Denver South girls basketball got a 57-50 win over Denver East on Thursday.
Month: February 2021
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Green Mountain boys hoops upsets No. 4 Golden in 4A Jeffco action
GOLDEN — Fourth-quarter magic seems to be the winning formula for Green Mountain’s boys basketball team so far this season.
After an opening season loss to Chatfield, the Rams stormed back against area-rival Lakewood last week with a 32-point fourth quarter to pull out a 68-64 before jumping into Class 4A Jeffco League play this week.
“We practice hard late in our practices,” Green Mountain junior Corbin Jantzer said after the Rams rallied to a 63-50 road victory Wednesday night over Golden. “We talk about the fourth quarter a lot. It’s a big priority.”
Golden sophomore Alan Acevedo (3) takes an off-balance shot against Green Mountain junior Corbin Jantzer (25) during the Class 4A Jeffco League game. (Dennis Pleuss/Jeffco Athletics) The Rams trailed rival Golden 40-39 heading to the fourth quarter. It seemed the Demons — No. 4 in the CHSAANow.com Class 4A boys basketball rankings — were primed to extend its lead and take control of the 4A Jeffco League game. However, Green Mountain had other plans.
With no cheering student sections on either side, the Rams (3-1, 2-0 in league) went on a 24-10 run in the fourth quarter to grab a huge conference win over the defending 4A Jeffco League champs.
Jantzer poured in 11 of his team-high 19 points in the final eight minutes. His 3-pointer from the top of the key with 2:45 left in the fourth quarter gave the Rams a 53-45 lead.
“He (Jantzer) is tough and we coach him hard,” Green Mountain coach Mike Puccio said. “He is a super-talented kid. He hasn’t had a great start offensively, but his rebounding and defense he is one of the best in the league. He is so versatile.”
Green Mountain’s leading scorer Austin Peterson had a fairly quiet 8-point night offensively, but the Rams got plenty of contributors. Senior Blake McKibbin had 14 points off the bench and senior Allen Ortiz poured in 9 points.
“I’ve got faith in every one of our guys being able to go out there and score,” Jantzer said. “Anybody can drop 15 points.”
Green Mountain senior Dylan Green pulls up for a 3-pointer attempt Wednesday night at Golden High School. (Dennis Pleuss/Jeffco Athletics) The Rams made six free-throws in the final minute to ice the victory and remain undefeated early in conference play with Wheat Ridge (3-1, 2-0) and Evergreen (2-1, 1-0).
“This is a huge win. This was a preview to a playoff match-up,” Jantzer said. “It’s a huge rivalry in the league. Coming into this game we took it as a game for the league championship. We’ve got to get past Golden. We thought we had to prove ourselves.”
Golden sophomore Aliou Diallo led the Demons (3-1, 1-1) with 20 points, but the guard suffered a lower leg injury to end the third quarter. He was on the bench being treated before returning to the court midway through the final quarter.
Junior Richie Pruett had 9 points in the second half before fouling out in the fourth quarter. Sophomore Alan Acevedo pitched in 8 points, but was also limited in minutes because of foul trouble. A total of 47 fouls were call on the night.
“Golden is a three-headed monster (Pruett, Diallo and Acevedo) and also has some great role players,” Puccio said. “We just wanted to contain those three and make someone else beat us.”
Golden junior Richie Pruett (1) glides past Green Mountain junior Cameron Storm (21) for a layup during the second quarter Wednesday night. (Dennis Pleuss/Jeffco Athletics) Golden has a big conference showdown Friday night on the road against No. 8 Evergreen (2-1, 1-0). It might be a must-win situation for the Demons if they hope to repeat as league champs. The Cougars actually had a league bye Wednesday night after taking a 50-32 victory over Standley Lake on Monday.
Green Mountain is back in action at home against Alameda on Friday night.
Puccio admitted he really didn’t know what to expect this year after Green Mountain graduated 90 percent of his players from last year’s squad. A 23-point loss to open the season against Chatfield might have been a bad sign, but the Rams have bounced back with 3 straight victories.
“I’m hard on these guys. We’ve got a shoot-around at 6:30 am tomorrow morning,” Puccio said. “We’ll go get ready for Alameda on Friday and then have a practice on Saturday. We (coaches) are relentless on them. We don’t let up.”
Jantzer knows the job isn’t nearly complete for Green Mountain.
“We still have a lot to prove,” Jantzer said. “There are still a lot of teams up there. We are just going to continue to keep working.”
Green Mountain junior Corbin Jantzer (25) had a huge game for the Rams with 19 points, 9 rebounds and 3 steals in Green Mountain’s 63-50 victory Wednesday over No. 4 Golden. (Dennis Pleuss/Jeffco Athletics) -
Photos: No. 2 Valor Christian girls basketball squeaks by No. 8 Ralston Valley
Jenna Siebert led the way with 27 points as Class 5A No. 2 Valor Christian girls basketball edged No. 8 Ralston Valley 65-63.
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Photos: Wilken leads No. 15 Ralston Valley boys basketball over No. 9 Valor Christian
Beau Wilken scored 15 points to lead Class 5A No. 15 Ralston Valley to a 45-38 win over No. 9 Valor Christian.
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Photos: No. 1 Lutheran boys basketball tops No. 3 Faith Christian
Class 3A No. 1 Lutheran boys basketball remains undefeated after getting a 59-50 win over No. 3 Faith Christian on Wednesday.
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Photos: Kelty powers No. 2 Lutheran girls basketball over Faith Christian
Raelyn Kelty scored 19 points to power Class 3A No. 2 Lutheran girls basketball to a 47-25 win over Faith Christian.
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Photos: Chatfield boys basketball cruises past Bear Creek
Chatfield boys basketball had three players in double figures en route to a 76-51 win over Bear Creek on Wednesday.
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Core of seniors and a special junior lead Fossil Ridge boys hoops
(Thomas Trotman/CHSAANow.com) It’s easy to see why there’s a bit of excitement and can even see the smile through the mask of Coach Matt Johannsen when he speaks about his current group of Fossil Ridge Sabercats, who have four senior starters and one junior who is off to an extremely hot start in our condensed basketball season.
Wednesday night was a special assignment for our Ball Fever column — Fossil Ridge vs. Fort Collins — and we were anxious to see what the “feel” was like in a rivalry game between a ton of young men who know each other well on both sides of the court.
Fort Collins came into the crosstown rivalry boasting six seniors of their own for Coach Curtis Glesmann and 1-1 in the early season.
As expected, with so many young men familiar with one another this game was a “feeling out” session early and we were tied at 17 early second quarter.
“I felt that we needed an energy boost and switched to the full court pressure”, said Coach Johannsen, and that decision turned into a 11-0 run for the Sabercats, who were stealing momentum 28-17 midway through the second quarter.
The Lambkins answered with back-to-back 3-point shots from seniors Dante Smith, who finished with team high 13 points, and Jackson Bigge, who finished the night with 10 points of his own.
The Sabercats took a 33-28 lead into the half after Smith and Bigge answered the run and an energized Fossil Ridge crew took over the second half dominating early and using their depth to wear down the Lambkins a bit.
A big part of that second half was 6-foot-4 senior Oklahoma Baptist commit Tyce Baldwin, who was quiet in the first half with three points, but got aggressive in the second half attacking the rim. He got in the paint and finished with 15 points, 4 rebounds, and 4 steals.
Fellow senior big man Braiden Dishman was getting it done inside as well with 12 points, and 6 rebounds.
Coach Johannsen also has a “run-through-a-wall” floor general in Luke Yoder, along with tough Owen Commesser who seem to us as “glue guy” seniors willing to do all the little things for team success.
“Commitment” was the word Coach Johannsen used when describing this special group of seniors and the entire team who have pivoted during these pandemic times and keeping their circle small — on and off the court — in order to make this season a reality.
Senior leader Tyce Baldwin spoke highly of his team and fellow seniors: “Many of us have played together since fifth grade and we’re just excited to have the opportunity to play.”
Baldwin was able to commit to Oklahoma Baptist prior to the season starting, knowing it is the right athletic and academic fit for him, and takes all the pressure off the senior season he can now enjoy with his crew.
Speaking of that senior crew, there’s also a pretty special junior in the Sabercat starting line up in 6-foot-2 guard Brock Mishak. First opportunity seeing this young man play tonight and his 19 points (9-10 free throws), 8 rebounds, 4 assist, and 2 steals were “stat-stuffin” pacing the Sabercats to this 70-54 win over rival Fort Collins.
When our CHSAANow.com preseason rankings were released, I quickly noticed that Fossil Ridge received 40 votes but were left just outside of the top 15. Something told us right away that would change quickly and Coach Johannsen would soon have this crew earning attention.
They are now 3-0 in the condensed season, No. 14 in our poll and they have the depth, senior leadership, and athleticism to make some serious 5A noise before things are said and done in this unprecedented season!
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Gunnison boys wrestling’s Royce Uhrig quickly developed passion and a winning habit
(Photo courtesy of the Uhrig family) Royce Uhrig didn’t like wrestling a whole lot a few years ago. He participated when his family lived in Brush, but it just wasn’t something he was ready to completely dive into as a kid.
Oh, how things have changed.
Shortly after his family moved to Gunnison, a switch flipped in his head and he quickly found out that the wrestling mat was where he wanted to spend as much time as possible. He came into the season ranked No. 4 in the Class 3A 113-pound rankings and has taken to winning like a fish happily takes to the Blue Mesa Reservoir.
“It’s something I really crave,” Uhrig said. “When I was a kid and lived in Brush, I didn’t go to many big tournaments. I wasn’t motivated too much. When I moved here to Gunnison I started to love the sport more and more. I’ve been trying to work as hard as I can for a couple of years now.”
His early results have made him one of the most notable freshmen throughout the entire state. He officially sports a 6-0 record, but has wrestled five matches (the sixth win came via forfeit).
Not once has he failed to pin the wrestler lining up across from him. The longest match he’s had is four minutes, 32 seconds, a win over Cedaredge’s Landon Martin. He followed that up by pinning Norwood’s Aiden Walton in just 15 seconds.
After initial fears that he wouldn’t get a wrestling season because of the COVID-19 pandemic, he jumped right into mid-season form, taking in the excitement of competing while brushing off any nerves.
“Before (my first match) my coach/dad just told me to get after the guy and have fun,” Uhrig said. “That’s going to go down as one of the happiest moments of life.”
He’s hoping over the course of the next four years he can knock that feeling of winning his initial match down in the rankings of his favorite moments.
With the season officially getting played out, that means the opportunity to become a four-time state champion remains alive. By no means is he of the belief that standing on that podium with four fingers extended in the air is going to be a given.
He has to continue the work he’s been putting in since he came to the realization that wrestling is something he truly loves. And well before he thinks about winning a fourth championship, he knows the most important is his next one.
“You have to take take it one match at a time,” he said. “You have to keep working.”
And that’s exactly what he intends to do. A wrestler is only as good as his most recent match says he is, so he’ll do what he needs to do to be at his best when Gunnison heads to the James Irwin Quad in Colorado Springs this weekend. And after that, he’ll just get right back to work and keep getting better.
“I’ve always been told the harder you work, the luckier you get,” Uhrig said.
With five pins to his name already this season, it feels like he hasn’t needed much luck yet. Maybe he’s just saving it for a later day.
(Photo courtesy of the Uhrig family) -
Broncos and CHSAA launch virtual high school football combine
(Kai Casey/CHSAANow.com) DENVER — With the 2020-21 high school football calendar being altered by the COVID-19 pandemic, the Denver Broncos and the Colorado High School Activities Association (CHSAA) have launched the Denver Broncos High School Virtual Combine, an online program designed to assist Colorado student athletes with aspirations of playing college football.
In partnership with GMTM, an athlete exposure platform, the all-virtual combine provides student athletes the opportunity to create a player profile, upload highlights and statistics and display individual skills and talents while building an online recruiting brand platform.
Participation in the program is free, and prospective athletes are able to connect with collegiate recruiters — Division I FBS through Division III — and participate in 11 pre-set combine tests to showcase their abilities through athletic, football and character challenges.
In addition, the combine features footage of Denver Broncos NFL Combine performances and video presentations from Broncos Director of Team Nutrition Bryan Snyder, Head Strength and Conditioning Coach Loren Landow and members of the football operations staff. The 11 pre-set combine tests include:
- Athletic highlight challenge
- Football highlight challenge
- 40-yard dash
- 3 cone drill
- 20-yard shuttle
- Broad jump
- Bench press or pushups
- Your position, your drill demonstration
- Character challenge – What does character mean to you?
- Character challenge – What does football mean to you?
- Nutrition challenge – How do you fuel your workouts?
High school students of all ages are eligible to participate, and submissions for combine-specific elements will remain open for an eight-week period.
For additional information on the Denver Broncos High School Virtual Combine, please visit https://gmtm.com/virtuals/46/denver-broncos-virtual-pro-day.