Girls wrestling is getting a trial run this season.
A few girls-only tournaments have been set up as pilots as the possibility of adding girls wrestling continues to be explored. The idea was spawned out of a wrestling subcommittee which met on Nov. 15.
They will help in determining if “there are enough girls in the state that are interested in wrestling to make it feasible to add girls wrestling as a sanction sport,” according a letter from wrestling committee chair Ernie Derrera.
“We’re really in an exploratory phase right now,” said CHSAA assistant commissioner Harry Waterman, who is in charge of wrestling. “We’re trying to gather more information, and this will help in that.”
The first girls-only tournament will be held at Frederick High School on Jan. 14 in conjunction with the Warrior Invitational. Three-to-four others are tentative.
It’s possible that other girls-only tournaments will be held this season if the idea gains steam. Derrera’s letter to all wrestling schools was seeking teams willing to host other events.
The girls-only tournaments will use the following guidelines:
Any girls seeking to compete must be a current member of her high school team, and meet all eligibility requirements of student-athletes.
They tournaments will use seven of the 14 weight classes in place in California: 101, 111, 121, 131, 143, 160 and 189.
Girls who wrestle in a girls-only event cannot be “double-bracketed” into both the girls-only tournament and the concurring event.
Matches in girls-only events will not count towards season records, and they may not be used for postseason seeding purposes.
The girls-only tournaments will not count toward a team’s 28-point limit.
If the pilots are successful, it follows that the possibility of adding girls wrestling would become increasingly likely.
Any data gathered at these tournaments will be used by the wrestling committee as it continues to weigh if (and how) to sanction the addition of girls.
When talking about his star senior, Vista Ridge boys basketball coach Joe Hites can’t help the way he describes him.
“I refer to him as a throwback player,” Hites says of Hunter Maldonado. “We live in a pretty me-first society and he doesn’t pay attention to that.”
And it pays off.
Maldonado plays in the brutally competitive Pikes Peak Athletic Conference, but has always been successful. He earned second team all-league honors as a freshman and a year ago quietly stood above Lewis-Palmer’s Jonathan Scott and Sand Creek’s D’Shawn Schwartz as the PPAC player of the year.
After the Wolves made a run to the Class 4A Final 4, he started getting looks from college programs. In June, he announced that he’d be heading north to play for Wyoming. Another top-end talent was somehow able to escape the Colorado border.
“A week or two after (the state tournament) ended, a couple of colleges started talking me,” Maldonado said. “I loved the coaching staff (at Wyoming). I love the campus and I love the environment in Laramie.”
But first thing’s first.
Maldonado and the Wolves aren’t off to the kind of start that they were hoping for. They beat Denver South in triple-overtime to open the season, but have since dropped three straight. But that will not deter the future Cowboy.
It was right around this time a year ago that Vista Ridge got pummeled by Pueblo South. Like this year, Hites said that the team just needed to find its footing.
This year might prove to be a little more of a challenge as the Wolves have made the jump to 5A. But they’ll still play in the PPAC, making it a 5A/4A league for the next two years.
Things won’t necessarily be more difficult for Maldonado and if anything, it just gives him more motivation to succeed and prove that he belongs.
(Josh Watt/CHSAANow.com)
“Throughout every season, you have to learn these lessons of giving it your all every single day,” he said. “That’s what we’re doing right now. We’re going through a little patch of losses, but I’d rather do it now than later.”
He is the kind of player that a team needs to make sure that patch of losses doesn’t come later. He can rally the team together.
It’s not his talent on the court that does it, it’s his attitude. It’s why Hites likes to classify him as a throwback.
Maldonado’s most important trait as a basketball player is understand that the team will always accomplish more than he can individually. That’s what makes him stand out as a leader.
“He gets obligation,” Hites said. “He gets that you can’t do anything alone. He’s exceptionally humble and exceptionally appreciative.”
And when he’s on the court and in the zone, he tends to be exceptional overall.
Wyoming coach Allen Edwards has to be salivating to get Maldonado to Laramie. But there are things the young man still needs to do here in Colorado.
“I just want to be the best teammate I can be,” he said. “I just want to lead my team and do what needs to be done. We have some goals we want to get accomplished this season. I just want to get those done.”
For the next three months, it’s going to be a fun ride to watch him do just that.
Dakota Ridge sophomore Sydney Daniels, left, looks to make a move on Smoky Hill senior Rachel Lopez during the Eagles’ 73-15 win Wednesday night. (Dennis Pleuss/Jeffco Athletics)
LITTLETON — There might not be a tougher three-game stretch for Dakota Ridge’s girls basketball team the rest of the season after what the Eagles went through to start the year.
Dakota Ridge opened the 2016-17 campaign against Class 5A defending state champion ThunderRidge, two-time defending 4A state champion Valor Christian and perennial state contender Broomfield.
“It’s a challenge just to see where we are at,” Dakota Ridge’s second-year coach Diane Thompson said of scheduling three premier programs to start the season. “I tell these girls that we are going to grow. We’ve only played a couple of weeks together.”
While the Eagles went 0-3 to start the season, Thompson got a great test for her team that graduated eight seniors from last year’s team. Dakota Ridge had a 17-9 record and a solid third-place finish in the 5A Jeffco League in Thompson’s first season at the helm of the program.
Dakota Ridge junior Alexa Buchli is one of the few returning varsity players. (Dennis Pleuss/Jeffco Athletics)
It’s a very different looking team with only two returning varsity players in juniors Alexa Buchli and Skylar Lodice. Thompson said building strong team chemistry similar to last year’s team will be key. Wednesday night was a positive sign the Eagles are getting there.
Dakota Ridge (1-3 record) defeated Smoky Hill 73-15 in the opening round of the 2016 Holiday Classic At The Ridge that the Eagles host. Dakota Ridge grabbed a 24-0 lead after the first quarter and never looked back.
Smoky Hill (0-4) was led by senior Desiree Thomas, who had a team-high six points.
All nine players that suited up for Dakota Ridge scored. Senior Derica Marillo actually came off the bench to lead the Eagles with 16 points. Sophomores Maggie Hawley and Sydney Daniels pitched in 13 points each.
Daniels, a move-in transfer from Rock Canyon High School in Highlands Ranch, was impressive as the Eagles’ starting point guard.
“It’s been really smooth. I’ve loved it so far,” Daniels said of being at a new school. “Everyone here has made it super easy for me.”
Thompson has the task of filling the shoes of four-year varsity player Caitlin Navratil, who finished her career with 1,167 points. The 5-foot-2 guard averaged 17 points per game last year.
“Sydney is a great addition to our team. I didn’t even know she was transferring until a couple of weeks before the season,” Thompson said.
With a lot of new pieces to the puzzle this season, Dakota Ridge will be behind most of its opponents when it comes to experience playing together.
“We have really only been playing together for a few weeks. Other teams have been playing together for years,” Daniels said. “That’s hard, but we are getting there for sure.”
Thompson admitted there will be growing pains, but believes her team will get to where it wants to go at the right time.
“It’s definitely about building a foundation this year,” Thompson said. “We saw where we were early. We have a lot of things to work on to get better. I think we are going to peak at the right time.”
Dakota Ridge faces Doherty in the semifinals of the Holiday Classic. Tipoff is scheduled for 7 p.m. Friday, Dec. 9, at Dakota Ridge High School.
Dakota Ridge freshman Emily Doolittle (11) will add depth to the Eagles this season. (Dennis Pleuss/Jeffco Athletics)
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:
(Matt Mathewes/MVPSportsPics.com)
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!
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!
Wheat Ridge boys basketball coach Tommy Dowd (blue shirt) sits on the Farmers’ bench less than two months after a heart attack. (Dennis Pleuss/Jeffco Public Schools)
WHEAT RIDGE — On the surface it looked like a normal boys basketball season opener at Wheat Ridge High School on Tuesday night.
The lower-level squads for the Farmers sat behind the varsity bench when Wheat Ridge tipped it off against Greeley West. The cheerleaders and poms were in full force. There was a solid Wheat Ridge student section that stood the entire game.
And of course, Tommy Dowd was on the Farmers’ bench where he has been every year since taking over the boys basketball program in the 1997-98 school year. However, just a few months ago a heart attack nearly took Dowd’s life.
“It really changed my perspective on what to worry about and what is important,” Dowd said after a 65-54 loss to Greeley West. “What is important is getting everyone squared away and giving kids opportunities.”
Wheat Ridge players are glad they still have the opportunity to be coached by Dowd.
“We are just kind of playing for him,” Wheat Ridge senior Travis Cowan said of Wheat Ridge’s longtime coach and teacher. “He has been through a lot. We just want to make him proud.”
Wheat Ridge’s Payton Dietrich (2) is guarded by Greeley West’s Andre Sepeda on Tuesday. (Dennis Pleuss/Jeffco Athletics)
The heart attack hit Dowd while he was at home in mid-October. He hadn’t been feeling well for a couple of days, but had no idea it was so serious.
One way Dowd knew he was having a heart attack was the symptoms he was experiencing were similar to what Everett Middle School teacher Bill Gold, also a heart attack survivor, had described to Dowd.
Fortunately, Dowd’s youngest son Hank and his father-in-law was with him and were able to get him to Lutheran Hospital in Wheat Ridge within five minutes. Soon after arriving at the hospital he had a stent put into the artery that had a 100 percent blockage.
“I’ve got a clean bill of health with the doctor. They don’t expect anything,” said Dowd, who has had his oldest son and junior varsity coach Vince Dowd run practices so far this season. “Everyone is watching me and making sure everything is OK. You just feel so lucky that you have so many people want to check on me — coaches, players and friends. It’s been awesome the outpouring of support.”
Dowd had former students, players and parents come up to him after Tuesday’s game to ask him how he was doing.
“The really nice part about my job is there are so many kids you know that you don’t know that you had an impact on,” Dowd said. “When something happens to you everyone is checking on you.
The game-plan is to have Vince continue to run things for the next few weeks. Assistant coaches Joe Wallin, Shaun Mulligan and Stacey Coryell have also stepped in while Dowd has done more evaluating and observing.
“I’m comfortable doing it basketball wise. I also know I’m never going to fill his shoes here,” said Vince Dowd, who also teaches at Wheat Ridge High School.
Tommy Dowd has been involved as an assistant football coach, along with head boys and girls golf coach to go along with running the boys basketball program for nearly two decades.
“I’m happy that I’m able to do this, but I’m going to do it in a different way. “I’m still competitive. I still want to win. I still get a little pissed off,” Tommy Dowd said with a laugh.
The positive thing is the heart condition is more hereditary with plaque build up in his arteries, according to Dowd. It’s something he is taking medication to control.
Greeley West’s Darren DeLaCroix, right, attempts to block the shot of Wheat Ridge’s Jack Marvel. (Dennis Pleuss/Jeffco Athletics)
On the court Tuesday, Wheat Ridge juniors Naishon Thomas (20 points) and Payton Dietrich (11 points) had strong games. Cowan hit four 3-pointer on his way to 14 points, but it wasn’t enough against Greeley West (3-1 record).
The Spartans trailed 12-11 after the first quarter, but seniors Santiago Zuniga-Hernandez and Darren DeLaCroix led the way scoring 15 points each. Sophomore Andre Sepeda finished with a game-high 17 points, including 10 points in the final quarter as Greeley West sealed the victory.
“It’s hard for us to score at times,” Tommy Dowd said. “We need to identify some roles of people who should be shooting and getting more touches. We are a little out of sync.”
Dowd added he is excited about the young talent in the program, which includes 6-foot-10 sophomore Zeke Van Tuyl.
The Farmers finished in the middle of the pack in the deep 4A Jeffco League last season with a 8-7 conference mark. Wheat Ridge nearly upset No. 2 seed Sierra in the opening round of the 32-team 4A state tournament last season after the Farmers just made the field as a No. 7 seed.
There will be a little bit more margin of error the season with 4A going to a 48-team state bracket. The nine conference champions will get automatic bids and the rest of the field will be determined by RPI standings.
Wheat Ridge as a busy remainder of the week playing three games in the Skyline Falcon Challenge at Skyline High School. The Farmers open the tournament at 3:30 p.m. Thursday, Dec. 7, against Thornton.
Greeley West stays on the road, facing Windsor at 5 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 10.
Wheat Ridge junior Naishon Thomas (3) is fouled by Greeley West’s Darren DeLaCroix (3) and Andre Sepeda on a drive to the basket Tuesday. (Dennis Pleuss/Jeffco Athletics)
AURORA — The football committee has recommended a change to a 37.5/37.5/25 RPI formula as part of postseason qualification.
The recommendation, made Wednesday during the committee’s annual meeting at the CHSAA office, would be implemented with the 2017 season if it is approved by the Legislative Council in January.
It would mean a move away from the standard formula used during the 2016 season which took the following into account: 25 percent of a team’s winning percentage (WP), 50 percent of a team’s opponents’ winning percentage (OWP), and 25 percent of the winning percentage of the opponents of a team’s opponents (OOWP).
The recommendation is to move to:
RPI = (0.375 x WP) + (0.375 x OWP) + (0.25 x OOWP)
The RPI is used to capture the 16-team brackets in all classifications, with the possible exception of any league champions outside the top-16. League champions automatically qualify for the postseason.
The topic of RPI was a big one from the start of the meeting.
“The RPI system is new, and we knew there would be challenges. There are,” CHSAA assistant commissioner Harry Waterman told the committee. “It doesn’t matter what the system is, because that would be true under any system.
“We don’t believe that the system is broken,” he added. “However, we do have an opportunity to make changes that accomplishes some of our goals.”
Both Waterman and Mike Krueger, the committee chair who is the district athletic director at Aurora Public Schools, stressed that any possible decision should not swing too far back in the other direction.
“The first thing we need to think about is where we came from,” Krueger said, noting the former Wild Card points system used for playoff qualification that “was very broken.”
As the meeting wore on, each classification voiced displeasure with the current percentages in place for football’s RPI. A common thread among the feedback was a desire to increase the weight of a team’s own winning percentage within the formula.
The conversation quickly turned to which percentages should be considered, and the discussion centered on three options:
Evenly split at (1/3 x WP) + (1/3 x OWP) + (1/3 x OOWP)
35/35/30
37.5/37.5/25
After about an hour, the committee voted 10-3 to make the change to the 37.5/37.5/25 formula.
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Discussion of 5A waterfall alignment
The 5A class was the center of much discussion during the meeting, and a lot of that was because “5A underwent some pretty big changes in one fell swoop,” as noted by Horizon athletic director Eric Gustafson, a 5A rep.
Prior to 2016, the class went from a 32-team to 16-team playoff bracket, started using the RPI, and also changed to a new waterfall alignment, which has been met with mixed opinions.
“The thing I heard in 5A was (the waterfall alignment) really highlighted the disparity in 5A football,” Krueger said, “and I sit here, as the chair of this committee, extremely concerned about the schools on the lower end of 5A that may or may not be able to retain their programs because they haven’t been able to compete at the highest level.”
As such, the committee will explore options for alignment over the course of the next year.
“This was an idea that came from the membership, a lot of coaches primarily,” Krueger said of the waterfall. “We wanted equal leagues. This committee did that. Now that we have this system, we have to look at, possibly, in a year from now changing some things around to protect some of those programs.”
All that said, the alignment will not change for 2017. The committee is considering options for the 2018 and 2019 seasons.
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Notables:
6-man football talked about changing its mercy rule from 45 points to the 40 points used by every other classification, but no vote was called, and so it will stay at 45.
6-man also voiced concern that Hi-Plains, the eventual champion in the classification, drew a number of players from Flagler without an official co-op being filed. Under state law, players are allowed to play for a team in their district of residence or district of attendance if their own school doesn’t field a team. Flagler dropped its team just prior to the season. “It’s on our radar,” Waterman said.
3A discussed the fact that its championship game was hosted by a home team, and threw out the possibility of returning it to a neutral site, or removing the 5,000-seat mandate for a site to serve as a host. The 3A game has previously been at a neutral site, at Legacy Stadium in Aurora, but was moved to home sites in an effort to increase attendance.
The football officials association gave an update, and said that the 40-second play clock experimental rule “has improved the game experience” and has been an overall positive addition. Assuming the NFHS continues to approve, the rule experiment should continue.
D’Evelyn’s Bailey Marvel (15) and Izzy Lopez (10) pressure Conifer freshman Ella Challis on Monday. (Dennis Pleuss/Jeffco Athletics)
DENVER — The Jekyll and Hyde elements of D’Evelyn’s girls basketball team were on display Monday night in a non-league game against Conifer.
D’Evelyn had just one basket through nearly the first five minutes and trailed the Lobos 5-2. After missing shot after shot, the Jaguars poured in 19 points in the final 3 minutes, 15 seconds of the first quarter to take a 21-7 lead after the first eight minutes.
“It’s been happening a lot lately,” D’Evelyn senior Jill Smith said of the slow start. “We have been learning to overcome it by going to the basket.”
D’Evelyn senior Jill Smith pulls up for a jumper against Conifer. (Dennis Pleuss/Jeffco Athletics)
The Jaguars continued to demonstrate impressive scoring touch racking up 32 points in the second quarter to take a commanding 53-14 lead at halftime. D’Evelyn, No. 8 in the CHSAANow.com 4A girls hoops preseason rankings, went on to improve its record to 3-1 on the season with an 83-37 victory over former league foe Conifer.
“We can score zero in four minutes and score 32 in eight minutes,” D’Evelyn coach Chris Olson said. “That is kind of the team we are. We’ve got to find a way to score easier baskets at the bucket.”
Seniors Payton Sampson, Smith and junior Angi Reed had 13 points each to pace the Jaguars. Sampson started a stretch of D’Evelyn outscoring Conifer 30-4 with her 3-pointer with 3:15 left in the first quarter.
Sampson and Reed both drained a trio of 3-pointers each before Olson went deep into his bench midway through the third quarter with D’Evelyn leading by as much as 51 points.
“I’ve been struggling for awhile,” Sampson said of her outside shot. “It felt pretty good to actually hit some shots.”
Complementing the Jaguars’ outside shooting with their signature full-court pressure defense that gave the Lobos fits. Conifer turnovers led into some easy buckets for D’Evelyn as the Jaguars took control after the rough start.
“This is probably one of the fastest teams we’ve ever had. That’s our advantage and we have to use it,” Olson said. “If we aren’t pressing and forcing turnovers then it’s a little tougher for us.”
Despite the loss, second-year Conifer coach Cara Walderman was pleased with her team’s effort. The Lobos (0-3 record) moved out of 4A Jeffco for the currently two-year cycle and will play in the Colorado 7 League for at least the next two years.
D’Evelyn sophomore Tori Szathmary (34) goes up for a shot Monday night. (Dennis Pleuss/Jeffco Athletics)
“I told them at halftime that it might seem we are down a bunch, but they were playing their hearts out. They really did,” Walderman said. “We’ve just got to control our turnovers and knock down shots.”
Conifer struggled to a 3-20 record last season, including a 2-12 league record.
“I’m happy to still be playing these Jeffco teams because they make us better. It’s the competition that I was always used to,” said Walderman, 2010 Conifer graduate, about playing Golden, D’Evelyn and Evergreen in non-league games. “I’ve got a lot of pride that way.”
Walderman is high on starting freshman point guard Jordyn West that finished with six points against D’Evelyn.
“I saw her (West) as an eighth-grader coming to our camps and I’ve been excited from there on,” Walderman said. “She leads the team really well. For her to be playing every minute of every game as a freshman is important for us.”
Junior Casey Schaeffer also had a nice game against D’Evelyn. Schaeffer had a team-high 16 points for the Lobos.
D’Evelyn is looking to get back into the 4A state title contender conversation after advancing to the state quarterfinals the past three seasons. Last year the Jaguars needed back-to-back overtime victories in the first two rounds of the state tournament to make the Great 8. League rival and eventual state runner-up Evergreen ended D’Evelyn’s season.
“We are trying to build on our tradition,” Olson said. “These kids have to build their own legacy. It’s their time now to make their mark. We talk about living up to that tradition.”
The Jaguars play a trio of games at the Northglenn Tournament starting with Rifle on Thursday, Dec. 8.
The Lobos have a little time to assess their first three games before another non-league road game against Ponderosa on Monday, Dec. 12.
Conifer freshman Jordyn West (2) drives past D’Evelyn sophomore Izzy Lopez. (Dennis Pleuss/Jeffco Athletics)
