Rock Canyon senior Keeley Davis was named the Colorado volleyball player of the year by Gatorade on Tuesday morning.
Davis, a 6-foot-2 outside hitter, now becomes a finalist for the national award, which will be announced later this month.
Davis is the first volleyball player from Rock Canyon to win the award, and third in school history, following Kaycie Young (girls soccer, 2013-14) and Alex Tarnoczi (boys soccer, 2008-09).
During her senior season, Davis had 577 kills, 355 digs, 58 aces and 46 blocks. She helped the Jaguars go 20-9 in 2017. After the season, she was named the Class 5A player of the year as part of the All-State teams.
She has been recruited to play volleyball at Creighton.
Off the court, Davis volunteers for Food Bank of the Rockies, participates in Rock Canyon’s Make-a-Wish Week, and also donates her time to Project Cure, where she helps sort and pack medical supplies for communities in need.
Michael Storer has been named the new football coach at Prospect Ridge Academy.
PRA athletic director Ellie Kempfe confirmed the new hire on Tuesdsay. Storer comes to Prospect Ridge from Northglenn, where he was the junior varsity head coach in 2015 and 2016.
(Northglenn HS)
Before coming to Colorado, he was the head coach at Fromberg, a 6-man team in Montana, in 2013 and 2014. He also has experience as a middle school football, basketball and track coach.
Prospect Ridge, a 2A program, will enter its third year of varsity competition next fall.
The Miners went 1-8 and 3-6 in their first two seasons under former coach John Roberts.
Crazy start to Week 2 of 2018 and Week 6 of the big-school boys basketball season!
GW, Eaglecrest, Thompson Valley, Valor & Overland coming back to life are just a hand full of teams shaking up what you may have thought was going down in 5A/4A. Yes, W-I-D-E open!
Thompson Valley stunned No. 2 Silver Creek jumping out to an 18-9 first quarter advantage and held on to win on the road! T Valley is one of the few teams who have held scoring machine Trent Dykema to under 20 points, at 16 on this night.
No. 6 Longmont flexed some defensive muscle holding Greeley Central to 34 points while scoring 57 in the win!
The defensive theme continues as Sierra held Mitchell to 30 points and Derrian Reed scored 17 of the Stallion’s 51.
Denver South has been traveling around and playing well of late but Pueblo East’s soph Marvin London scored 14 in East’s comeback win at home.
Lincoln seems to be turning a positive corner and soph Ty Foster scored 15 in the 22-point win over Aurora Central.
Rampart’s just on the outside of our 5A top 10 and the 7-Footer Dawson Carper had one of those dominant games in the win vs. Liberty with a “monsta” double-double of 32 points, 11 rebounds. Carper added 4 blocks!
Junior Jack Olson led four Lightning in double figure scoring with 18 but still not enough for Legacy to take down Monarch.
Holy Family hoping to hold on to the No. 7 spot in the rankings but Windsor took this conference win 74-61.
Broomfield claimed a few votes in our 5A coaches poll and they impressed on the road 72-51 over Greeley West with Devin Martinez scoring 23.
Smoky Hill fell victim to a rash of late technical fouls that some feel were highly questionable early in the week but the Buff’s bounce back for their first Centennial league win over Mullen by 10.
Highlands Ranch, in at No. 10 last week, edged Douglas County 48-47 for a fourth quarter comeback. Love the “southern improvement” from these two squads!
Senior Ryan Booker opened up for a season high 21 points for the “Bellos” (Far North East) in the 21 point win over Kennedy.
Falcon entered the 4A top 10 for first time and earned a 6-point win over Sand Creek. Reece Warren is pacing Falcon at 17 points per game.
Chap was missing one of their stud juniors, Bryce Matthews, but were still able to pull off a double digit Continental road victory at Mountain Vista with Joe Dalton and Ronnie DeGray III both scoring in double digits.
Saturday, Jan. 13
(Lance Wendt/LanceWendt.com)
No. 1 Rock Canyon “kept on truckin” with every senior contributing heavily in the 19 point win over Dakota Ridge and Sam Masten scored 21 complimented by Tyson Gilbert’s 14.
Hello, AGAIN, Mr. Joel Scott! Lewis Palmer traveled to Pueblo East and Scott scored 32 for the 4A No. 1 squad to keep them on a hot streak!
Our Fever Crew became quick fans of smooth sophomore Luke O’Brien when we saw him in person and he dropped a “40-piece” on Bear Creek in OT!
No. 4 Golden bounced back with a 10-point win at Standley Lake.
Holy Family had three players in double figures led by Tanner Baird’s 14 but not enough as Denver South wins another close road victory by 2!
The Fever Crew reports Ryan Ongala did his best to protect the paint and Rangeveiw’s home court with 17 point, 10 rebound double-double but not enough as GW finished a tremendous week winning three straight road games vs. tough opponents and Jonil Fuggett scored 22 points in this road win!
Well, folks…our Fever Crew has mentioned that Coach Fisher would get the Trailblazers rolling but we didn’t even see this 32 point thrashing of Cherokee Trail coming! Catch your video here…
“30-piece” sighting! The Longmont/Mead tilts usually come down to the wire but Luke Johnson’s 32 point night powered Longmont to a 32 point win.
Widefield dropped from our 4A top 10 last week but three seniors score 18 points each in their lopsided win over Woodland Park. Tre Pierre added 5 rebounds to his 18!
Grandview jumped up to No. 2 after a seriously strong early run but this is why the Fever Crew calls it “Centennial Tough” and Eaglecrest upset and handed Grandview their first in-state loss by 15!
Big man Dawson Carper followed up his 32 point night with a 22 point effort and helped Rampart win this one on the road 71-67 over Pine Creek to close out the week!
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The Look Ahead
Monday, Jan. 15
Happy Martin Luther King Jr. Day! “Life’s most urgent question is? What are you doing for others?” Take time to serve today and be a blessing to someone!
Tuesday, Jan. 16
“Da Bellos” (Far North East) may be getting HOT GW at the wrong time!
Longmont vs. Silver Creek…Two 1 loss teams in 4A!
Boulder & Horizon.
Windsor vs. Mead “slug fest”.
Pueblo West/Pueblo County down south.
Chaparral vs. Pondo in Continental!
Douglas County improved but now get T-Ridge!
Speaking of Continental! Regis gets a shot at No. 1 Rock Canyon…
Doherty/Rampart down south…who’s ready?!!
Wednesday, Jan. 17
Longmont & Silver Creek top notch 4A!
Can Lincoln keep the “mo” going vs. Boulder?
Littleton vs. Golden.
Broomfield/Rangeview…intriguing…
Eaglecrest and Creek, Centennial.
Discovery Canyon vs. streaking Lewis Palmer!
Overland is ballin’ heading into Grandview big one!
Thursday, Jan. 18
Legacy vs. Greeley West.
Ponderosa has a task vs. Rock Canyon!
Rampart & Palmer down south.
H-Ranch looking to take a step at Legend!
Chaparral and Castleview in Continental too…
Douglas County trying to prove vs. Regis.
Pueblo South/Puelo Central in southern action.
Friday, Jan. 19
Silver Creek vs. Mountain View.
Mullen/Overland – Centennial separation…
Pueblo South @ Pueblo County.
Doherty vs. Regis in nice non-league.
Lewis Palmer vs. Air Academy.
Eaglecrest vs. Smoky Hill.
Evergreen & Valor.
Saturday, Jan. 20
Can’t go wrong with Creek/Grandview!
Liberty & Lewis-Palmer will be solid.
Silver Creek looks to stay strong vs. Vista Peak.
Denver East testing the Nebraska waters vs. Bellevue West.
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The league/conference games are heating up along with a few intriguing non-league match-ups left on the docket! Get out, and enjoy!
D’Evelyn (4A), Denver Christian (2A) and Heritage Christian (1A) all joined their respective girls basketball rankings this week.
The rankings, voted upon by coaches and select media members, are the official polls of the Association. During the regular season, they are released each Monday.
Voted upon by coaches and media members around the state. These rankings have no bearing on postseason seeding.
First-place votes are in parentheses.
Coaches and media members looking to vote should email rcasey@chsaa.org.
Class 5A
RK
TEAM
W-L
PTS
PVS
LW
1
Regis Jesuit (5)
10-2
86
1
3-0
2
Ralston Valley (1)
10-1
83
4
1-0
3
Highlands Ranch (2)
11-3
81
2
2-0
4
Grandview (1)
9-3
80
3
2-0
5
Horizon (1)
12-1
70
5
2-0
6
Fruita Monument (1)
12-1
48
6
1-0
7
Fossil Ridge
10-3
42
8
2-0
8
Castle View
12-2
37
9
2-0
9
Lakewood
10-3
35
7
2-0
10
Cherry Creek
9-3
15
10
3-0
Others receiving votes:
Mountain Vista 13, Doherty 5, Fort Collins 4, Fairview 2, Columbine 1.
Dropped out
None.
Class 4A
RK
TEAM
W-L
PTS
PVS
LW
1
Pueblo West (13)
10-1
138
1
0-0
2
Golden (2)
12-1
109
2
2-1
3
Holy Family
11-2
99
5
2-0
4
Evergreen
11-1
92
3
2-0
5
Air Academy
11-1
84
6
2-0
6
Valor Christian
10-3
77
4
1-1
7
Mesa Ridge
8-2
62
8
3-0
8
Thomas Jefferson
12-1
59
7
2-0
9
Berthoud
12-1
27
9
1-1
10
D’Evelyn
9-4
20
–
2-0
Others receiving votes:
Windsor 19, Widefield 10, Mead 8, Pueblo County 6, Rifle 6, Centaurus 3, Skyview 3, The Classical Academy 2, Pueblo South 1.
Dropped out
Windsor (10).
Class 3A
RK
TEAM
W-L
PTS
PVS
LW
1
Centauri (6)
11-0
100
1
2-0
2
St. Mary’s (5)
10-0
99
2
2-0
3
Colorado Springs Christian
9-2
68
3
3-0
4
Pagosa Springs
7-2
62
4
2-0
5
Lamar
8-2
60
6
3-0
6
Kent Denver
9-2
47
7
2-1
7
Resurrection Christian
9-1
46
8
3-0
8
Cedaredge
8-0
33
5
1-0
9
Sterling
5-4
20
10
2-0
10
University
8-2
17
9
0-1
Others receiving votes:
St. Mary’s Academy 14, Delta 8, Jefferson Academy 7, Moffat County 7, Lutheran 5, Weld Central 5, La Junta 3, Eaton 1, Manitou Springs 1, The Vanguard 1, DSST-College View 1.
Dropped out
None.
Class 2A
RK
TEAM
W-L
PTS
PVS
LW
1
Yuma (10)
8-0
118
1
1-0
2
Swink (2)
9-1
98
2
2-0
3
Limon
8-0
75
4
1-0
4
Wray
6-2
73
6
2-0
5
Holyoke
10-1
69
3
2-1
6
Simla
7-0
61
5
2-0
7
Del Norte
7-3
39
7
2-0
8
Ignacio
8-0
35
8
3-0
9
Vail Christian
10-0
29
9
2-0
10
Denver Christian
7-3
20
–
2-0
Others receiving votes:
Ellicott 12, Soroco 8, Haxtun 7, Highland 7, Colorado Springs School 5, Clear Creek 2, Burlington 1, Sanford 1.
Dropped out
Ellicott (10).
Class 1A
RK
TEAM
W-L
PTS
PVS
LW
1
Kit Carson (11)
7-0
128
1
0-0
2
Fleming
8-1
99
2
2-0
3
Briggsdale
8-1
97
3
2-0
4
Kim/Branson (2)
9-1
95
4
0-1
5
Sangre de Cristo
10-0
90
10
3-0
6
La Veta
7-1
51
7
2-0
7
Holly
8-2
40
9
2-0
8
Antonito
7-2
36
5
3-0
9
Eads
8-2
32
6
2-0
10
Heritage Christian
7-2
22
–
1-1
Others receiving votes:
McClave 20, North Park 17, Springfield 15, Cotopaxi 12, De Beque 8, Cheraw 5, Arickaree/Woodlin 2, Wiley 1.
Heritage, unranked two weeks ago, moved up to the No. 5 spot in this week’s hockey rankings.
The rankings, voted upon by coaches and select media members, are the official polls of the Association. During the regular season, the poll will release each Monday.
Following a week filled with big wins, George Washington boys basketball has moved up to No. 3 in the Class 5A rankings.
The rankings, voted upon by coaches and select media members, are the official polls of the Association. During the regular season, they are released each Monday.
Pomona junior Theorius Robison, right, is halfway from becoming a four-time individual state wrestling champion. (Dennis Pleuss/Jeffco Athletics)
ARVADA — Not surprisingly, there were a number of exhausted looking prep wrestlers when the Arvada West Invitational wrapped up at about 9 p.m. Saturday.
“This has been a long week,” admitted Pomona’s two-time individual state champion Theorius Robison referring to four duals and A-West Invite the Panthers have had in the span of three days. “(Pomona coach Sam Federico) has really been pushing us in the practice room.”
Robison (25-1 record) had a workman-like performance with four victories on the day to take the 132-pound title. The junior never trailed against senior Mario Ybarra from Scottsbluff (Neb.) in the final, but had to hold on late for a 4-3 victory.
There hasn’t been any break for Robison from going from football to wrestling season. Robison rushed for 833 yards and 14 touchdowns during the fall to help Pomona win the Class 5A state football championship, but it was right to the wrestling room after lifting the state title at Mile High Stadium.
“I didn’t take a break at all,” said Robison who is halfway from becoming a four-time state champion. “The day football ended I was in the practice room the very next day.”
Pomona’s Yapoujian brothers — Wyatt (106 pounds) and Colton (138 pounds) — were the other two Panthers to grab titles at the A-West Invite.
Pueblo County’s Josiah Nava, left, and Pomona’s Justin Pacheco both go airborne during their semifinal match. (Dennis Pleuss/Jeffco Athletics)
Just like Robison, Wyatt and Colton took 1-point victories in their championship matches against wrestlers from Scottsbluff.
“Coach (Federico) always makes fun of us that we need to win by 10 (points),” Colton said with a smile after his 3-2 victory over junior Devontae Gutierrez. “But I always say that if you win by one there is no deference. A win is a win.”
Colton (27-5 record) is attempting to become a repeat state champion. After placing third as a freshman at 106, Colton brought home the 120-pound title last season. He said winning the A-West Invite last year was key to his road to claim the individual state title.
“This tournament I feel is always the turning point of my season,” Colton said after battling through a loaded 138-pound bracket that had seven returning state placers. “I have the best bracket and it prepares me for the last few steps before state.”
Younger brother Wyatt didn’t face who might be his main competition at 106 at the state tournament. Monarch freshman Vince Cornella, who Wyatt defeated 1-0 earlier this season, missed the A-West Invite due to an injury.
“I look forward to those nice matches,” Wyatt said of likely facing Cornella at the Top of the Rockies Tournament next weekend. “I like to push hard. Work hard to improve on anything that I can to be as good as I can.”
Wyatt placed third at 106 at Pepsi Center last year at the state tournament. He hopes to repeat what his older brother accomplished taking third as a freshman and winning a state title as a sophomore.
Pomona sophomore Wyatt Yapoujian, top, gets an upper hand on Grand Junction’s Kieran Thompson. (Dennis Pleuss/Jeffco Athletics)
“He (Colton) has just been pushing me to do as well as I can,” Wyatt said. “To work out hard and make the most of every practice. In the end it should pan out.”
Overall, Federico said he was pleased how Pomona preformed at what used to be referred to as the “mini-state” tournament. The Panthers sent seven wrestlers to the semifinals. Freshman Frank Cruz had a nice tournament finishing second at 160. Senior Brandon Hodge took second at 285.
“We are a little beat up, but that’s fine,” Federico admitted. “This time of year is a bit of a grind. You just have to keep grinding and getting better. We are where we need to be right now. We aren’t where we need to be in a month.”
While Pomona was No. 1 in Tim Yount’s ‘On the Mat’ Class 5A team rankings this week, the Panthers have bounced around as low as No. 4 and have lost some dual matches too.
There isn’t much a question that the Panthers will still be in the mix to claim a third straight title come Feb. 17 at Pepsi Center.
“This state tournament will be close. It will be a lot closer than it’s been in the recent past,” Federico said. “You are going to have to be wrestling your best at the state tournament. If we done I think we’ll be fine. If we don’t we won’t.”
Not only was the 24-team A-West tournament an all-day grind with some wrestlers getting in up to five matches, but the competition was stiff with four of the top-5 ranked Class 5A teams (Pomona, Grand Junction, Monarch and Castle View) taking part in the annual tournament.
Along with two-time defending 4A state champion and top-ranked Pueblo County, not to mention strong out-of-state squads from Scottsbluff (Neb.) and Garden City (Kan.).
Grand Junction came away with the team title racking up 201 points. Pueblo County (187 points) placed second and Pomona (185) took third. Castle View senior Malik Heinselman (120 pounds) was named the ‘outstanding wrestler’ for the lower weights and Grand Junction senior Josiah Rider (152 pounds) took home the ‘outstanding wrestler’ honor in the upper weights.
Pomona junior Colton Yapoujian, top, takes a 7-2 semifinal win over Arvada West senior Dayton Marvel. (Dennis Pleuss/Jeffco Athletics)
