ARVADA — Ralston Valley coach Chris Braketa knew a 0-2 start in the Class 6A Jeffco League would be a tough hole to climb out if the Mustangs had hopes of repeating as conference champs.
“For sure,” Coach Braketa said when asked if it was a must-win at home Friday night against rival Arvada West. “It helped that it was Arvada West, obviously. We didn’t have to get them up for that. We didn’t even have to talk about the league stuff. These guys don’t have any problem getting up for Arvada West.”
Ralston Valley took care of business with a solid 59-42 victory over A-West in front of a standing-room only crowd.
“It was lots of fun,” Ralston Valley sophomore Tanner Braketa said of playing rival A-West for the second time in his short, but already impressive career. “We had a good two days of practice to get ready for this and we played well.”
Tanner — last year’s 5A Jeffco League MVP as a freshman and oldest son of Coach Braketa — led the way with a game-high 20 points. Tanner poured in 6 points during a key 9-0 run in the first half that opened up a 22-13 lead for the Mustangs.
“We started off with some nerves. We had to chill out a little bit,” Tanner said. “We had a couple of early turnovers, but then got back to it.”
Ralston Valley needed a win badly after starting the new year off 0-2. The Mustangs fell to Cherry Creek 71-66 coming back from Winter Break on Jan. 4.
A 57-53 home loss to Valor Christian on Wednesday got the Mustangs (7-4, 1-1 in league) off on the wrong foot in conference play. Ralston Valley cruised to the league title last year in 5A Jeffco with an undefeated 7-0 mark.
“We had a tough loss against Valor where we didn’t shoot it great,” Tanner said. “I thought we shot it better tonight. It was a big win.”
The third Braketa — freshman Caiden Braketa — was instrumental in the victory. Caiden came off the bench for 13 points, including a team-high three 3-pointers.
Caiden’s biggest shot came with 2 minutes to play in the third quarter. A-West (9-4, 1-1) had just trimmed Ralston Valley’s lead to single-digit points at 43-34 with a basket by sophomore Dane Reed. Caiden answered with a big 3-pointer to push the lead back to double-digits and the Wildcats would never get any closer.
“I was super proud of him making those big shots. He looked like he was confident out there,” Coach Braketa said of Caiden. “Defensively he did some really smart things. That really helps us out. As a freshman he is really our glue guy defensively because he knows where to go.”
Ralston Valley held A-West to 5 points in the final quarter, milking the clock and extending to a 17-point victory. The Wildcats were led by seniors Carson Nichols, Jasper Padia and junior James Hadzic (9 points).
However, Nichols and Padia were held to below their scoring averages has the Wildcats’ 3-game winning streak came to an end.
“Jasper and Carson are such good players,” Coach Braketa said of the Wildcats’ leading scorers. “We did focus on them. We told our guys to make it as tough as possible for them to score.”
Padia was held to 7 points and Nichols had 13 points before fouling out late in the fourth quarter.
“I knew coming in A-West would have some confidence,” Coach Braketa said. “We finally relaxed a little offensively. We moved the ball. Shared the ball. Then we started getting some defensive stops and transition points, some easier buckets.”
While the Braketa brothers combined for more than half of the Mustangs’ points, senior Josh Rillos poured in 10 points and junior guard Jackson Hansen added 8 points.
“It is really just one after the other now,” Coach Braketa said of the conference schedule that continues Wednesday at home against Columbine.
A-West hosts Bear Creek on Wednesday to continue its journey in the 6A Jeffco League play.