John F. Kennedy recently named Scot Kinder its new football coach, athletic director Nestor Bravo confirmed on Friday.
Kinder has been an assistant at the school for the past seven years, and is also one of the Commanders’ ROTC instructors.
Kinder will take over a team that was 4-6 in 2017 while playing in Class 3A. The Commanders will again be 3A under the new football alignment, playing in a league with DPS foes George Washington and Lincoln, as well as Evergreen, Conifer and Green Mountain.
The new coach takes over for Rich Martinez, who led Kennedy from 2008-2017. His team were 42-42 in his 10 seasons, including an 11-1 campaign in 2011.
Follow all the coaching movement this offseason in our coaching changes tracker.
Earlier this year, Tyler Montoya and Jimmy Adams each had two goals and two assists in the third period of a regular season game.
Rampart was up big, so they knew their time on the ice was limited. They made the effort to steal the puck and break toward the opposing net. Montoya, who is second in the state with 44 points as of Friday, had possession of the puck.
He knew he could bury it, get the hat trick and call it a day. But he passed it. Adams took the puck and was the one who got his third goal of the day before the duo came off the ice.
That’s the kind of player Montoya is. Although very talented and able to score on a whim, he’s also a selfless hockey player and the Rams are better off for it.
“Tyler is very unselfish,” Rampart coach Josh McIntosh said. “He’s a little shy about all this attention which is funny. Because of that, he can go a little unnoticed. It’s not like you see him and think about him being 6-foot-3 and the fastest guy in the world. You don’t notice him. He’s very smart and he’s very unselfish.”
He has already climbed the ranks in career marks at Rampart. He is first all-time in assists, second in goals and second in overall points.
He might be the best player McIntosh has had the pleasure of coaching.
The coach would love to say that he’s surprised that Montoya has been so productive this year, but he’s not.
And Montoya doesn’t seem all that surprised either.
“This is my 10th year playing and growing up I was mainly the playmaker and this year I started scoring a lot,” Montoya said. “I’ve been working on my shot and my head is always up and looking around for the right play to make.”
(Dan Mohrmann/CHSAANow.com)
It’s not just Montoya that makes the Rams a threatening team late in the season. At 11-5 on the year, the Rams have assured themselves of a winning season. They currently sit at No. 19 in the hockey RPI so a playoff appearance is looking good.
And once that starts, there’s no telling what the Rams are capable of. McIntosh points out that several players, including Adams have been sick or injured this year. If this team gets healthy, it will be anything but an easy out in the postseason.
“If we get all healthy guys, including myself, I think that we can be a very dangerous team by sticking to the details, sticking to our systems,” Adams said. “It’s shown up before against other teams and I think that we can do that to just about any other team out there.”
It seems that it all starts with Montoya. Only Valor Christian’s Luke Wheeler has been a better offensive player this year. Heading into the weekend, Wheeler has one game up on Montoya and is two points better.
That could all change in the drop of a hat. Pun intended. In Monday’s win over Coronado, Montoya scored his third goal of the game when the Rams were short-handed. It turned out to be the game winner.
Like Adams this year, Montoya was only halted last year by a bit of misfortune and injuries. But he has made every effort to make up for it in his senior season.
“He hit a ton of posts and was nicked up,” McIntosh said. “I don’t know if we expected him to be a three point per game player, but we fully expected him and Jimmy Adams to be two of the best players in the state.”
They’ll have the chance to prove their worth. The Rams were ousted in the first round of last year’s state tournament, but with the regular season success that they’ve seen they have every reason to believe that they can keep it going, especially with such an experienced squad.
“A big part of it is how many seniors we have. We have 14,” Montoya said. “We have a lot of hard working players.”
And it helps to have a guy like Montoya who can be offensively dominant. When asked who should take the last shot between Montoya and himself, Adams was quick to say the other guy.
Most teams probably know that’s the case as well. Which is why it will come as a complete surprise when Montoya passes the puck. He’s unselfish and he has every bit of faith in his teammates.
And it’s a big reason why the Rams have won far more games than they’ve lost.
FALCON — Don’t look now, but noteworthy basketball is being played just east of Colorado Springs.
Not since the 2014-15 season have the Falcon Falcons won more times than they’ve lost. They’ve been tied up in the shuffle of the extremely competitive Pikes Peak Athletic Conference. They’ve had to deal with Air Academy, a state champion in 2015. They’ve had to deal with Lewis-Palmer, a state runner-up in 2017.
Vista Ridge came at the Falcons with Hunter Maldonado. Sand Creek came at them with D’Shawn Schwartz.
The Falcons have just kind of been there through it all. Last season, they returned to the playoffs after a one-year absence. In 2015, they were taken down by Sierra, one of three Colorado Springs-area teams to advance to that year’s Final 4.
“How far we’ve come,” coach Mark Watley said.
The Falcons are no longer just there. They’ve gotten better. They’ve gotten so much better that they aren’t thinking about what they can do from a league standpoint, but from a state-wide standpoint.
Wednesday’s 61-51 win over Palmer Ridge was the ninth-straight victory for the Class 4A No. 8 Falcons. They’ll face a big challenge on Friday when they head to Monument where No. 2 Lewis-Palmer awaits. Falcon isn’t scared. Quite the opposite. With each win during this streak, they gain more and more confidence and are anxious for any challenge that stands in front of them.
“We’re playing for each other,” Watley said. “We’ve started to share the ball. It’s become a team thing rather than worrying about individual stats. They don’t even ask for them.”
(Dan Mohrmann/CHSAANow.com)
If there’s one thing that stands out when watching them, it’s that the team as a whole has the ability to score and in a variety of ways.
Noah Martinez quietly scored 14 points in the win over the Bears. He did it with fast break layups in the first half and a couple of dagger 3-pointers in the second.
“We’re not selfish with the ball and we don’t care about stats,” Martinez said. “If we see the open man, we’re going to hit him.”
Perception is that the open man will often be Reece Warren. The senior guard has the ability to create space and knock down his jump shots.
When Martinez is also getting looks and big man Brendan Larose is dominating the paint, it makes Falcon a nightmare for opposing defenses.
“It helps our team to just have a flow,” Warren said. “We all just have to step up and play our game.”
Their game is being explosive on offense and having pride in their defense. At first glance, the Falcons appear to be a shoot first and ask question later type of team, but the overall success this year didn’t start until an emphasis was placed on the defensive side of the ball.
“We let defense take the lead,” Watley said. “That’s the biggest thing.”
They’ll need every bit of that defense on Friday in their showdown with LP. The Falcons have two league losses on their hands, dropping an overtime heartbreaker to Vista Ridge and then getting beat by the same Rangers team they face in less than 48 hours.
But LP has shown this year that they are beatable after dropping one last week to the Bears. And after Wednesday night’s game, coach Nick Mayer will be the first to say that Falcon shouldn’t be taken lightly.
“They’re very good,” Mayer said. “They’re very disciplined and they have scorers all over.”
Friday will be a big one as far as control of the PPAC goes. This isn’t the same team that the Rangers handled three weeks ago.
The Falcons are going to give it everything they have come Friday. When asked about it, a big smile came across Warren’s face. He’s excited. He’s going to have some fun.
DENVER — Despite Evergreen boys basketball sitting in third-place in the Class 4A Jeffco League standings, the conference title could be decided on the Cougars’ home court.
After Evergreen defeated D’Evelyn 68-56 on Wednesday night on the Jaguars’ home court, the Cougars close out their final five conference games at home.
“It’s great. It’s a really good feeling,” Evergreen coach Scott Haebe said of finishing the regular season up at home for the Cougars (14-4, 7-2 in league). “We went 5-2 in the first go-around with only one home game and we were close at Golden and at Valor.”
Evergreen’s Bridger Tenney (10) gets a shot over D’Evelyn’s Charles Dinegar. (Dennis Pleuss/Jeffco Athletics)
Evergreen, No. 9 in the latest 4A boys basketball CHSAANow.com rankings, are behind No. 6 Valor Christian (12-6, 9-0) and No. 3 Golden (15-3, 8-1) in the league standings. However, the Cougars will enjoy their home-court advantage with the Eagles and Demons have to come to Evergreen in a few weeks.
Valor comes to Evergreen on Feb. 13 and Golden travels up Interstate 70 on Feb. 15.
“It’s our turn to get our home-court advantage and our home court (crowd) is the best in Jeffco. It’s not even a question,” Evergreen senior Jack Patterson said. “It’s going to be awesome.”
Patterson was awesome Wednesday against D’Evelyn (9-9, 4-5). The senior had one of his best offensive games of the season pouring in 20 points, including four 3-pointers.
“This season I started off super slow,” Patterson admitted. “I just got myself in the gym and kept putting up shots. I took about .3 seconds off my release. Once I make one I’m locked in.”
Evergreen got some balanced scoring with seniors Bridger Tenney (16 points) and Andrew Aafedt (12 points) coming through for the Cougars. Senior Chase Rogers was held to seven points with the Jaguars focused on limiting good looks for the sharp-shooting guard.
“We did a lot to focus on Chase and did a pretty good job on him, but No. 4 (Patterson) played a really good game and hit some big shots,” D’Evelyn senior Charles Dinegar said.
D’Evelyn’s Charles Dinegar (0) splits Evergreen’s Ethan Brown (14) and Bridger Tenney. (Dennis Pleuss/Jeffco Athletics)
Dinegar poured in a game-high 21 points to lead the Jaguars. Fellow senior Cole Clifton was quiet in the first half, but got his shot going in the second half as D’Evelyn attempted to rally.
Clifton scored 13 of 14 points in the second half as the Jaguars tried to cut into Evergreen’s double-digit lead.
“I was getting a little intense on the bench because I know Clifton and Dinegar can get going and next thing you know they aren’t missing,” Haebe said of the Jaguars’ top scorers. “Trying to keep those guys out of a rhythm and not let them get going is a real key.”
Both teams scored 21 points each in the fourth quarter as the floor opened up with plenty of end-to-end action. In the end, Evergreen came away with the 12-point victory and season sweep of the Jaguars.
Evergreen returns to the court against Littleton at 7 p.m. Friday, Feb. 2. D’Evelyn is on the road against Wheat Ridge at 7 p.m. Friday.
Despite at the .500 record mark, D’Evelyn actually sat at No. 9 in the RPI standings before Wednesday’s loss with its tough non-league schedule. Evergreen was No. 13.
Evergreen senior Jack Patterson (4) lines up a 3-pointer in front of D’Evelyn’s student section Wednesday night. (Dennis Pleuss/Jeffco Athletics)
COLORADO SPRINGS — Fighting for the top in the 4A Colorado Springs Metro League, Widefield came out on top Wednesday night over Mesa Ridge at Widefield High School.
In a game that wasn’t decided until the final minutes of regulation, both teams showed up to put on an exciting and impressive game that ended with Widefield winning with a score of 65-58.
“Despite our lapse in the last four minutes of the second quarter we came through and finished the quarter,” Widefield coach Mark Munoz said. “I was just proud of guys with the way we were able to finish.”
Tre Pierre led the Gladiators (13-4 overall, 8-2 4A CSML) with 19 points and T.J. Davis added 18. They were backed up with clean passing, key rebounds, and communication.
“We had a good game plan and we came out and executed our plan,” senior Myreik Goodwin-Lagree said. “We communicated and played help defense which helped us come together and get the win.”
(Kelsey Lowry/CHSAANow.com)
Two Pierre free throws helped Widefield cap off a five-point run in the last three minutes, giving them a late lead..
The Class 4A No. 10 Grizzlies (12-6, 9-2) were lead by Deven Nelson and Devon Ricketts, they provided vital buckets throughout the game that kept the game within reach.
“Despite the need for better talking on the defensive end, I’m happy tonight with our guys,” Mesa Ridge coach Yantz Robison said. “The one thing that is evident is that we are in pretty good shape and I’m looking forward to getting back to work.”
With Mesa Ridge taking the first game earlier this month, the rivalry atmosphere seemed to be in full swing.
“With the atmosphere tonight, it was just an emotional game,” Munoz said.
By taking one game at a time, it will be interesting to see how the next few weeks set the stage for postseason.
Both teams will be back in action next week and will be continuing to fight for the top spot in the tough Metro League.
INDIANAPOLIS — Among the rules revisions in high school field hockey for 2018 are changes designed to increase the pace of play, and a new penalty for a team having too many players on the field.
These rules changes were among those recommended by the National Federation of State High School Associations (NFHS) Field Hockey Rules Committee at its January 10-12 meeting in Indianapolis. All rules changes were subsequently approved by the NFHS Board of Directors.
“The committee wasn’t looking to make wholesale changes to the rule book, but instead examined the existing rules to make sure they reflected the current trends of the game,” said Julie Cochran, NFHS director of sports and liaison to the NFHS Field Hockey Rules Committee. “The committee provided clarity for officials by redefining a dribble to include aerial dribbling, defined goalkeeper playing actions in and outside the 25-yard line, and established a penalty for a team having too many players on the field.”
Rule 4-4-8 now states that too many players on the field is a violation of the substitution rule, and the committee approved two new penalties concerning the new rule.
If the violation is discovered immediately, the extra player(s) is removed. When the extra player(s) is discovered after a goal is scored, but before play has restarted, the goal will not count and the extra player(s) will be removed. In both scenarios, a misconduct penalty will be assessed to the head coach of the offending team using the card progression.
Increasing pace of play was the focus of Rule 9-1-3. A free hit within 5 yards of the circle now will be taken at the spot of the foul. Previously, the attack’s free hit within 5 yards was taken on the broken line circle. The revision not only speeds up the game, but also keeps up with current trends in field hockey.
“Taking a free hit within 5 yards of the circle at the spot of the foul was one area that was identified in the NFHS annual questionnaire that coaches, officials and state association members were all in favor of changing,” Cochran said. “The committee felt this change would increase the pace of play by allowing for faster restarts in the game.”
A change in Rule 1-7-2 clarifies goalkeeper play outside the circle. At that time, the goalkeeper may only play the ball with her stick up to the 25-yard line she is defending, and may not play the ball past the 25-yard line unless she is taking a penalty stroke.
A revision to the definition of dribbling in Rule 3-3-9 allows a player to maintain possession of the ball while moving it with the stick either on the ground or in the air. Previously, the ball’s movement was performed with a series of taps.
In other changes, the committee approved:
Revisions which clarify that an extra player on the field is an ineligible player (3-1-6);
An addition of language to ensure the timer is watching both officials on the field and is consistent with officials training as well as current trends of the sport (2-1-5); and
Changes that clarify the playing actions of the goalkeeper. (1-7-1a-f)
A complete listing of the field hockey rules changes will be available on the NFHS website at www.nfhs.org. Click on “Activities & Sports” at the top of the home page and select “Field Hockey.”
According to the 2016-17 NFHS High School Athletics Participation Survey, field hockey has 60,549 girls participating in more than 1,700 schools nationwide. The total number of girls participating in the sport has increased by nearly 1,000 from the 2015-16 school year. In addition, there are four schools with as many as 87 boys participating in field hockey.
Faith Christian has promoted offensive coordinator Vince Siravo to head coach, the school announced on Thursday morning.
Siravo spent the past four seasons directing the Eagles offense. He takes over for Ralph Nance, who retired in December. Nance was 29-13 in four seasons.
Faith Christian was 9-2 last season while competing in Class 2A.
Siravo also has extensive youth coaching experience, having started Faith Christian’s middle school football program, and has coached arena football and semiprofessional football since 2008.
He is expected to bring an aggressive and up-tempo style of offense and defense to the program, according to the school.
“Coach Siravo is excited to continue to work with Faith and its tradition of winning and excellence on the football field as well as develop young men for a life of service and success off the field,” the school said in announcing the hire.
Hoop Fans! We are at our end of January mid-week report and this is the thick of league play.
Our early action proved, if nothing else, that you must bring your “hard hat” every night…meaning that if you look past an opponent our state’s big school parity will make you pay!
As much as our Fever Crew enjoyed the early week action…we have some “end of week” bouts that will put an explanation point on the season thus far. Before we get there — let’s see how it all sets up:
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The Look Back
Monday, Jan. 29
(Marlee Smith/CHSAANow.com)
A familiar name, Trent Dykema of No. 7 Silver Creek in our new coaches poll, once again impressed with 23 points, 9 rebounds, and 5 steals! He was joined by fellow senior C. Warner who had 13 points, 4 rebounds, and 2 assists in the win over Littleton. Senior Jason Levy scored 22 in the loss for the Loins.
Mesa Ridge held on to the No. 10 4A spot this week but ran into Classical Academy on their court losing by 5 and senior Jason Belcher’s 22 points led four Titans in double digit scoring for the upset. Check out the video recap here.
Still without senior leader Sindou Cisse, Montbell (FNE) was able to bounce back from bad loss to East by landing on their feet vs. Denver West 80-54 with senior Malik Fofaana scoring 19.
How about four seniors in double figure scoring led by Brendan LaRose’s 24 as Falcon stepped into Cheyenne Mountain and romped by 25!
Elizabeth dropped from our 4A poll and then started the week with a tough 1-point loss to Sierra and junior E. Whitmore score 14 points along with 9 rebounds in the win for the Stallions.
The “big cat” on campus Jaguars remain unbeaten and No. 1 setting up a HUGE Friday night Continental clash with Chaparral. Sam Masten with 21 and junior J Eikenburg 15 in the win.
Silver Creek, holding steady at No. 7, came out strong this week with a 77-43 win at home over Niwot. Holding Niwot to 10 halftime points equals a blowout like that!
Longmont, 4A No. 4, was in a defensive mood too holding Mountain View to single digits in two quarters winning by 14.
Five players in double figure scoring led by stud Kaison Hammonds’ 19 helped T-Ridge run away from Heritage by more than 40!
We see you young soph Darius Hornbuckle! He stepped up big for the Spartans in the league win over Lincoln scoring 21 points and pulling down 5 rebounds from the guard spot.
Pueblo West, now No. 5, refused to make it three losses in a row and took down Pueblo Central by 29 despite Pierre Taylor’s 26 points, 11 rebounds for Central.
Highlands Ranch, just outside of our 5A top 10, rode Brendan Sullivan’s 22 point, 8 rebound average to a 63-50 win over Ponderosa.
Anyone drop a “c-note”? You can find it at Kennedy HS where the GW Patriots dropped 100 POINTS and Xavier Cooper rocked a “monsta” double-double of 29 points and 10 rebounds. FRESHMAN ALERT: our guy Kendale Johnson scored 16 in the win as well.
Doherty is fully cementing their spot in the 5A top to and this 27-point win over Coronado with senior Joe Golden scoring 19 which led three in double figures.
Two sport stud Marcell Barbee is leading our new No. 1 in 4A in points, rebounds, and steals. This night he made sure there was no let down after last week’s big wins leading the Colts to a 23-point win over Pueblo East.
Wednesday, Jan. 31
We heard doubters about this Overland squad when they first joined the top 10 with a losing record but folks must not have paid attention to the road these Blazers traveled! They are now No. 6 and 11-7 after beating Cherry Creek by a convincing 29 with Daijon Smith scoring 15.
How do you win by 30, 56-26???? Well, if you’re No. 2 Lewis Palmer you pull out the defense and hold Vista Ridge to a 6-point second half!
Senior Alex Tellis EXPLODED for 31 points but it wasn’t enough to stop No. 6 Valor from passing another road test 76-67.
Evergreen, No. 9 in 4A this week, is led by Bridger Tenney in points, rebounds, steals, and blocks! The young man is “stat-stuffin!” and helped the Cougars get a solid road win at D’Evelyn!
Smoky Hill is back in the 5A top 10 at the final spot and our Fever Crew felt they could “leave no doubt” in a Centennial game at Cherokee Trail to prove they belong there. They did just that going into the Cougars house and laying down a 31-point beat down!
Big Man Dayne Prim leads in points and rebounds for No. 7 Grandview who went into Arap’s Sitting Eagle Gym – a tough spot to win — and earned a 16-point decision.
Mesa Ridge, No. 10 in 4A, closes our mid-week action but they ran into a 19 point effort from Tre Pierre along with 18 from TJ Davis and Widefield gets the win by 7!
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Mid-Week Thoughts
MANY leagues continue to prove to be BRUTAL. You have to bring your “hard hat” and “A-Game” each night out.
As in any state, we see our blowouts pretty regularly but for the most part we have some nice parity at the top of each league in our big school ball.
Can’t wait to see how the remaining action in Week 8 plays out…and did we mention a little Continental action between unbeaten Rock Canyon at Chaparral Friday night?
