(Ryan Casey/CHSAANow.com)

EDWARDS — Aspen claimed both the boys and girls state skiing championships on Friday behind outstanding individual performances which saw the programs claim six individual championships in the eight events.

And on Friday, that meant the Weiss siblings — Elsie and Anders — repeated their feat from Thursday when the brother-sister duo claimed the nordic events. This time, they each won the skate.

It helped Aspen’s boys win a third-straight state title, and 10th overall. The Skiers amassed 667 points, ahead of second-place Battle Mountain (620). Middle Park was third with 579, Steamboat Springs (555) was fourth and Evergreen (484) was fifth.

The Aspen girls won for the third time in six years, and ninth overall. They totaled 674 points. Battle Mountain (607.5 points) was second, Summit (561) was third, Middle Park (533.5) was fourth, and Steamboat Springs (530) placed fifth.

Aspen’s Charlie Olsen won boys slalom event, recording the fastest time in each run. His combined time of 1:20.6 led the field, and earned him a state title. Battle Mountain’s Will Bettenhausen was second (1:21.57), and Durango’s Toby Scarpella, who won the giant slalom on Thursday, was third in 1:22.08.

Overall, Aspen continued its strong alpine showing with five races among the top 11 finishers.

The boys race had 17 racers who didn’t finish the first run, two who didn’t start, and another seven who were disqualified. Eight more didn’t finish the second run, and three more were disqualified. In total, 64 of the original 101 entrants finished both runs.

Olyvia Snyder. (Ryan Casey/CHSAANow.com)

In the girls’ slalom, Olyvia Snyder of Summit capture the state title on the strength of second-run time of 41.86 which propelled her to a combined time of 1:22.12. Battle Mountain’s Berit Frischholz was second in 1:22.61, and Aspen’s Stella Sherlock was third (1:23.49).

Snyder’s win paced an impressive performance from Summit in the event, which placed four among the top 11.

When it came time for the nordic events at Maloit Park in Minturn, the Weiss tandem doubled up their titles.

(Ryan Casey/CHSAANow.com)

Elsie, a freshman, won the girls race with a time of 14:43.5, edging out Colorado Rocky Mountain’s Lola Villafranco, who finished in 14:45.1.

Aspen’s Emma Barsness was third in 14:52.3, helping to lead an unbelievable contingent of Skiers at the top: four of the top five, five of the top eight, and six among the top 11.

Anders Weiss, a sophomore, led the boys skate field with a time of 12:17.0, ahead of teammate Taiga Moore (12:35.9) in second. Eagle Valley’s Ferguson St. John was third in 12:38.7. 

Middle Park had three finishers in the top eight, led by Kimo Sullivan in fourth place (13:04.9).

(Ryan Casey/CHSAANow.com)

(Dan Mohrmann/CHSAANow.com)

CANON CITY — There can be some unintended consequences when it comes to earning a bye in the first round of the Class 4A girls state basketball tournament. While Canon City was resting preparing for their first game of the 2020 postseason, Evergreen was finding its groove.

It took the Tigers a little bit of time to get going, but once they did, they came away with in impressive 60-43 win over the Cougars.

Canon City now advances to the Sweet 16 where top-seeded Sand Creek awaits. That advancement, however, wasn’t as easy as it may have seemed, especially early. There’s a weight that comes off the team’s shoulders when it sees it has a first-round bye, but as seen after Evergreen led 15-14 after the first quarter it comes with entirely new kind of pressure.

“It’s definitely a different weight that goes on,” Tigers coach Dan Heath said. “(Evergreen) already played a game this week so they had their jitters out of the way. I knew that was going to factor in tonight and you could see that early.”

Once the Tigers (19-4 overall) settled, it wasn’t hard to see why they had earned one of the top 16 seeds in the state. Jerika Moore scored nine of her game-high 19 points in the second quarter.

(Dan Mohrmann/CHSAANow.com)

As Canon City’s full-court press defense found a way to frustrate the Cougars (17-8) it started capitalizing on turnovers. Mody Ley’s lone basket of the second quarter gave the Tigers a 23-21 lead. They used that momentum to take a 30-24 lead into halftime.

“Our press set the tone,” Moore said. “We went in knowing they couldn’t handle pressure very well. As soon as we started upsetting them, it pushed us to keep going.”

The Cougars were limited offensively in the second and third quarters, making just five combined field goals in that span. Jameson Mott led their effort with 17 points, but the team struggled to keep pace as Canon City built a 43-27 lead.

It wasn’t until the fourth quarter that Evergreen started closing the gap. They cut the Tigers lead to 48-40 midway through the final quarter. But two key possession ended with five points from Kate Tedquist and Canon City started to pull away. She was good from the free throw line as well, making four of five and finishing with eight points overall.

“Free throws can decide the outcome of a game,” Tedquist said. “I wanted to make them for my team.”

Withstanding Evergreen’s comeback attempt was a needed test for the Tigers as they head into the next round and a trip to Sand Creek. They fell early in the season to Falcon, a team that the Scorpions beat twice this year, but head into the game with a lot of confidence after a big win.

“It gives us the confidence that we need,” Moore said. “But we had that confidence even before this.”

The Scorpions and Tigers will play at Sand Creek on Tuesday.

(Dan Mohrmann/CHSAANow.com)

ARVADA — Ralston Valley junior Sydney Bevington was a bit of a decoy early on Friday night in the Class 5A girls basketball second-round state tournament game.

No. 39-seeded Pine Creek had seen Bevington and No. 7 Mustangs earlier in the season. Knowing what one of the top juniors in the state — who is averaging a double-double in scoring and rebounds — is capable of the Eagles’ defense was clearly focused on shutting Bevington down.

Ralston Valley junior Sydney Bevington (33) goes up strong during the Mustangs’ second-round state playoff victory over Pine Creek on Friday night. (Dennis Pleuss/Jeffco Athletics)

“My shot wasn’t really on necessarily,” Bevington said after the Mustangs advanced to the Sweet 16 with a convincing 56-28 victory over Pine Creek. “Everyone else was making a lot of 3-pointers.”

Bevington went scoreless in the first quarter. However, juniors Rachel Meeks and McKenna Nichols, along with senior Ellie Schweiker each knocked down a 3-pointer in the opening quarter to help the Mustangs get out to a 16-6 lead.

“If you do that she (Bevington) will find the open person,” Ralston Valley coach Jeff Gomer said of the first quarter with the Eagles focusing on Bevington. “And we need those kids to hit those shots for us to go further.”

Bevington did get going herself offensively. The junior poured in 11 of her game-high 16 points in the second quarter as Ralston Valley opened up a 36-12 lead by halftime.

Sophomore Saya Sabus contributed 12 points and Schweiker finished with 11 points as the Mustangs put it on cruise control in the second half. The defense stayed strong, limiting Pine Creek to single digits in all but the Eagles’ 10-point fourth quarter.

Pine Creek senior Haley Murdock finished off her prep career scoring a team-high eight points for the Eagles (10-15 record).

Ralston Valley senior Ellie Schweiker (4) goes up strong against Pine Creek senior Haley Murdock during the first quarter Friday night. (Dennis Pleuss/Jeffco Athletics)

“In practice a lot we focus on hard work on defense and playing hard,” Schweiker said. “If you have the right mentality the steals will come and shots will comes. It’s about playing hard on that side of the court.”

A hard non-league schedule is something Ralston Valley (19-5) hopes will benefit the Mustangs as they get deeper into the postseason. Four of Ralston Valley’s five losses this season came against the top four seeds — Valor Christian, Cherry Creek, Regis Jesuit and Grandview — in the 5A state tournament.

“I think it really prepared us,” Bevington said of playing the likes of Grandview and Cherry Creek. “They are just a different style of play then what we see in Jeffco. Playing that higher competition increases our speed of the game. That is why Gomer does it. To get us really for playoffs.”

Ralston Valley now gets ready to host a familiar foe in the next round on Tuesday night. Jeffco rival and No. 23 Columbine (15-10) went on the road against No. 10 Fountain-Fort Carson on Friday night. The Rebels won 51-39 in overtime.

“I would be excited to see Columbine again,” Bevington said before the Rebels pulled off the upset against Fountain-Fort Carson. “Their coach always makes adjustments, but we always seem to pull out the win.”

The Mustangs went 2-0 against the Rebels this season. However, both games were fairly close contests.

“They gave us two games,” Gomer said when asked about possibility of facing Columbine again. “We’ve just got to play well. If we play well we’ll move on. I don’t like playing someone three times, but it is what it is.”

Ralston Valley junior McKenna Nichols (12) soars toward the basket with Pine Creek senior Haley Murdock (55) and Madelyn Blazo (5) guard her Friday night. The Mustangs’ 56-28 victory advanced Ralston Valley into the Sweet 16 where it will host Jeffco rival Columbine on Tuesday night. (Dennis Pleuss/Jeffco Athletics)

Valor Christian girls basketball beat Far Northeast in the second round of the Class 5A state tournament on Friday.

Ralston Valley girls basketball beat Pine Creek 56-28 to move on to the 5A Sweet 16.

Simla girls basketball moved to the 2A District 8 championship game with a 53-28 win over Calhan.

Durango girls basketball advanced to the 4A Sweet 16 with a 43-31 win over Skyview on Friday.

Top-seeded Sand Creek girls basketball beat Centaurus 52-41 on Friday to punch their ticket to the 4A Sweet 16.

No. 3 Regis Jesuit girls basketball beat Liberty in the second round of the Class 5A state tournament on Friday.

Eighth-seeded Pine Creek hockey beat No. 9 Monarch 3-1 to advance to the state quarterfinals.