WESTMINSTER — Wheat Ridge senior Dominic Cross had a memorable night on the basketball court Monday at Standley Lake High School.
Cross dropped a career-high 27 points as the Farmers defeated the Gators 70-42.
“I don’t remember ever scoring 27 points in a game,” Cross said. “This year I’ve struggled shooting. Tonight I really wanted to get to the rim and get my rhythm going. It was a great team win. My teammates got me going feeding me the ball early.”
Cross carried a heavy load in the first half scoring 18 points by halftime. The Farmers (7-4 record) held a 27-18 lead going into the break with the senior guard doing it on both ends of the court.
Wheat Ridge senior Scotty Kingman puts in a layup during the Farmers’ 26-point fourth quarter Monday against Standley Lake. (Dennis Pleuss/Jeffco Athletics)
“He (Cross) can get us going. He has the energy to do it,” Wheat Ridge coach Tommy Dowd said. “He is just a smart player. He shot the ball really well and destroyed them (Standley Lake) defensively.”
Standley Lake (3-8) was still hanging around through three quarters trailing 44-33, but Wheat Ridge really got going offensively in the fourth quarter. The Farmers outscored the Gators 26-9 in the final 8 minutes to grab a third straight victory for Wheat Ridge.
The Farmers finished Class 4A Jeffco League play last week with a 5-3 conference mark, good enough for tied for fourth in the league that features three teams — Evergreen, Golden and Green Mountain — ranked in the top-12 in 4A.
“We always want to win. We want to have great momentum going into the tournament,” Cross said. “I would love to go on the road and beat some good teams, stun some people and make some noise in the tournament.”
Wheat Ridge senior Westin Miller has been making plenty of noise this season. The future Regis University baseball player is the leading scorer in 4A Jeffco. Miller is averaging 20.4 points per game.
However, it took awhile for Miller to find his shot against Standley Lake. The senior guard didn’t score in the first half.
“It did come to me a little bit,” Miller said when asked if he had any thoughts of hanging up his basketball shoes for his baseball cleats at halftime after going scoreless in the opening half. “You just have to keep shooting. I just needed to get some confidence back and keep shooting. I knew they would go in.”
Standley Lake junior Silas Von (42) goes up to block the shot of Wheat Ridge senior Kale Kissell (10) in the first half Monday night. (Dennis Pleuss/Jeffco Athletics)
Miller got on track driving to the basket and getting fouled early in the third quarter. He made both free throws and then preceded to drain a trio of 3-pointers to finish with 11 points.
“Just keep shooting. You’ll never make it until you shoot the next one,” Dowd told Miller at halftime. “He is one of the best shooters we’ve ever had at Wheat Ridge.”
With the start of the high school baseball season getting pushed out until early May during this COVID-19 year, Miller can focus on the hardwood before moving onto the diamond.
“I’ve always loved playing basketball,” Miller said. “It is always a great team sport. I love playing with my teammates and my coaches. It’s always a good time.”
Wheat Ridge has three regular-season games left starting with No. 7-ranked Evergreen on Wednesday night on the Farmers’ home court. The Cougars took a 55-41 win over Wheat Ridge in their league match-up back on Feb. 8.
“We hope to move up a couple of stops and see where we are at,” Dowd said of the upcoming state tournament that begins with first-round games March 5. “It’s nice to be one of the top seeds, but we’ve been pretty good going on the road and beating somebody. I’d love to go out west (Western Slope).”
Standley Lake (3-8) was 51st in the RPI rankings to start this week. The Gators close out their regular season at Conifer on Friday night before a pair of home games next week against the 4A Jeffco League champions — Evergreen — and Alameda International.
The Gators did have nine different players score against the Farmers. Senior Louis Ortega (9 points) and junior Silas Von (8 points) led the way for the Gators.
Wheat Ridge senior Westin Miller (3) drives on Standley Lake defenders during the second half Monday. Miller, leading scorer in 4A Jeffco, was held scoreless in the first half, but rebounded with a trio of 3-pointers in the second half. (Dennis Pleuss/Jeffco Athletics)
LAKEWOOD — The announcement this week that the state wrestling tournament won’t be held at its usual site was another change during this ever changing 2020-21 prep sports season in Colorado.
However, the news that Ball Arena (formerly Pepsi Center) won’t be the site of the state tournament next month hasn’t dampened Pomona’s focus on going after its fifth Class 5A team title over the past six years and eighth team title since 2000.
“I don’t mind. I really don’t,” Pomona coach Sam Federico said of the news coming down Wednesday that all classifications for the state tournament will be held at the Southwest Motors Events Center on the Colorado State Fairgrounds in Pueblo. “I’m glad we have one. I’d do it in South Dakota if we had to. Anywhere is good for me.”
Pomona junior Jacob Judd, behind, works on getting back points during his 170-pound match against Lakewood senior Nolan Hoefner. (Dennis Pleuss/Jeffco Athletics)
The Panthers — ranked No. 1 in 5A by Tim Yount of On the Mat — has an extremely deep squad this season. Pomona has 11 wrestlers that are ranked in the top-5 of their weight class in the new rankings released this week.
“This is probably one of the best teams we’ve had in years,” Pomona sophomore Jakob Romero said after the Panthers’ tri meet Thursday at Lakewood High School. “We are strong everywhere. We can bump guys up and bump guys down. I’ve wrestled with everyone on this team for the past five-plus years. I’ll do anything for these guys.”
Pomona actually brought just a handful of its varsity wrestlers to the duals against Standley Lake and Lakewood. Still, the Panthers dominated with a 72-6 win over the Gators and 58-14 victory against the Tigers.
Two of the top Pomona wrestlers that saw some action with Romero and junior Jacob Judd. Romero took a 21-5 tech fall victory and managed a pin in the first period in his second match. Judd grabbed a pair of pins in his matches at 170 pounds.
“We are deep, but there are some good teams out there,” Federico said. “We’ll see this weekend when we wrestling Ponderosa and Brighton, two teams that are always good. We’ve got to stay healthy and keep working hard. If we do that good things will happen.”
The Panthers head to Ponderosa High School on Saturday for a pair of dual matches against No. 2 Ponderosa and No. 3 Brighton. It might be one of the best tests for Pomona before heading to regionals scheduled for March 5 and 6.
Federico doesn’t believe the last of tournaments will effect the Panthers. He had a lot of his wrestlers compete at a national tournament in Utah before the season started. Most of his year-round wrestlers have been able to compete at tournament during the COVID pandemic.
“There was so much stop and go,” Federico said of changing on the fly this season. “I’m just glad we got it pinned down and we are wrestling now. It’s good to see the guys out wrestling now.”
Romero is one of those wrestlers who is glad to be back on the mats. The sophomore that placed second at state last year at 126 pounds talked Thursday night about his own battle with COVID-19.
Romero actually came down with COVID in November. He went through return-to-play protocol to return to the mats after his bout with the virus.
Pomona sophomore Jakob Romero, top, controls his match with Standley Lake sophomore Aidan Carlin on Thursday night at Lakewood High School. The Panthers currently have 11 wrestlers ranked in the top-5 in their individual weight classes. (Dennis Pleuss/Jeffco Athletics)
“My family got it. We are all athletes in the family,” Romero said. “We didn’t get it too bad, but I did see some in pact on my training and endurance. I took two weeks off, but still wasn’t myself. It’s just different for everyone.”
The sophomore has a realist perspective on what high school wrestling will look like for at least the near future.
“With COVID, it doesn’t seem to be dying down,” Romero said. “This may be the new norm for us. At least for a little bit.”
Romero admitted he was upset that the state tournament was moved from Ball Arena to Pueblo, but having a state tournament March 13 is what is important.
“In the end, I’m just glad we have a season,” Romero said.
Judd mirrors how everything can change. As a freshman his first tournament he wrestled at 106 pounds. He eventually placed 6th at the state tournament at 113. He wrestled at 132 and 145 pounds last year, qualifying for the state tournament at 145.
Now, Judd is all the way up to the 170-pound weight class and is ranked No. 3.
“I’ve been able to learn a whole bunch wrestling with a lot of different partners,” Judd said. “Most of the kids on the club don’t grow as fast as me. I’ve been able to practice with everyone in there.”
While Pomona has plenty of youth with a dozen varsity wrestlers either freshmen, sophomores or juniors this season they don’t want to take the 2021 season as a throwaway season.
“I’m trying to get the best out of the year,” Judd said. “One more year after this and I want to get two (individual) state championships.”
Pomona’s 113-pounder Gino Cardenas, top, took a 16-0 tech fall against Standley Lake junior Chance Clarke on Thursday night. (Dennis Pleuss/Jeffco Athletics)
The 2020 all-state football teams are presented by CHSAANow.com, ColoradoPreps.com and MaxPreps.
These teams were created following a lengthy process which included nominations from leagues, and then a vote of head coaches across the state.
Players were placed onto the first-team, second-team and honorable mention based upon the number of votes they received. In 5A-1A, spots were reserved for linemen and one kicker/punter, while 8-man reserved spots for linemen.
CHSAA does not determine who makes or doesn’t make the team; they are created from the results of the coaches’ vote.
Because there will be two football seasons during the 2020-21 school year, this is the all-state football team for Season A. There will be a separate all-state football team released for Season C.
LAKEWOOD — The newly tagged No. 1 football team in Class 4A didn’t have an issue with the new weight on its shoulders Thursday night.
Dakota Ridge — top-ranked 4A team in the CHSAANow.com rankings this week after moving past defending state champion Pine Creek in the polls — stayed perfect on the season with a 42-0 victory over Standley Lake at Jeffco Stadium.
Dakota Ridge senior Miles Reitan (53) tries to bring down Standley Lake quarterback Jake Worm during the first quarter Thursday night at Jeffco Stadium. (Dennis Pleuss/Jeffco Athletics)
“When Pine Creek walks on the field they assume they are the best team on the field. We’ve got to get to that point with this group,” Dakota Ridge coach Ron Woitalewicz said. “We should be the big dog on the field right now and they kind of embraced that this week. We know we are going to get everyone’s best shot with that (No. 1) target.”
Dakota Ridge (3-0, 2-0 in 4A Jeffco League) has now outscored its first three opponents 155-26.
“We have full belief in ourselves, full belief in our coaches,” Dakota Ridge senior Charlie Offerdahl said. “We know our capabilities. We have a lot going for ourselves this year. We are going to take it all the way.”
The Eagles actually fumbled on their opening drive, but was sharp offensively after the miscue. Dakota Ridge scored touchdowns on its next four drives to take a commanding 28-0 lead.
“It was definitely slick. We had to have two hands every time,” Offerdahl said of weather conditions that included freezing rain. “I give the credit to our offensive line. Great job up front. Everything works around them.”
Dakota Ridge sophomore Noah Triplett opened up the scoring with a 62-yard touchdown run midway through the first quarter.
“Credit to the youngster, Noah,” Offerdahl said of the sophomore running back. “He can play. The more weapons we have the better.”
After a Standley Lake turnover, Dakota Ridge quarterback Ben Gultig hooked up with senior Colin Stuhr for a 29-yard touchdown.
“What I was really impressed with was how Ben (Gultig) threw the ball early on with the wet ball and it was cold and windy,” Woitalewicz said.
Dakota Ridge senior Charlie Offerdahl (44) attempts to break the tackle of Standley Lake sophomore Max Stout. Offerdahl had touchdown runs of 35 and 15 yards in the second quarter to extend the Eagles’ lead to 35-0 at halftime. (Dennis Pleuss/Jeffco Athletics)
The Eagles capitalized on another Gator turnover to set up a third touchdown. Senior Steve Reyes rumbled in from 7 yards out on the first play from scrimmage in the second quarter and Offerdahl ran in a 2-point conversion to give Dakota Ridge a 21-0 lead in a driving rain with 11:55 left in the second quarter.
Offerdahl put Dakota Ridge up 28-0 minutes later on a 35-yard touchdown run. The senior capped off the scoring in the first half with a 15-yard touchdown, his seventh touchdown on the season.
“As long as we have 44 (Offerdahl) we are going to have a chance to be in the game,” Woitalewicz said. “That’s three straight games with a pick on defense for him. Every time he touches the ball on offense something dynamic can happen. He is a pretty special player.”
The senior standout intercepted a pass from Standley Lake quarterback Jake Worm on the opening drive of the second half. Following a 34-yard pass from Gultig to senior Mason Galbreath that set the Eagles up in the red-zone, Offerdahl scored his third touchdown of the night on a 10-yard scamper into the end zone.
The eighth touchdown of the season for Offerdahl induced a running clock for the remainder of the game with Dakota Ridge’s 42-0 lead.
Standley Lake (2-1, 1-1) threatened to end the shutout bid in the final minutes, but a goal-line stand gave the Eagles their first shutout of the season.
Dakota Ridge is scheduled to be back in action next Friday night at Trailblazer Stadium in Lakewood. The Eagles face Wheat Ridge (0-3, 0-2) in another 4A Jeffco conference battle.
Standley Lake will try to get back in the win column when the Gators face Bear Creek (0-2, 0-1) on Oct. 30 at the North Area Athletic Complex in Arvada.
Dakota Ridge sophomore Noah Triplett (4) races past Standley Lake’s sideline during a 62-yard touchdown run during the first quarter Thursday night at Jeffco Stadium. (Dennis Pleuss/Jeffco Athletics)
Roosevelt defense stepped up in a monster moment on Friday night.
The fifth-ranked Roughriders, who had battled with Mead all night, held firm on a two-point conversion attempt to knock off the No. 1 team in Class 3A, 21-20.
Roosevelt got the ball first in overtime, and took just one play to score: Quarterback Brig Hartson found Keaton Kaiser for the score. The extra point was good, and then Mead’s offense took the field.
Likewise, the Mavericks needed just one play to score, when Brayden Keys dashed in for six. Mead coach Jason Klatt opted to go for the two-point conversion.
That’s when Roosevelt’s defense stuffed a run up the middle, setting off a celebration in Johnstown.
Roosevelt opened the game with a touchdown on its first drive, finished off when Brig Hartson found Tucker Peterson for a 19-yard touchdown pass.
The game stayed 7-0 until the third quarter, when Evan Morris tied the game up for Mead with a 1-yard rushing score.
Hartson, who ended the game with three touchdown passes, put Roosevelt up 14-7 with a 4-yard touchdown to Jadyn Herrera early in the fourth. But Mead responded quickly with a 74-yard pass from Porter Eastin to Corby Tecu, and the game eventually found its way to overtime.
Roosevelt is now 2-0, while Mead moves to 1-1.
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2A: (3) Sterling 14, (5) Eaton 10
The defending champions built a 14-3 lead at the break, and went on to win.
The Tigers’ defense had an outstanding game, and even scored a touchdown.
“It was a tough game, a hard-fought contest,” Sterling coach Rob Busmente told the Colorado Preps Scoreboard Show. “It kind of went back and forth there for a while. Teams were battling and putting together some drives. It was back-and-forth, back-and-forth, and fortunately we were able to make a couple of stops and get a couple of takeaways.”
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8-man: Haxtun 38, (3) Dayspring Christian 36
Michael Gerk had four touchdowns, Owen Knode added three, according to KPMX Sports, and Haxtun came away with a monster win for its program.
The Fightin’ Bulldogs established themselves with a scoring drive right out of the gate.
“We jumped out pretty quick on a nice, long drive, and our offensive line kind of set the tone,” coach J.D. Stone told the Scoreboard Show.
Haxtun rebounded from an opening-week loss.
“We were really disappointed last week,” Stone said. “I think we grew a lot from that loss. The team really came together … and had a great week of practice.”
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3A: (10) Lutheran 57, (4) Discovery Canyon 17
The Lions jumped all over the Thunder early and often, leading 28-0 after the first quarter en route to the big win.
“Putting up the points early got us a lot of confidence,” Lutheran coach Stephen Robbins told the Scoreboard Show. “We just pounded it with tempo, and kept going at it. And our linemen up front. I’ll tell you: It’s one of the best O-line groups I’ve had in a decade. They got hungry and they kept going, and that just kind of propelled us.
“I think that was the difference-maker, was how we came out of the gate.”
Robbins said that the win could be “a program-changer.”
“We felt like last year, we left quite a bit on the field, especially against Discovery Canyon,” Robbins said. “So like I said, it’s a program-changer. Kids believe a little bit more, and it gets the community excited as well.”
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6-man: (1) Stratton/Liberty 66, (7) Eads 27
The Knighted Eagles came away with a big top-10 win, but coach Toby Kechter said they lost returning first-team all-state running back Jarret Lichty to an arm injury.
“We got up 16-0, and our best player, and in my opinion, the best player in the state, Jarret Lichty, he dislocated his elbow and broke his arm. Our young kids stepped up and played awesome the rest of the game. Eads is a high-quality team. Our kids, they played for him. They stepped up and played with all their hearts. It was great to see.”
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Notables:
In a top-10 5A matchup, No. 1 Cherry Creek cruised past No. 10 Cherokee Trail 49-7.
In 2A, No. 1 Delta beat No. University 31-21. The game was scheduled at the last minute following COVID-related cancellations.
A rare score here: In 4A, Standley Lake beat Golden 3-0.
In overtime, Riverdale Ridge beat Niwot 14-7 to pick up the program’s first 3A win.
Pueblo Central beat Pueblo Centennial 17-9 to win the 72nd Bell Game.
Montrose stopped a two-point conversion attempt in OT to beat Fruita Monument 28-27.
With smoke from the Cameron Peak Fire blowing in, the game between Erie and Silver Creek experienced a nearly 40-minute “smoke delay.” Erie went on to win 54-27.
In its first varsity season, Severance is now 2-0 following its 54-0 win over Alameda.
With its win over Otis on Friday, Weldon Valley put an end to a 15-game losing streak.
