LITTLETON — Ryan Case had a hat trick, Doug Klopenstine added four assists, and Cheyenne Mountain hockey topped Valor Christian 8-6 on Saturday.
Caleb Vigil led Valor Christian with three goals and two assists in the loss.
Month: January 2015
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Photos: No. 3 Cherry Creek hockey holds off No. 5 Resurrection Christian
CENTENNIAL — Tim Keohane had two goals and two assists, Brady Mielnicki made 33 saves, and No. 3 Cherry Creek hockey held off No. 5 Resurrection Christian 5-3 on Saturday.
Cherry Creek had leads of 3-0 and 4-2, but Resurrection Christian did its best to rally. The Cougars cut it to 3-2 and later to 4-3 but were unable to mount the comeback.
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Photos: Pomona wrestling claims team title at Top of the Rockies
LAFAYETTE — Pomona won the annual Top of the Rockies wrestling tournament on Saturday, edging second-place Arvada West by one total point. Thompson Valley placed third.
Top-10 team results:
1. Pomona (163.5)
2. Arvada West (162.5)
3. Thompson Valley (138)
4. Rio Rancho, N.M. (128.5)
5. Rocky Mountain (123)
6. Omaha North, Neb. (108)
7. Ponderosa (100)
8. Grand Island, Neb. (92)
9. Legacy (90)
10. Brush (89) -
Niwot’s Drake hits nearly full-court buzzer beater against Mountain View
Niwot senior Jonny Drake hit a one-handed buzzer-beater from way beyond halfcourt on Tuesday.
With 1.6 seconds left in the first half of Niwot’s boys basketball game against Mountain View, Miller took an inbound pass from the sideline opposite of the benches. Without dribbling, he heaved the ball with his right hand from a spot two feet beyond the opponent’s free-throw line.
The shot hit the back of the rim and dropped in — and stunned the crowd. It took them a moment or two to realize what happened before they erupted.
The 3-pointer cut into Mountain View’s lead to make it 21-18 at halftime, and Niwot went on to win 44-39.
Watch the shot here:
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No. 1 ThunderRidge girls basketball grinds out road win over No. 3 Highlands Ranch
(Dan Mohrmann/CHSAANow.com) HIGHLANDS RANCH — Let them play.
That’s what Paula Krueger had to tell herself as her No. 1-ranked ThunderRidge Grizzlies entered the fourth quarter locked in a tie with No. 3 Highlands Ranch.
And not coaching the team worked. She just let them play and the result was a 51-44 win for 5A’s top-ranked team.
“I just needed to let them play,” Krueger said. “My first timeout of the second half, I said — for the first time in 22 years — ‘don’t listen to me, just go play.’”
An identical combination of baskets ended the first quarter with the teams locked in a tie. Two three-pointers, two two-point field goals and two free throws left the game in a 12-12 tie.
The second quarter was anything but ideal for the Grizzlies (13-2 overall, 3-0 5A Continental League) as they could only muster five total points. They went into halftime trailing the Falcons (12-4, 2-1) by four.
On the road.
And that was when Krueger just her let her team play. They made up that four-point deficit to tie the game at 28 a piece after the third quarter. That’s when the team just got to play.
They fought off an offensive onslaught from Falcons guard Symone Starks (16) and Leilah Vigil (13) who combined for 29 of Highlands Ranch’s 44 points. They attacked the basket in the fourth quarter and made their way to the free throw line frequently.
Up 43-41, senior Jessica Zweifel connected on four straight free throw attempts with three minutes remaining to give the Grizzlies a seven point cushion. With the home crowd desperately trying pump in noise, Zweifel showed poise when stepping to the line.
“Every time I go to the gym, my dad stands next to me and screams in my ear,” she said. “It prepares me for just this type of situation.”
Zweifel led the Grizzlies with 13 points and got support in the post from Jaz’myne Snipes who added 11.
ThunderRidge only got five points from Taylor Rusk who leads the team in scoring. The ability to win a top-five match-up without getting the usual production from their leading score speaks volumes to Krueger about her team.
“I think that’s why we’re the No. 1 team in state,” she said. “The rankings only count at the end of the year but to be where we’re at right now is a credit to being able to have seven, eight, nine players who can play at any given moment.”
With both teams playing at such a high level, it wouldn’t be a surprise to see a rematch of Friday’s game sometime in the state playoffs. While a win on the road would appear to give the Grizzlies an advantage, there’s no way that Krueger would take Highlands Ranch lightly if the two teams cross paths again.
“We’re even enough that if we play each other 10 times, it’s like a coin flip,” she said. “Whatever the odds may be, but tonight we won. I’m going to enjoy it, I want my kids to enjoy it and we’re going to get right back to work tomorrow.”
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Rock Canyon boys hoops grabs emotional OT win over Chaparral
(Zach Marburger/CHSAANow.com) HIGHLANDS RANCH — Led by senior guards Mitch Lombard and Tyler Garcia, the Rock Canyon Jaguars pulled off a stunning come-from-behind victory 66-59 at home over Continental League rival Chaparral Friday night.
“It’s so sweet,” said Garcia, who finished with a team-high 21 points. “We haven’t beaten them in the four years I’ve been here. It’s awesome to finally win one my senior year.”
The Jaguars (13-3 overall, 3-0 5A Continental League), ranked 8th in CHSAAnow.com’s weekly boy’s basketball rankings, had their hands full right out of the gate. The No. 6-ranked Wolverines (11-4, 1-1) were able to jump out to an early lead behind the work of seniors Jake Holtzmann and Chris Moody, who were each able to get into the paint at will in the first half.
And when the shots weren’t falling for Chaparral, they were able to out-muscle the Jaguars for offensive rebounds that lead to easy put-backs or fouls. At half, the Wolverines led 30-20.
About the only thing keeping Rock Canyon in the game was the work of Garcia, who was all over the floor — picking someone’s pocket in the backcourt, or streaking down the court for a coast-to-coast lay in.
“Tyler — I’ve never met a kid with more competitiveness in his heart and soul,” Rock Canyon head coach Kent Grams said. “It’s all he is. He’s the heart and soul of our team. When Tyler goes, we go.”
Still, despite Garcia’s best work, Rock Canyon still trailed big in the third quarter. That’s when Lombard — who’d been quiet for most of the game as Chaparral did a great job cutting off the passing lanes — began looking for his own points, hurling himself into the lane again and again.
“We talk about Mitch all the time,” said Grams. “He’s such a special kid. He does a great job of being able to put his team on his back when he needs to. It was an outstanding job by him. The leadership he brings to our team is outstanding.”
“We just got a sense of urgency in the second half, and we just realized it was go-time,” said Lombard. “We had to do something. We just decided to take over the game, and a lot of that was made possible by my teammates being open and making their shots.”
The deficit narrowed to six by the end of third quarter, but Rock Canyon still trailed — in fact, their first lead of the game didn’t come until overtime, when the Jaguars won the tip and Garcia slipped out for an easy lay-in to gain a 52-50 advantage.
From there, it was all Lombard, who barreled into the lane for lay-ins to stretch Rock Canyon’s lead out even further. Chaparral, despite a great effort from Holtzmann (who finished with 19 points) and Moody (who finished with 16, including a late three that kept the game tight), simply ran out of gas on the road.
Lombard finished with 19 points, including six in overtime.
“Resilience is something coach talks about day-in and day-out,” said Lombard. “He just says every time we get knocked down we’ve got to come together as a team and bounce-back, and that’s what we did.”
“We’ve been talking about facing adversity all year,” added Grams. “I’ve had these guys for three years now and we haven’t had a win like that. I’m just proud of our guys. We stuck together.”
Rock Canyon will look to ride their emotional high to another victory against Ponderosa on the road Tuesday, while Chaparral will try and bounce-back Tuesday on the road against Castle View.
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Mountain Vista hockey ends Ralston Valley’s 38-game winning streak
Mountain Vista players celebrate their win over Ralston Valley on Friday. More photos. (Matt Mathewes/MVPSportsPics.com) LITTLETON — They couldn’t get enough of the ice. So after taking down the two-time defending champions, after ending perhaps the most impressive winning streak in recent high school hockey history in this state, they returned to it with their fans.
And they celebrated.
Mountain Vista hockey beat Ralston Valley 4-3 on Friday night. The win ended Ralston Valley’s 38-game winning streak, as well as the Mustangs’ 42-game unbeaten streak.
The Golden Eagles, ranked No. 7 in this week’s CHSAANow.com poll, did it after being down 2-0 in the second period, and 3-2 in the third. They did it after weathering a two-minute 5-on-3 opportunity.
Top-ranked Ralston’s streak “didn’t really pop up until today,” said Mountain Vista goalie Tanner Munn, who made 33 saves. “We come to play hockey, and it doesn’t matter who we play. We’re going to show up and play our game.”
More photos. (Matt Mathewes/MVPSportsPics.com) “I didn’t really bring it up,” said Mountain Vista co-coach Joel Weeks. “I actually told the boys, ‘It’s just another game, another chance to play hockey with your buddies.’”
But — “They all knew it, for sure. With social media, they all knew it,” Weeks added. “We definitely tried to downplay it as coaches. It’s not a state championship game. It’s a game to send a message that we’re here to compete.”
Mountain Vista’s program started in 2011-12. Its been to the quarterfinals each season of play, but no further. Not to overstate the importance of one win, but finally knocking off Ralston Valley — the program in the sport over the past two-plus seasons — could signal the Golden Eagles are ready to take the next step.
Friday, Ralston Valley seized a 1-0 lead on Stefan Fruhwirth’s tip on the power-play early in a first period. It was a period in which Mountain Vista looked unorganized, and almost disinterested.
“The first period, the message inbetween was, ‘They haven’t seen us yet. We haven’t played hockey,’” Weeks said.
When RV made it 2-0 just over two minutes into the second period, you could almost write the script. The Mustangs had done this to so many teams over the past few seasons — grab an early lead, then squeeze.
But Nicholas Vitale answered 1:10 later on a wrist shot from the point that found its way past Ralston Valley goalie Scott Albertoni, who was screened.
Three minutes after that, Aiden Kirby knocked home a rebound after a scramble in front of the net. 2-2.
As the frame ticked on, Ralston Valley found itself going on a 5-on-3 power play. Just under four minutes remained in the period. Here was a chance to not only take the lead, but to potentially bury Mountain Vista.
Instead, Munn and the Mountain Vista penalty kill turned the Mustangs away. In fact, Ralston Valley managed just one shot during the entire two-minute, two-man advantage.
“And all of a sudden,” Weeks said, “you can feel that ice tilt, and you get hungrier.”
“It definitely game us some energy,” Munn said, “some positive energy.”
Mountain Vista had seized the momentum going into the second intermission. And yet, it was Ralston Valley — Cody Noel, shorthanded — which took a 3-2 lead 3:38 into the third.
“We told ourselves we were going to face adversity in the third period,” said Bryan Hancock, Mountain Vista’s captain. “We turned to our team and we were like, ‘Alright boys, we knew we were going to face this.’ And everybody just went stone-faced, got focused, we got ready to go back on the ice, and we turned it around just like that.”
More photos. (Matt Mathewes/MVPSportsPics.com) Hancock himself provided the answer a minute-and-a-half after Noel’s tally, his snap-shot off the faceoff beating a screened Albertoni on the far side, just above his blocker. Jake Dosen won the faceoff cleanly to set Hancock up.
“He told me exactly where to be. I was there,” Hancock said. “I knew the goalie was going to go down fast, so I just put it in the far side.”
As with Mountain Vista’s other goals, the winner came with a lot of traffic in front.
A group of Ralston Valley players in front of the net tried to clear the puck with Mountain Vista players bearing down. It bounced just outside the crease, and appeared as though a RV player inadvertently knocked it into his own net. Dosen was credited with the goal.
“Our whole mentality is dirty goals,” Hancock said. “We don’t want the fancy, dipsy-doodle goals. We want the dirty goals. So we have guys going to the net all the time.”
The win moves Mountain Vista to 9-1-1 this season, and rights a ship that temporarily went off-course with a 7-4 loss to Doherty last week.
“We lost earlier in the week, and we had to make a statement that we’re legit, we’re here, we’re ready to play,” Hancock said.
“Our team really is bonding this last half of the season,” he added. “We’ve started to turn it around and become a team, and it’s really, really fun. It’s fun to be a part of.”
More photos. (Matt Mathewes/MVPSportsPics.com) -
Photos: No. 7 Mountain Vista hockey upsets top-ranked Ralston Valley
LITTLETON — Mountain Vista hockey ended Ralston Valley’s 38-game winning streak with a 4-3 victory on Friday.
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Resurrection Christian boys basketball handles Highland
(Brock Laue/CHSAANow.com) LOVELAND — Bruce Dick has been around the block.
The boys basketball coach has won over 500 games in three coaching stints at Green Mountain (where he claimed a state title), Rocky Mountain, and now at Resurrection Christian in Loveland. He’s had success at the big school level.
On Friday at Rez, the Class 2A No. 2-ranked Cougars (12-0 overall) played like a 5A power in dismantling No. 3 Highland (12-1) 93-47 in a showdown between two undefeated teams.
“This is a team that would compete with so many of my past teams from Green Mountain and Rocky Mountain,” Dick said. “This is a good bunch of basketball players and great kids. I’m very thankful to be able to coach them.”
RCS, in front a raucous crowd, gave their fans much to be grateful for at both ends of the court.
After a closely contested 17-12 first quarter lead, the Cougars preyed on Highland’s offense in forcing 31 total turnovers, 17 of which came in the first half. Rez led 41-24 at the break.
“They played with great composure early and then just extended it and got on fire,” Dick raved. “Our defense is what got us on fire. Our defense is what really turned the game.”
A team averaging an all-classification best 85.5 points per game entering Friday, the Cougars unleashed perhaps their best weapon in the third.
Sophomore guard Tanner Ervin, a five-foot-seven dynamo and the team’s leading scorer, attempted nine three-pointers in the quarter. Five found net during a wild 17 point individual outburst. Resurrection Christian laid down a 31-9 licking of a quarter to lead 72-33 headed into the final frame.
Resurrection Christian’s Tanner Ervin. (Brock Laue/CHSAANow.com) Ervin was quick to credit his teammates for his blistering third.
“It goes back to unselfishness,” the sophomore said. “Everyone can get to the basket and that’s huge. We execute, get to the basket, draw the defense, and then I was just spotting up. My teammates were doing the rest.”
Ervin, who averages 19.4 points per game, finished with seven three-pointers on 16 attempts, buried seven of eight free throws, and scored 30 points, a new career high.
The sophomore’s shooting barrage put the crowd in a frenzy, but he wasn’t alone in the scoring department as teammates Luke Fick (14), Michael Stevenson (13), Kyle Lahr (11), Koby Bishop (10), and Luke Mondt (10) all contributed. Fick made seven of eight shots for a team that cashed 54 percent of their field goals.
“We have a lot of balance and they really like each other,” Dick said of his explosive offense. “They don’t care who scores. We have certain guys who will score a lot. One of our biggest faults in some games is that we’ve over passed even. They hang around each other, they like each other, and they’ve set some goals to try and achieve together.”
The Resurrection Christian defense held the Huskies to 37 percent shooting and limited Kadyn Hicks, 2A’s scoring leader at a clip of 26.2 per outing entering Friday, to 14 points.
Rez, 5-0 in the Mile High League and a team whose closest win this season was by 20 points over The Dawson School on January 13, appear poised for a run at the 2A crown, even if their coach avoids discussing it.
“We don’t talk about winning,” Dick noted. “We just talk about doing the right things, playing the right way, and if we take care of ourselves on and off the floor, good things will happen.”
“There’s a lot of good teams,” Ervin added.
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Photos: Team effort pushes No. 1 Regis Jesuit boys basketball past Legend
PARKER — Six players scored at least eight points as top-ranked Regis Jesuit beat Legend 61-52 in a Class 5A boys basketball game on Friday night.
Tony Caseria, Bryan Staerkel and Kip Boryla each scored 11 points, while Elijah Sanford and Nolan Ebel added nine. Taylor Kallsen had eight.
