More photos (Dan Mohrmann/CHSAANow.com)

HIGHLANDS RANCH — In a loss to Golden on Jan. 8, the Valor Christian Eagles did not resemble the state championship contender they appeared to be Saturday night.

The Demons started strong, hoping to repeat their performance that gave the Eagles their only loss of the season, but it was Valor which came away with the 62-46 win in a battle of two teams sitting inside the Class 4A CHSAANow.com top 10.

By correcting what they felt was a mistake earlier in the month, the Eagles (18-1 overall, 8-1 Jeffco League) are now back on a path they feel they belong on as the basketball postseason draws closer.

“We wanted it real bad,” Valor forward Jalen Sanders said. “This one was special to us because they were our only loss on the season and we felt like we were on a roll coming in.”

Sanders was the workhorse on offense for the Eagles as he scored a game-high 23 points. But it was the immense pressure that Valor put on the Demons (12-5, 8-1) defensive that proved to be the key factor.

Golden came out in the first quarter and tried to seize the momentum early. Kayden Sound scored 10 of his team-high 19 points in the quarter to help his team jump out to a 20-15 lead.

Controlling the pace was a big part of the game plan for Golden coach John Anderson. But when the pressure started getting turned up and the Eagles were scoring in transition, Anderson knew that his team was going to have a tough battle ahead of them.

“I told them it would benefit us to keep it in the 50’s,” he said. “We turned the basketball over too many times and they convert. They probably had 10 or 12 points off turnovers.”

But it wasn’t just the defensive pressure that was getting to the Demons. Valor’s desire to avenge the loss had them hustling everywhere they needed to on the floor. Whether it was getting in position to take a charge and grabbing an offensive rebound, the effort the Eagles displayed was second to none.

And once the Eagles found a little bit of spark in the third quarter, they really began to grasp the momentum of the game. Off a steal, forward Dylan McCaffrey threw down a dunk that brought the home crowd to its feet. Sanders followed it up with a steal and a quick layup to give Valor a 35-31 lead.

It was then that the Eagles pulled away, giving them a key league win that once again puts the Jeffco title in play.

“We can’t stay humble with just this big win,” Valor forward Josh Randle said. “We have to finish out the season strong because we’ve worked hard to get where we are and we can’t let up by letting league games slip by us.”

The biggest obstacle for the Eagles is now Evergreen who sits at third place in the league standings. Valor will travel to the Cougars’ gym on Feb. 11 to conclude league play.

HIGHLANDS RANCH — No. 4 Valor Christian boys basketball avenged an earlier loss to No. 6 Golden with a 62-46 victory on Saturday.

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LAKEWOOD — Mackenzie Forrest had 30 points as fourth-ranked Lakewood beat Fossil Ridge 55-40 on Saturday.

The Tigers are now 14-3, and have won nine games in a row.

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Ralston Valley’s Ashley Van Sickle. (Matt Mathewes/MVPSportsPics.com)

Ralston Valley junior Ashley Van Sickle recorded a rare quadruple-double in a game earlier this season.

Playing against Bear Creek on Jan. 20, Van Sickle had 25 points, 13 rebounds, 11 assists and 10 steals as her team beat the Bears 73-30.

Prior to that game, Van Sickle had recorded one double-double — a 22-point, 11-rebound performance in a win over Cherokee Trail on Dec. 1. She also had six steals against the Cougars.

This season, Van Sickle is averaging 17.1 points, 6.4 assists, 5.4 rebounds and 5.2 steals.

Ralston Valley is ranked sixth in the latest Class 5A girls basketball rankings. The Mustangs reach the 5A Great 8 at the Denver Coliseum last season.

Highlights of Van Sickle’s quadruple-double is below.

(Josh Watt/CHSAANow.com)

AURORA — The athletic department-wide restriction on Pine Creek was lifted by CHSAA commissioner Paul Angelico on Friday following a mutually agreed-upon improvement plan between the school and CHSAA.

Angelico confirmed to CHSAANow.com that the restriction was lifted. The resolution to the restriction is due in large part to an 18-point plan from Pine Creek to ensure that all CHSAA rules are known and followed.

“The plan that they have submitted to ensure awareness, knowledge and compliance is exemplary, and could be used as a model by any school,” Angelico said.

Pine Creek’s plan is aimed to fix issues that caused the restriction in the first place. The Eagles’ athletic department was placed on restriction in early January following incidents in the fall and winter. Under CHSAA bylaws, teams on restriction are prohibited from competing in the postseason.

But the school and the CHSAA office had been working on the issue throughout January to ensure the Eagles’ athletes could participate in the upcoming postseason. It is very rare that a restriction is not lifted prior to the postseason.

Pine Creek’s athletic department is now on probation, as per CHSAA bylaws. Any school or program removed from restriction is placed on probation as a next step.

Boulder girls soccer will have a new coach this spring. (Kai Casey/CHSAANow.com)

Jason LaMere, who helped build The Pinnacle’s program into a postseason contender, has been named the new girls soccer coach at Boulder.

The school announced the hire on Friday.

LaMere had been the co-coach at The Pinnacle with his wife, Jessica, since 2010. In the past two seasons, the Timberwolves went 23-9-0 in Class 3A and made the state tournament both years. Prior to coaching girls, he helped start The Pinnacle’s boys program.

“He is very excited about making an immediate impact on the Panther girls soccer program,” Boulder athletic director Eddie Hartnett said of LaMere in a statement.

LaMere replaces Ryan Henkel, whose teams were 22-21-5 in three seasons.

Boulder went 7-7-1 last season. The Panthers graduated six seniors off of last year’s roster.

LaMere will be introduced to his new team at a meeting next Tuesday.

Girls soccer’s 2016 season begins with practice on Feb. 29. Games begin March 10.

(Dan Mohrmann/CHSAANow.com)

MONUMENT — Lewis-Palmer is going to get everyone’s best shot, and they know it. But that’s to be expected as the CHSAANow.com No. 2 ranked team in the state.

Still, with the right preparation, effort and execution, the Rangers are looking more and more like a team that could emerge from 2015-16 season hoisting a state championship trophy.

Friday’s 72-59 win over Sand Creek was just another example of how deep the Rangers are and how their work and effort will help them reach the highest levels this year.

“We just keep doing the same thing every day,” Rangers guard Jonathan Scott said. “If we do the same thing every day and we don’t slack off at any point and we play defense hard in practice, (our high level of play) is never going to die.”

Scott led his team in scoring with 23 points, but he got plenty of help from his teammates. The Rangers (16-1 overall, 8-0 Pikes Peak Athletic Conference) had four players score in double figures.

But that’s just the way the team works. Scott might be the player who most often has the hot hand, but if someone else steps up and starts knocking down shots, the team isn’t afraid to keep feeding that player so long as it results in a win.

“It makes a big difference,” Lewis-Palmer coach Bill Benton said. “We have four guys averaging double figures, it could be five if we really wanted to. They understand if someone is hitting or if someone else is being taken away, one of them will have to step up.”

While the Scorpions (9-7, 4-4) aren’t as deep as the Rangers, they still have the x-factor in D’Shawn Schwartz. Sand Creek trailed 30-21 at halftime and there was danger that the game could get out of hand, but Schwartz fought to bring his team back.

He scored the first nine points of the second half for the Scorpions and cut the Lewis-Palmer lead to 34-30. As was the case in Wednesday’s loss to Vista Ridge, Sand Creek once again showed it is a second-half team, with Schwartz being the catalyst.

If they could put together four solid quarters, they could be a very dangerous team in a Class 4A field that runs extremely deep.

“I think they know it,” Scorpions coach Mark Bowers said. “I don’t think they’re willing to accept it. I had a lot of conversations with my kids and I utilized some of my resources. I’m excited after tonight. I truly am. With what they did, if they keep building on that, if we make the playoffs I think we could be one to watch for.”

Schwartz finished with a game-high 25 points, showing at times that he has the ability to take a game over and score at will, even with a standout defender like Scott playing blanket defense.

“I still played as hard as I could on defense, he just played amazing,” Scott said.

The Scorpions were able to pull to winning six late in the game, but it was Joe Decoud with a layup and then a back-breaking 3-pointer that helped the Rangers pull away. Through the tough moments in every game and even knowing he will take every team’s best shot Benton is able to relax knowing that he has a group of seniors that know how to pull out the close wins.

“Having five seniors makes a big difference,” he said. “These guys have been in games. They’ve been in tight games, big games. They’re not rattled by a lot of stuff.”

(Brie Thomas/CHSAANow.com)

HIGHLANDS RANCH — With a packed Grizzly Den, a showdown was sure to happen between No. 7 Rock Canyon and No. 5 ThunderRidge in an important conference game.

Both the Grizzlies and the Jaguars were undefeated in conference play heading into the top-10 Class 5A matchup, but that all changed Friday night when Rock Canyon pulled away with a 44-43 victory of the Grizzlies.

The game started out with each team trading baskets. ThunderRidge senior Clay Verk started the game with three back to back baskets putting ThunderRidge ahead by two, 6-4. Rock Canyon countered those baskets tying the game with five minutes left to play.

Looking for a sudden spark, Kaison Hammonds drained a 3-pointer, giving the Grizzlies just what they needed. The lead that ThunderRidge gained was short lived as Rock Canyon marched down the court and hit a 3-pointer of its own.

With three minutes left to play in the quarter, the Grizzlies were unable to get a ball to drop, giving Rock Canyon the opportunity to strike. And the Jaguars did just that, after Elijah Rodriguez fouled Colin Rardin on a 3-point attempt. Rardin stepped up to the charity stripe, knocking down two free throws, giving Rock Canyon an 11-10 lead after one.

The second quarter started out just like the first one ended for the Jaguars, with Sam Masten nailing a 3-pointer, extending Rock Canyon’s lead to four. After the start of the second quarter, Masten finally had found his rhythm, rattling off nine second quarter points.

“I thought I played really well, the ball was going in tonight, so I was just feeling it, I was trying find spots to score and get my teammates involved,” Masten said after the game.

ThunderRidge was looking to strike and cut down the lead, that’s when big man in the middle Clay Verk stepped up. Verk aggressively drove to the basket and was fouled on his way up. After knocking down the free throw, ThunderRidge pulled within four, 20-16.

With the momentum shifting in the Grizzlies direction, Troy Brady drove to the basket, making the layup. The halftime buzzer sounded and the teams headed to the locker room with Rock Canyon leading ThunderRidge 23-21.

The third quarter started out just the way the Grizzlies wanted, tying the game up at 23-23.

After Verk scored 13 first half points, Rock Canyon knew it had to do something to stop his aggressive play.

“We knew we were going to have to make plays and we were gonna have to get stops,” Rock Canyon head coach Kent Grams. “Clay Verk is so big, we talked about it at halftime, that we gotta find ways to limit his touches.”

After picking up two quick fouls, Verk was sent to the bench, giving Rock Canyon the fire power they needed in the post. ThunderRidge wasn’t playing strong defense, forcing coach Joe Ortiz to call a timeout.

It turns out the timeout gave Rock Canyon an edge, as the Jaguars came out of it and drained a 3-pointer giving them the lead back. The Jaguars were able to continue this momentum down the stretch as they made a 6-0 run on the Grizzlies, ending with a buzzer beater from Rock Canyon.

The fourth quarter started out a little shaky for both teams, as neither were able to get a ball to drop through the net.

The Grizzlies came out in the fourth quarter with a full-court press that led to a Jaguars turn over, giving them the ball back. Hammonds was able to get through the defense for a layup, but was fouled on the way up. He knocked down one of two free throws, cutting the Jaguars lead to five.

A silenced Grizzly crowd sat in the bleachers with looks of defeat upon them. Then Brady swooshed a 3-pointer right in front of the crowd, and the Grizzly faithful were alive again.

Rock Canyon found itself fouling ThunderRidge, allowing the Grizzlies to get to the line and cut the deficit to four with under three minutes to play.

With two agonizing minutes left, Rock Canyon extended the lead to 42-36 but the Grizzlies weren’t finished.

Austin Mueller of ThunderRidge was patiently waiting for one of his 3-pointers to drop and with 33 seconds left his moment had arrived, just when he needed it most. The Grizzlies were down by one and had the momentum.

Then a ThunderRidge foul sent Isaac Hirsch to the line. He hit both free throws giving Rock Canyon a 44-41 lead.

With a last chance effort, Hammonds was able to drop in an easy layup but the clock continued to run, giving Rock Canyon a 44-43 win over the Grizzlies.

“We knew it was going to be a battle but I’m so proud of our kids and they deserve all the credit,” Grams said.

ThunderRidge drops to 14-3 and next plays against Douglas County on Feb. 2.

Rock Canyon (16-2) will look to continue its win streak, now at seven games, when the Jaguars travel to Regis Jesuit that same night.

MONUMENT — Tenth-ranked Lewis-Palmer hockey beat Cheyenne Mountain 6-1 on Friday.

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COLORADO SPRINGS — Four different players scored as Pine Creek hockey beat Valor Christian 4-3 on Friday.

Logan Stein, Nicholas Warman, Alexander Brooks and Cameron Gillis all had goals for Pine Creek. Wyatt Kiewicz made 20 saves in net.

Luke Wheeler had two goals for Valor Christian.

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