LOVELAND — During a timeout with 25 seconds left in the third quarter on Thursday, Wray girls basketball head coach David Reed let out an emphatic “YES.”
His Eagles, the No. 3 seed in the Class 2A girls basketball tournament, had just taken a 52-30 lead over No. 6 seeded Rangely. And by gosh, he was excited about it.
“I was really proud of our intensity and our tempo,” Reed said after the Eagles finished off a 69-49 victory to advance to the state semifinals at the Budweiser Events Center. “We want to score 60 points, and that’s how we play. I was just very happy today.”
Senior Maddie Soehner led the scoring for Wray with 22 points — all of which came in the first three quarters — and junior Morgan Smith added 19, but it was the defense which got Reed and the Eagles’ faithful, all draped in purple, the most excited on Thursday night.
The Eagles held Rangely’s leading scorer, senior Katelyn Brown, to 16 points, allowing her to score just four in the first half, and held her below her season average (20) for the game.
“(Brown) is just a great player, and we just concentrated on it and make her really work for shots,” Reed said. “Our defensive intensity was great.”
The Eagles are back in the semis for the third straight season with the prior two trips resulting in a fourth-place finish (2016) and a runner-up effort a year ago. They’ve been here before, but now they’re hungry for more.
Wray takes on No. 6 Clear Creek, which knocked off No. 2 seed Simla 40-28 for its first ever win at the state tournament, Friday at 7 p.m.
“We’ve been here before, so we have an understanding of what it takes,” Reed said. “We’re not overwhelmed by the emotion of it. We understand that we’re up against a really good Clear Creek team, and we’ll have to have that same type of emotion and intensity that we had tonight.”
On the other side of the bracket, No. 1 Yuma remained unbeaten (25-0) and advanced to the state semifinals for an amazing sixth consecutive season by topping Ignacio 39-29. Yuma will square off against Limon, the No. 5-seed which bested Holyoke on Thursday.
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(7) Clear Creek 40, (2) Simla 28
The Golddiggers made their first-ever state tournament game count in a big way, knocking off No. 2 seed Simla and advancing to the semifinals.
Senior Grace Werlin led the scoring with 18 points, half of which came from 3-pointers, and Rachel Lucas scored eight in the third quarter alone to put the contest out of reach.
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(1) Yuma 39, (8) Ignacio 29
A 19-point effort from junior Cody Robinson helped push Yuma into the state semis for the sixth straight year.
Yuma’s previous trips to the semis resulted in four championship game appearances and one title (2016).
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(5) Limon 39, (4) Holyoke 30
The Badgers got out to a quick start and never looked back, riding a 7-0 lead quickly in the first quarter and holding on for a 39-30 minor upset over fourth-seeded Holyoke.
Limon moves on to face No. 1 seed Yuma in the semifinals Friday at 4 p.m.
The 2017 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 entirely from the results of the coaches’ vote.
DENVER — To start the volleyball season, Mountain Vista handed Cherry Creek one of its two losses on the year. To start the state tournament, the Bruins returned the favor.
Cherry Creek battled to a 21-25, 25-21, 18-25, 25-20, 15-7 win over the Golden Eagles, knock off the No. 1 seed in the Class 5A bracket. It was just one of many upsets across all five classifications on Friday at the Denver Coliseum.
Mountain Vista won the regular season opener between the two teams. That match also went to five sets.
“It was motivation to come in here and beat them,” coach Sally Moos said.
The Golden Eagles claimed the first set of the match, putting the Bruins into a quick hole. It was all tied up after two, but Mountain Vista again pulled ahead, putting Creek on the verge of defeat and losing any control over its own fate.
Even at that point, there was no panic from the Centennial League’s only representative at the tournament.
“I don’t think so,” junior outside hitter Katie Sherman said. “We were all just so into (the match) and we wanted to win it so bad.”
So they battled. The fourth set remained tight until Creek pulled away at the end. They came out in the fifth and dominated from the start, jumping out to a 11-3 lead.
Mountain Vista started to rally back, but the Sherman put down one last kill to give the Bruins control of Pool I.
“We wanted to win that so bad,” Sherman said. “They’re probably our biggest rival. We’re super excited.”
Cherry Creek finished the regular season with just two losses. The first came against the Golden Eagles. The second loss was back on Sept. 16 against Rock Canyon. Cherry Creek evened the score against Rocky Mountain in the Legend Tournament on Oct. 28.
The Bruins and the Lobos will play Saturday morning and a win by Creek means advancement to the semifinals.
“Rocky Mountain is a very good team, too,” Moos said. “We’ll do the same thing, we’ll battle back and forth.”
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Other upsets shake up the pools
(Ryan Casey/CHSAANow.com)
Denver East continued 5A’s upset trend in the third match of day when the No. 11-seeded Angels swept No. 2 Fossil Ridge, the defending champions.
The Angels, who are now 21-6 this season, swept the Sabercats 25-23, 25-22, 25-20.
“They stuck to the gameplan,” Denver East coach Tarah Olmstead said after the match. “They ran outside their comfort zone, which is what we are supposed to do every single day. We watch film on everybody here. We know what everybody does before we even know our own rotations. And they called it, they stayed on top.”
Denver East last advanced to the state tournament two years ago, but only two players remain from that team.
“What’s really tough is we have a ton of people who have never been here before,” Olmstead said. “We only have two people who have been here. And their eyes, when they’re walking in, are all over the place. So in order to keep them present, I said, ‘Look around, Snapchat, I don’t care what you have to do, do it right now. But the second we get in there, you are present and you are with each other, because that’s what everybody came to watch.’”
The Angels will have the chance to win their pool and advance to the semifinals by beating Chatfield on Saturday.
(Dan Mohrmann/CHSAANow.com)
And with the No. 1 and No. 2 seeds already the victims of upsets, No. 10 Rock Canyon was looking to make it a hat trick against No. 3 Castle View.
The Jaguars fell behind 2-0 early, though both sets they lost were close. They battled back in the third to avoid the sweep and and evened things up after the fourth set.
With momentum on their side, they went into the fifth and deciding set believing they could get the win.
The Sabercats jumped out in front and seemingly had control with a 10-6 lead. But Rock Canyon had battled back to tie up the overall match, so coming back to tie the final set seemed like child’s play.
Down 14-11, the Jaguars rode a couple of key kills from Keeley Davis to pull even. Davis made the final kill to give the Jags a 16-14 win in the deciding set of the match.
“(Early on) it was just the nerves at state,” Davis said. “We have a lot of new people who are here in this big coliseum. I think once we set those nerves off and we started getting excited and being happy about things, we started getting less nervous.”
Rock Canyon will play Coronado Saturday morning and can advance to the 5A semifinals by winning that match.
In 1A, No. 9 Holly knocked off No. 4 McClave 3-2 to start the day, including 15-3 in the fifth set.
In 2A‘s first match of the day, No. 9 Denver Christian upset No. 4 Hoehne, 3-1.
Simla threw a second wrench into the 2A tourney when the No. 11 Cubs upset No. 2 Swink with a 25-16, 25-19, 25-15 sweep.
No. 5 Otis over No. 4 McClave in 1A, 3-1.
2A No. 6 Lyons beat No. 3 Dayspring Christian 3-1.
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Notables
(Ryan Casey/CHSAANow.com)
Buena Vista had probably the largest, and loudest, crowd of the day. The students at Buena Vista took a field trip to the Denver Coliseum on Friday. The school picked up the tab to get as many students as possible to support the Demons at state.
Kit Carson’s incredible run of not losing a set continued on Friday. The Wildcats swept Weldon Valley and Briggsdale, and have now won all 72 sets they’ve played this season.
Lewis-Palmer, the defending champion and No. 1 seed in 4A, extended its match winning streak to 56 with sweeps of Mullen and Roosevelt. The Rangers are ranked No. 5 nationally by MaxPreps.
Eaton is in search of a fifth-straight championship in 3A. The Reds opened their tournament with a 25-18, 25-20, 25-10 sweep of Platte Valley, and then swept Lamar in the evening.
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Semifinal berths clinched
Yuma won 2A’s Pool I with wins over Dolores and Rangely.
Niwot captured 4A’s Pool IV. The Cougars beat Discovery Canyon and Palmer Ridge.
Chaparral won Pool IV in 5A with wins over Fort Collins and Fruita Monument.
Kit Carson, after its two sweeps, clinched Pool I in 1A.
University won 3A’s Pool IV following wins over Middle Park and Resurrection Christian.
Lewis-Palmer will meet Niwot in the 4A semifinals after winning Pool I.
Fleming topped Genoa-Hugo and Springfield to win Pool II in 1A.
Eaton is back in the 3A semifinals following sweeps over Platte Valley and Lamar.
La Veta got wins over Sangre de Cristo and Wiley to win 1A’s Pool III.
Lutheran beat Sterling and Bennett in winning Pool II in 2A.
Valor Christian beat Cheyenne Mountain and Pueblo West as it won 4A’s Pool II.
Holy Family topped Ponderosa and D’Evelyn in winning Pool III in 4A.
Faith Christian beat Buena Vista and Valley is it won Pool III in 3A.
Roosevelt football beat Berthoud on Friday night in a key Class 3A matchup.
For starters, it was a top-10 win, with the No. 5 Roughriders topping the No. 8 Spartans. Second, it was a win in the Class 3A Tri-Valley League, which is probably the best league in the state regardless of classification. Third, Roosevelt is now 5-2.
But most importantly: It helped the Roughriders move up in the 3A RPI standings from No. 13 to No. 8.
Roosevelt rallied from down 12-7 to take a 15-12 lead at halftime, and led 22-12 after three quarters.
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2A: (6) Sterling 56, Fort Lupton 28
Sterling quarterback Bodie Hume threw six touchdowns in the first half of Sterling’s 56-28 win over Fort Lupton. That ties the state record.
Hume finished with seven touchdowns; he only played one series in the second half.
The six touchdowns in a half are now tied for the most in state history. Hume is the seventh player to do that. His seven touchdown passes are tied for the fifth-most in state history.
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4A: (10) Skyline 70, Greeley Central 44
Skyline junior Jeremy Hollingsworth rushed for six touchdowns and more than 350 yards in a wild win over Greeley Central. He now has scored 26 touchdowns this season.
The Falcons are 6-1 this season.
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3A: Fort Morgan 17, (6) Silver Creek 7
Fort Morgan not only pulled off the upset, but moved to 2-0 in the Northern League. Both conference wins followed a three-game losing streak.
“We changed it up this week,” Mustangs coach Harrison Chisum told the Colorado Preps Scoreboard Show. “We had a lot of competitions and a lot more fun in practice, and it kind of helped with our energy level.”
Donovan Moya had an interception return for a score to help Fort Morgan win on Friday.
“He’s a competitor, and that was a huge pick-six to start the second half,” Chisum said.
Both teams are now 4-3 this season.
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6-man: (1) Stratton/Liberty 63, (3) Otis 6
The Knighted Eagles are 7-0 after this latest win.
“We’re really excited about the win, an really excited about the way we’ve been playing,” coach Toby Kechter told the Scoreboard Show.
Kechter praised his line.
“The kids just blocked their hearts out,” he said. “The effort’s just been great.”
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Notables:
Highlands Ranch, ranked No. 9 in 5A, is now 6-1 after beating Fountain-Fort Carson 38-24. “Our guys overcame some penalties and a couple of turnovers, and played really well tonight to overcome those things,” interim coach David May told the Scoreboard Show.
The Falcons will face No. 1 Valor Christian next week. The Eagles are now 7-0 after a 41-7 win over Lakewood. Luke McCaffrey had three total touchdowns, including a kickoff return for a score. Valor has won 17 games in a row.
Sedgwick County, top-ranked in 8-man, rolled to a 57-14 win over Merino. Sedgwick County is now 7-0 and has won 17-straight games.
8-man No. 5 Haxtun rebounded from a loss to beat No. 10 Caliche 38-20.
6-man No. 4 Peetz also rebounded from a loss by topping No. 10 Fleming 39-26. Tre Fehringer threw three touchdown passes for the Bulldogs.
2A No. 4 La Junta won its rivalry game with Lamar, winning 40-0 in the Whistle Game.
In 6-man, Sierra Grande is now 6-1 after shutting out Aguilar 60-0. Five different players had rushing touchdowns, including two each from Dakota Aragon and Dylan Milner.
South Park has matched its win total from last season after beating Pikes Peak Christian 30-6. The Burros are 4-3 in 6-man.
Wins No. 322 for coaches Scott Yates (Kent Denver) and Chris Brown (West Grand). Kent Denver, No. 1 in 2A, beat Englewood 38-0. West Grand, No. 2 in 8-man, beat Rangely 46-0.
In 4A, Rampart got an important 17-13 win over Montrose to move to 2-0 in the Pikes Peak League.
Jaylen Thomas rushed for 243 yards and three scores as Vista Ridge beat Coronado 35-14 in another 4A Pikes Peak matchup.
Austin Coalson helped Eaton improved to 5-2 this season with two touchdown passes in the team’s 46-6 win over The Academy.
Dakota Key rushed for three touchdowns and Alec Lewis threw for two as Legacy beat Aurora Central 44-0 in 5A. Legacy is 4-3.
Denver South’s Yonatan Kefle raced away from the field to capture the Wash Park Invite on Friday afternoon.
The junior won in 16:29, ahead of Jefferson Academy senior Ryan Lehmuth, who was second in 16:52. SkyView Academy’s Ryan Butler was third along with Castle View sophomore Aidan Scott (both finished in 17:12).
Castle View won the Invite on the boys side, with five runners placing in the top 13. Denver South, the host school, was second, and SkyView Academy placed third.
Castle View also won the girls team race as their five scorers all placed in the top 21. The Sabercats were led by senior Erin Kraus, who won the individual event in 19:53.
Brighton junior Kiran Green was second (20:21), and Dakota Ridge senior Skylar Lodice (20:32) finished third.
Dakota Ridge was second in the girls team race, and Longmont finished third.
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Devil’s Thumb Hill Climb
Grand Junction freshman Dolcie Hanlon narrowly won the Devil’s Thumb Hill Climb on Friday, edging Rifle senior Sarah Wagler by 0.57 seconds to win.
Hanlon won the race in 27:53.30. Wagler finished second in 27:53.87.
Gunnison won the girls team race by having runners finish third through sixth, led by sophomore Bria Rickert (29:06.85). Rifle was second as a team.
On the boys side, Gunnison senior Colton Stice led the field and won in 22:36.77. Rangely senior Patrick Scoggins was second in 23:01.11 — narrowly edging Montrose senior Evan Graff, who finished in 23:01.76.
Gunnison also won the boys race. Paonia was second.
Pine Creek made an absolute statement on the road on Friday, shutting out Pueblo West in a big top-10 football matchup in Class 4A.
The Eagles, ranked No. 3, beat the No. 9 Cyclones 35-0. It is Pine Creek’s fourth win in a row since starting 1-2.
“I thought our kids just came out and played well hard,” Pine Creek coach Todd Miller told the Colorado Preps Scoreboard Show after the game. “We’ve made some changes since the beginning of the season, and our kids are kind of buying into it. They’re flying around, and we’re playing kind of old school Pine Creek football and getting real physical. We had some fun.”
The two teams were scoreless after the first quarter, but Pine Creek’s Xavier Hill scoredtwice in the second quarter to give his team a 14-0 lead at halftime.
It was yet another solid defensive outing for the Eagles after giving up 50 points in a season-opening loss to Chatfield.
“There’s no superstars on that defense, just a bunch of guys that run to the ball, hustle and they play every play,” Miller said.
Miller added that he thinks his team still has more improving to do.
“We’ve got a lot to do,” he said. “We can get a lot better. I think we haven’t played our best football. We’re playing pretty good, but there’s a lot of steps we need to take to play that championship-caliber football that I think a lot of teams in the state are capable of. We’re on our way. It’s just one step at a time.”
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4A: Greeley West 30, (4) Broomfield 29
Greeley West led 23-8 as the fourth quarter opened, then held on for dear life to secure the upset win.
“It ended up going our way tonight,” Spartans coach Jason Renouf told the Scoreboard Show. “It was a close game.”
“It was a wild finish,” Renouf said. “Broomfield’s a good team. They don’t quit. They have a solid passing attack, and they unleashed it there in the fourth quarter.”
“We just held them when we needed to,” Renouf added.
This game was back-and-forth all night, but Silver Creek ultimately pulled it out.
Silver Creek got a crucial fumble recovery in the second half which led to the go-ahead touchdown.
“That was a huge play,” Raptors coach Mike Apodaca told the Scoreboard Show. “They had scored to go up, our offense did a good job of answering — we tied it up — and on the ensuing kickoff, we forced a fumble and got a short field and were able to do something with it.
“That was probably a turning point in the game,” he added.
After the break, Fort Morgan went up 14-7, but Silver Creek tied it up at 14 when Dylan Ordway hit Thomas Blazon for a score.
On the ensuing kickoff, Silver Creek forced that crucial fumble, and the Ordway found Joseph Roth-Bogrett to go up 21-14. Ramirez added a rushing score to give his team the final two-score cushion.
“It was one of those wins we had to have in order to stay in a place where we can get into the playoffs,” Faith Christian coach Ralph Nance told the Scoreboard Show.
It was Faith Christian’s fourth-straight game following an 0-3 start.
“The young kids are starting to figure it out, and we just hope that as we go down the road, they’ll continue to improve,” Nance said.
Bishop Machebeuf played the first home game in the history of its program on Friday. The Buffaloes beat Sheridan.
Machebeuf is now 6-1, which is its highest win total since the 2010 season when it went 7-4.
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Notables
Briggsdale beat Longmont Christian 83-75 in 6-man. The 158 combined points are the third-most in state history.
Akron, No. 4 in 8-man, avenged a earlier loss to No. 3 Daypsring Christian with a 37-27 win. “Our linemen played phenomenal tonight,” coach Jerome Weers told the Scoreboard Show.
6-man No. 2 Kit Carson beat No. 7 Eads 48-8. “It was a big game, and our kids responded really well to the challenge,” coach Jim Trahern told the Scoreboard Show.
Another big one in 6-man: No. 1 Fleming outscored No. 6 Peetz 58-41.
In 3A: No. 10 Holy Family made a statement with a 43-20 win over No. 9 Erie.
1A No. 4 Meeker took care of No. 6 Cedaredge, 42-14.
8-man’s No. 2 team, Sedgwick County, won on the road at No. 7 Merino.
2A No. 9 Manitou Springs narrowly escaped an upset by Salida with a 35-34 win. The Mustangs faked a punt in their own territory in the fourth quarter to keep a drive alive, went down and scored, then faked the extra point to get the win.
Castle View beat Rocky Mountain in overtime, 28-27.
Our weekly check of the all-time wins list: West Grand and coach Chris Brown beat Rangely 46-8, giving him his 312th career win. And Kent Denver and coach Scott Yates beat Englewood 41-13, giving him win No. 310.
