff game,” Valdez said afterwards. “You walk in nervous and instead of trying to overdo things, they kind of allowed themselves to do the things that they know they can do well. They did a wonderful, wonderful job.”
The Cowboys exhibited pure talent with the likes of Alpha Diallo, savvy and intelligent sophomore guard Eduardo Rosales, a great shooter, quick and dynamic playmaking freshman Jose Rodriguez, and 6-foot-8 inch Jesus Martinez, a sophomore shot-blocker.
They showed leadership with senior guard Jason Medina, a do it all guard who is a tough defender.
“Jason’s really made it smooth,” Valdez said of his senior leader’s help in guiding the young team. “We’re young and do silly things, but Jason has been like another assistant. He’s been like an on-floor coach.”
Denver West revealed a well-oiled system on offense and defense, and they displayed great coaching with Valdez and former Lincoln players, Eric Carrasco and Saul Torres, as two of his assistants. Carrasco and Torres were starters on Lincoln’s 4A state championship teams in 2007 and 2008, the first state titles of any kind at the school since 1968, so they are all too familiar with building successful programs at schools like Denver West.
Diallo finished the game with a team high 28 points. Rosales and Rodriguez had 14 points each and Medina chipped in 13 for Denver West.
“He has to learn a little more heel and not so much attack,” Valdez said, laughing when describing Rodriguez, “but he’s very dynamic in a lot of the things he does. He’s just really fearless.”
Frederick’s Therrien went off for 32 points, 21 in the second half alone. Rivera scored 21 points as the two senior guards combined for 53 of the Warriors’ 72 points and were poised and effective all game.
“They answered every one of our runs,” Frank said after the defeat. “When you shoot 75 percent — which I don’t know if that’s the actual figure yet, but today they (Denver West) shot the ball extremely well.
“They deserved the victory, but the best part about it is I’m so proud of my team. They could’ve easily folded and they gave it their all and laid it all out on the court. That’s what sports and life, in general, is about. There’s only one team that’s going to end up with a win at the end of their season and that’s the state champs. We had a great season, set the school record in wins, and it was a great group of kids, great group of three seniors.”
Frederick went 18-6 this season and reached the second round, a year after a 17-7 campaign that saw a first-round exit with a 62-55 loss to Greeley Central. The Warriors had a very strong season with a second place finish behind Mead in the Tri-Valley League.
Denver West continues its dream season with an appearance in the Sweet 16 for the first time in as long as anyone can remember. The Cowboys will take on No. 2 seed Sand Creek, the co-champions of the perennially tough Pikes Peak League, and a team featuring Air Force recruit Dylan Clark. Clark and Langston Bell form a talented backcourt for the Scorpions. Sand Creek defeated Steamboat Springs 64-49 in the night game at Sand Creek on Friday.
The Sweet 16 game between Denver West and Sand Creek, the host, is scheduled for 5 p.m. on Saturday evening. The winner will take on either D’Evelyn or Mead in the Great 8 at the Denver Coliseum on Saturday, March 8.
Denver West boys basketball, a serious Final Four contender in 4A, is tasting a little bit of their glory years again.