LONGMONT — Brady Renck scored a game-high 16 points as No. 21 Longmont beat No. 44 Frederick 72-34 to advance in the Class 4A boys basketball tournament.
The Eagles grabbed a 54-38 victory over Grand Junction on Tuesday night in the opening round of the state tournament to earn a second-round date against No. 2 Grandview (22-1 record).
“Grandview is tough. We’ve got to have to pull some smoke and mirrors or something, and hope they don’t make any shots,” an honest Dakota Ridge coach Diane Thompson said after the win against the Tigers. “You just never know. That’s why you play the game. Win or lose you give it your all.”
Dakota Ridge (9-15) actually faced Grandview before the winter break on Dec. 15. The Wolves handed the Eagles a 88-16 loss. Junior Leilah Vigil scored 20 points for Grandview in the regular-season meeting.
Dakota Ridge freshman Emily Doolittle led the Eagles with 13 points Tuesday. (Dennis Pleuss/Jeffco Athletics)
The Eagles have gotten very familiar with Vigil over the past year.
Last season the senior-laded Eagles advanced to the Sweet 16 before losing to eventual state runner-up Highlands Ranch. Vigil, who transferred from Highlands Ranch to Grandview this season, scored 32 points for the Falcons in the playoff game that eliminated Dakota Ridge last year.
“I don’t know what we are going to do,” Thompson said of handling Vigil. “I’ll have to come out with some magic trick against Grandview to come out with that one.”
The Wolves are one of the clear favorites to win the state title, led by senior Michaela Onyenwere (UCLA recruit) and Vigil. Grandview’s lone loss this season came against Miami County Day at the Nike Tournament of Champions.
“I’m so excited to have that opportunity,” Dakota Ridge junior Skylar Lodice said of facing Grandview. “That’s what it’s all about. It’s what you put all the practice in for and all the hours you spend in the gym, to knock out a team like this. You never know.”
No. 31-seeded Dakota Ridge finished fourth in the Class 5A Jeffco League. Conference rivals Ralston Valley, Lakewood and Bear Creek received top-16 seeds that came with first-round byes.
On the Eagles’ home court Tuesday night, they looked to cruise past Grand Junction early on. Dakota Ridge’s full-court pressure defense created 14 turnovers in the first half. The Eagles led 34-11 a few minutes into the third quarter.
Grand Junction senior Tia Wright, left, attempts to get a shot off. (Dennis Pleuss/Jeffco Athletics)
However, the Tigers (4-18) made things interesting going on a 14-0 run over the span of 4 minutes to cut Dakota Ridge’s lead to single digits. The Eagles led 39-30 at the end of the third quarter.
Dakota Ridge freshman Emily Dolittle provided a much-needed lift with back-to-back 3-pointers 30 seconds apart to push the lead back to 15 points.
“Even if the bank is open at 9 o’clock at night we’ll take it,” Thompson joked about Dolittle’s second 3-pointer that banked in. “I just love Dolittle. She is a great kid. She works hard.”
Dolittle finished with a game-high 13 points. Sophomore Sydney Daniels, who spearheaded the Eagles’ tenacious defense, finished with a dozen points.
“I was very relieved,” Lodice said of Dolittle’s back-to-back 3-pointers. “It’s great to have players that just step up.”
Lodice finished with nine points and senior Celina Wilkerson led the bench scorers for the Eagles with eight points as the Eagles move onto the second round.
Thompson said she is encouraged with the progress of her young team that started the season with a 1-9 record.
“It was fantastic,” Lodice said of the first-round win. “We had a rough start to the season. It felt good to come out and get a big win at the start of the tournament.”
Grand Junction was led by senior Tia Wright’s eight points. The Tigers finished up their season losing 8-of-9 games.
Dakota Ridge junior Alexa Buchli, middle, looks for the room in the paint Tuesday night in the Eagles’ playoff opener. (Dennis Pleuss/Jeffco Athletics)
MANITOU SPRINGS — On a lukewarm February night, Ken Vecchio doesn’t want to reflect on any of his 500 career wins. He just wants his team to get ready to take No. 501.
But that didn’t stop athletic director John McGee and the fans at Manitou Springs High School from taking a moment to congratulate the man who has helmed the Mustangs for 31 years.
With a 60-36 win over Salida in the Class 3A Tri-Peaks district tournament, Vecchio became a winning coach for the 500th time in his career.
“(It’s been) a lot of years, a lot of good kids,” Vecchio said. “It’s all good at this point. I’ve had lot of fun doing this and I’ve gotten to be around a lot of good people during that time.”
It’s been quite the roller coaster ride. Vecchio has come close to playing for a state title, making the 3A Final 4 in 1991 with CHSAA hall of famer Justin Armour on the roster.
Despite a loss in the 2010 state tournament, he guided a talented team to the consolation championship, a banner that Vecchio and that team are proud to see hanging in the Manitou gym.
And even with the celebration and recognition afterward, Vecchio doesn’t want the spotlight on himself. He even went as far to make sure that his players didn’t know about the stakes that Tuesday’s game held. He wanted their attention on the task at hand so that this team can work toward a stellar finish to a season that included a 18-1 record.
Davyn Adamscheck. (Dan Mohrmann/CHSAANow.com)
“We had a couple of rumors going around,” senior Davyn Adamscheck said. “But for the most part we had no idea. You know how he is, he doesn’t like to congratulate himself. It’s always the team first. That’s what we respect about him. It’s never him before the team.”
And it’s been that way ever since he arrived at the school in the fall 1986. He has said on numerous occasions that he doesn’t judge success by wins or how far his teams get in the playoffs. He just wants the 12 or so kids on the roster to take the floor and play the best basketball they possibly can.
“Ken is a fantastic guy and a fantastic coach,” McGee said. “He’s not all about wins, and that’s what makes it so special. You watch a Ken Vecchio-coached team and it’s all about effort.”
Perhaps what’s been most special in recent years is that his son, Brian, has been able to share in the success with him. Of his 500 wins, 439 have come at Manitou. Brian has been on the bench for the last 186.
If the wins that Ken registered while Brian was a varsity player from 1999-2001 were factored in, father and son have been together for well over 200.
But the only focus now for either of them is win No. 501. The Mustangs are back in action in the Tri-Peaks semis against Buena Vista. A win there could set up a rematch with Colorado Springs Christian, who beat Manitou 40-38 back on Jan. 24.
“We’re working on Buena Vista tomorrow,” Vecchio said after Tuesday’s win. “We’ll be ready to play them on Friday. We’re still going one at a time here. It’s worked for us okay so far so we’ll play it like that.”
Brian Vecchio (left) congratulates his dad on win No. 500. (Dan Mohrmann/CHSAANow.com)
INDIANAPOLIS — New rules on blindside blocking are the most recent steps taken by the National Federation of State High School Associations (NFHS) Football Rules Committee in minimizing the risks associated with the sport.
The establishment of a new definition of a blindside block in Rule 2-3-10 and the addition of Rule 9-4-3n prohibiting a blindside block were two of 11 rules changes recommended by the NFHS Football Rules Committee at its January 20-22 meeting in Indianapolis. All rules changes were subsequently approved by the NFHS Board of Directors.
Colorado was one of the states to pilot the blindside block rule.
“The NFHS Football Rules Committee’s actions this year once again addressed risk minimization, officiating, competitive balance and game administration,” said Bob Colgate, director of sports and sports medicine at the NFHS and staff liaison for football.
The definition of a blindside block established by the committee is “a block against an opponent other than the runner, who does not see the blocker approaching,” and now results in a 15-yard penalty.
The committee stated that the blindside block “involves contact by a blocker against an opponent who, because of physical positioning and focus of concentration, is vulnerable to injury. Unless initiated with open hands, it is a foul for excessive and unnecessary contact when the block is forceful and outside of the free-blocking zone.”
“As has been the case for many years, the NFHS Football Rules Committee continued to place their main emphasis on risk minimization,” said Todd Tharp, chair of the NFHS Football Rules Committee and assistant director of the Iowa High School Athletic Association. “With this new definition of a blindside block and the penalty to be assessed, the committee stresses the importance of proper coaching techniques under the rules and accurate enforcement by the game officials.”
Another significant risk-minimization change was elimination of a pop-up kick in new Rule 6-1-11. A new definition of a pop-up kick in Rule 2-24-10 is defined as “a free kick in which the kicker drives the ball immediately to the ground, the ball strikes the ground once and goes into the air in the manner of a ball kicked directly off the tee.”
The committee implemented this change in an effort to reduce risk of injury due to the increased use of the pop-up kick on onside kickoffs. Such kicks will be penalized as a dead-ball free-kick infraction, as noted with new Rule 6-1-11 PENALTY.
The NFHS Football Rules Committee also expanded Rule 2-32-16 regarding a defenseless player by adding specific examples of a defenseless player. Those examples include, but are not limited to:
a) A player in the act of or just after throwing a pass;
b) A receiver attempting to catch a pass who has not had time to clearly become a runner;
c) The intended receiver of a pass in the action during and immediately following an interception or potential interception;
d) A runner already in the grasp of a tackler and whose forward progress has been stopped;
e) A kickoff or punt returner attempting to catch or recover a kick, or one who has completed a catch or recovery and has not had time to protect himself or has not clearly become a ball carrier;
f) A player on the ground including a ball carrier who has obviously given himself up and is sliding feet-first;
g) A player obviously out of the play or not in the immediate vicinity of the runner; and
h) A player who received a blindside block with forceful contact not initiated with open hands.
“A great deal of time was spent by the committee creating specific criteria to define exactly what a defenseless player is,” Tharp said. “Coaches can use these examples to focus on the proper mechanics of blocking and tackling, and game officials now are able to use this expanded definition to focus on continued risk minimization of the players.”
Changes to Rule 7-1-6 expand on the situations required for encroachment to occur after the ready-for-play and after the snapper has placed his hand(s) on the ball. The rule previously stated that encroachment occurred if “any other player breaks the plane of the neutral zone.” In addition, now defensive players are restricted from contacting the ball prior to the end of the snap or making contact with the snapper’s hand(s) or arm(s) until the snapper has released the ball.
The remaining changes approved by the NFHS Football Rules Committee touched on a new ball specification (1-3-1h), uniforms [(1-5-1b(3)], game officials (1-5-4), post-scrimmage kick fouls (2-16-2h), penalty time clock management (3-4-7), prosthetic limbs (4-2-2l) and forward-pass interference (7-5-10), in which the previous foul for non-contact face guarding was eliminated as forward-pass interference.
Regarding the uniform change in Rule 1-5-1b(3), effective with the 2021 season, “the jerseys of the home team shall be a dark color that clearly contrasts to white.”
“The committee revised the rule to provide schools and manufacturers more clarification regarding the game’s current trend of utilizing lighter gray shades,” Colgate said. “The requirement for teams to wear contrasting colors to white is not a new rule, and it is the committee’s expectation that this new clarification will allow changes to be made during normal replacement cycles.”
A complete listing of all rules changes will be available soon on the NFHS website at www.nfhs.org. Click on “Activities & Sports” at the top of the home page, and select “Football.”
According to the 2015-16 NFHS High School Athletics Participation Survey, football is the most popular sport for boys at the high school level with 1,083,308 participants in 11-player football. Another combined 28,943 boys participated in 6-, 8- and 9-player football. In addition, 2,140 girls participated in one of the four football offerings during the 2015 season.
BROOMFIELD — No. 27 Broomfield held No. 38 Denver South to under 10 points a quarter, winning 58-21 to advance in the Class 5A girls basketball tournament.
