COLORADO SPRINGS — Jay Onken allowed just one hit in five innings as third-ranked Pine Creek baseball beat Palmer 10-0 on Tuesday.
Onken, a sophomore, struck out nine and didn’t walk a batter. He got major help from his lineup, which produced 10 runs on 13 hits, including a home run from Justin Olson.
[divider]
[WPS_photo_gallery id=”547″]
The top teams remained on top in this week’s CHSAANow.com boys lacrosse rankings.
Despite a loss to out-of-state Torrey Pines last week, Cherry Creek remains the top team in the Class 5A poll. The top five teams from last week all held on to their positions.
The big jump of the week was Palmer landing at No. 7, up three spots from a week ago.
Rock Canyon and Columbine each played their way into the 5A rankings with the Jaguars coming in at No. 8 and the Rebels rounding out the poll at No. 10.
The Dawson School has proven in the last week that they are the undisputed No. 1 team in 4A after beating No. 3 Cheyenne Mountain on Apr. 2 and easily handling No. 2 Windsor on Friday.
Like the 5A poll, the top five teams in the 4A rankings all held on to their positions from last week.
The only newcomer in 4A this week was Valor Christian at No. 10.
The rankings, voted upon by coaches and select media members, are the official polls of the Association. During the regular season, they are released each Monday.
Complete rankings for all classes are below.
[divider]
Voted upon by coaches and select media members around the state. These rankings have no bearing on postseason seeding.
Coaches and media members looking to vote should email rcasey@chsaa.org.
| Class 5A | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| RK | TEAM | W-L | PTS | PVS | LW |
| 1 | Cherry Creek (5) | 4-1 | 100 | 1 | 1-1 |
| 2 | Mountain Vista (4) | 5-0 | 99 | 2 | 2-0 |
| 3 | Regis Jesuit (2) | 4-1 | 96 | 3 | 1-0 |
| 4 | Arapahoe | 3-2 | 79 | 4 | 1-1 |
| 5 | Monarch | 6-1 | 60 | 5 | 1-0 |
| 6 | Mullen | 4-3 | 48 | 8 | 2-0 |
| 7 | Palmer | 4-1 | 39 | 10 | 2-1 |
| 8 | Rock Canyon | 5-2 | 29 | – | 3-1 |
| 9 | Highlands Ranch | 6-1 | 21 | 9 | 2-0 |
| 10 | Columbine | 3-1 | 19 | – | 1-0 |
| Others receiving votes: | |||||
| Chaparral 6, Colorado Academy 5, Grandview 3, Kent Denver 1. | |||||
| Dropped out: | |||||
| Chaparral (6), Kent Denver (7). | |||||
| Class 4A | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| RK | TEAM | W-L | PTS | PVS | LW |
| 1 | Dawson (10) | 5-1 | 100 | 1 | 1-0 |
| 2 | Windsor | 5-2 | 83 | 2 | 1-1 |
| 3 | Cheyenne Mountain | 7-2 | 78 | 3 | 1-0 |
| 4 | Conifer | 4-0 | 73 | 4 | 2-0 |
| 5 | Battle Mountain | 4-1 | 59 | 5 | 1-0 |
| 6 | Steamboat Springs | 6-3 | 46 | 7 | 2-1 |
| 7 | Golden | 9-0 | 39 | 6 | 2-0 |
| 8 | Thompson Valley | 4-3 | 27 | 8 | 1-1 |
| 9 | Air Academy | 2-4 | 20 | 10 | 1-1 |
| 10 | Valor Christian | 1-3 | 14 | – | 1-0 |
| Others receiving votes: | |||||
| Durango 4, Aspen 2, Englewood 2, Littleton 1, Pueblo West 1, St. Mary’s 1. | |||||
| Dropped out: | |||||
| Aspen (9). | |||||
MONUMENT — Caleb Espinoza might quietly be the best offensive weapon for the Palmer Terrors. Espinosa guards the goal that his opponents are constantly trying to bury their shots in.
The fact that he guards it so well makes Palmer tough to beat and that was the case Wednesday night as the Terrors beat Lewis-Palmer 9-5, snapping the Rangers’ four-game winning streak.
The CHSAANow.com No 10-ranked Terrors were able to jump out to a lead early in the game because Espinosa swatted away every first quarter shot that was taken on him.
“We put the ball in his hands so to speak in regards to that,” Palmer coach Sequoia Bowan said. “We play a defense tailored to letting him see the ball and see shots and sit in and be one of the best goalies in the state.”
And that gives the Terrors (3-1 overall, 1-1 Class 5A Douglas County) a scary advantage, especially early in the game. When the Rangers (4-2, 1-1) weren’t able to connect on their early shots, they left themselves open for Palmer to jump out to a 4-1 lead at halftime.
“It keeps us hungry,” attacker Josh James said. “We know that we’re always in the game with our defense and Caleb there. They’re one one of the best (units) in the state and they help us out a lot and get us the ball so we can do our thing on the offensive end of the field.”
James led the Palmer scoring effort on the night with three goals and an assist. Carter Jensen, Ike Mahan and Isaac Waterhouse rounded out the scoring by getting two goals each.
When Espinoza is on his game, he likes to be rewarded with his offense getting down the field and putting points on the scoreboard.
“Right now, we’re playing great defensively and we know we have to be the brick wall to stop any goals from coming through,” Espinoza said. “And when our offense is putting goals in the net, that’s one of the biggest things for us.”
The Rangers had to do something to get themselves back in the game in the second half. Coach Dan Mullins admitted that his players were having a lot of issues with the Palmer zone and that they couldn’t find a way to break it early.
“We don’t run it very often,” Mullins said. “Their zone is tight and we don’t have an abundance of outside shooters. We needed to get the ball in tight to get a good shot.”
The Rangers did a much better job in the second half of getting those looks, but it just proved to be too difficult to climb all the way out of the hole they had fallen into.
Lewis-Palmer was able to close the gab to within three on three separate occasions, but Palmer always had an answer or the defense would just increase the pressure.
“I come out and I know what I have to do for this team,” Espinoza said. “I know I have to stop those balls and that’s basically what it comes down to. I know I have to do it every game and it helps the team a lot.”
Espinosa, Jensen and Isaac Atencio will play together next year when they head to Cleveland State.
Between the Class 5A and 4A CHSAANow.com boys lacrosse rankings, Chaparral is the only fresh face of the bunch.
Behind a 6-0 record, the Wolverines land at No. 6 in this week’s poll.
Defending champion Cherry Creek remains the top team in 5A, with Mountain Vista staying put at No. 2 and only trailing the Bruins by 10 points in the polls.
The Dawson School, fresh off a 13-8 win over No. 3 Cheyenne Mountain, also maintains their position on top. The Mustangs received all 10 first-place votes to the remain the No. 1 team in 4A.
There were no new teams in the 4A rankings this week, but Golden was able to jump three spots to land at No. 6.
The rankings, voted upon by coaches and select media members, are the official polls of the Association. During the regular season, they are released each Monday.
Complete rankings for all classes are below.
[divider]
Voted upon by coaches and select media members around the state. These rankings have no bearing on postseason seeding.
Coaches and media members looking to vote should email rcasey@chsaa.org.
| Class 5A | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| RK | TEAM | W-L | PTS | PVS | LW |
| 1 | Cherry Creek (11) | 3-0 | 119 | 1 | 1-0 |
| 2 | Mountain Vista (1) | 3-0 | 109 | 2 | 2-0 |
| 3 | Regis Jesuit | 3-1 | 107 | 4 | 2-1 |
| 4 | Arapahoe (1) | 2-1 | 92 | 3 | 0-0 |
| 5 | Monarch | 5-1 | 60 | 7 | 1-0 |
| 6 | Chaparral | 6-0 | 57 | – | 4-0 |
| 7 | Kent Denver | 4-2 | 36 | 5 | 3-1 |
| 8 | Mullen | 2-3 | 34 | 6 | 0-1 |
| 9 | Highlands Ranch | 4-1 | 21 | 10 | 1-1 |
| 10 | Palmer | 2-0 | 20 | 8 | 0-0 |
| Others receiving votes: | |||||
| Columbine 17, Rock Canyon 13, Lewis-Palmer 10, Fort Collins 9, Cherokee Trail 4, Wheat Ridge 4, Pine Creek 2, Colorado Academy 1. | |||||
| Dropped out: | |||||
| Columbine (9). | |||||
| Class 4A | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| RK | TEAM | W-L | PTS | PVS | LW |
| 1 | Dawson (10) | 4-1 | 100 | 1 | 2-0 |
| 2 | Windsor | 4-1 | 81 | 2 | 1-0 |
| 3 | Cheyenne Mountain | 6-2 | 77 | 3 | 2-1 |
| 4 | Conifer | 2-0 | 65 | 4 | 0-0 |
| 5 | Battle Mountain | 3-1 | 61 | 7 | 1-0 |
| 6 | Golden | 7-0 | 41 | 9 | 1-0 |
| 7 | Steamboat Springs | 4-2 | 39 | 5 | 3-1 |
| 8 | Thompson Valley | 3-2 | 35 | 8 | 1-1 |
| 9 | Aspen | 2-2 | 15 | 10 | 0-1 |
| 10 | Air Academy | 1-3 | 12 | 6 | 0-2 |
| Others receiving votes: | |||||
| St. Mary’s 11, Durango 6, Valor Christian 3, Englewood 2, Glenwood Springs 1, Pueblo West 1. | |||||
| Dropped out: | |||||
| None. | |||||
Windsor is making noise in the CHSAANow.com Class 4A boys lacrosse rankings.
The Wizards started the year near the bottom of the poll at No. 9, but a 3-0 start has them coming in at No. 2 this week. The Dawson School is still the No. 1 team in 4A.
Battle Mountain and Golden played their way into the top 10 this week with the Huskies coming in at No. 7 and the Demons rounding out the rankings at No. 10.
Defending 5A state champion Cherry Creek is still going strong. The Bruins held on to the top spot in the 5A poll.
They are followed by Mountain Vista at No. 2 and Arapahoe at No. 3. The Golden Eagles snagged two first-place votes this week and the Warriors earned one vote as the top team in the state.
Mullen (No. 6), Palmer (No. 8) and Highlands Ranch (No. 10) are all new to this week’s 5A rankings.
The rankings, voted upon by coaches and select media members, are the official polls of the Association. During the regular season, they are released each Monday.
Complete rankings for all classes are below.
[divider]
Voted upon by coaches and select media members around the state. These rankings have no bearing on postseason seeding.
Coaches and media members looking to vote should email rcasey@chsaa.org.
| Class 5A | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| RK | TEAM | W-L | PTS | PVS | LW |
| 1 | Cherry Creek (7) | 1-0 | 87 | 1 | 1-0 |
| 2 | Mountain Vista (2) | 1-0 | 82 | 2 | 1-0 |
| 3 | Arapahoe (1) | 2-0 | 75 | 4 | 2-0 |
| 4 | Regis Jesuit | 0-0 | 70 | 3 | 0-0 |
| 5 | Kent Denver | 1-0 | 41 | 8 | 1-0 |
| 6 | Mullen | 2-1 | 38 | – | 2-1 |
| 7 | Monarch | 2-1 | 34 | 6 | 2-1 |
| 8 | Palmer | 2-0 | 31 | – | 2-0 |
| 9 | Columbine | 1-1 | 21 | 5 | 1-1 |
| 10 | Highlands Ranch | 3-0 | 20 | – | 3-0 |
| Others receiving votes: | |||||
| Grandview 12, Castle View 11, Chaparral 7, Lewis-Palmer 7, Pine Creek 4, Wheat Ridge 3, Colorado Academy 2, Legend 2, Rock Canyon 2, Smoky Hill 1. | |||||
| Dropped out: | |||||
| Wheat Ridge (7), Grandview (9), Rock Canyon (10). | |||||
| Class 4A | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| RK | TEAM | W-L | PTS | PVS | LW |
| 1 | Dawson (9) | 1-0 | 99 | 1 | 1-0 |
| 2 | Windsor (1) | 3-0 | 86 | 9 | 3-0 |
| 3 | Cheyenne Mountain | 3-1 | 72 | 3 | 3-1 |
| 4 | Conifer | 2-0 | 62 | 4 | 2-0 |
| 5 | Steamboat Springs | 1-1 | 41 | 7 | 1-1 |
| 6 | Air Academy | 0-1 | 40 | 5 | 0-1 |
| 7 | Battle Mountain | 1-1 | 32 | – | 1-1 |
| 8 | Thompson Valley | 2-1 | 28 | 10 | 2-1 |
| 9 | Golden | 4-0 | 24 | – | 4-0 |
| 10 | Aspen | 2-1 | 19 | 6 | 2-1 |
| Others receiving votes: | |||||
| Glenwood Springs 17, St. Mary’s 8, Valor Christian 7, Vail Mountain 6, Pueblo West 5, Durango 4. | |||||
| Dropped out: | |||||
| Valor Christian (2), Ponderosa (8). | |||||
COLORADO SPRINGS — No. 7 Palmer boys basketball beat No. 10 Ralston Valley 55-48 in the first round of the Class 5A tournament on Wednesday.
[divider]
[WPS_photo_gallery id=”427″]
COLORADO SPRINGS — Palmer senior Bailey Smith couldn’t have picked a better time to improve her team’s free throw percentage.
She sank all six of her fourth quarter shots from the charity stripe to help the Terrors seal a 41-26 win over Rock Canyon in the first round of the girls Class 5A state playoffs.
“I just know that my team needed me and needed those free throws,” Smith said. “We were struggling there so my focus was that we needed these in order to survive.”
And survive they did, despite going 18-34 as a team from the free-throw line.
The 8th-seeded Terrors (10-14 overall) will now travel to Lakewood to face the Tigers who are the top seed in the Alice Barron region of the state tournament.
The Jaguars (7-17) are now tasked with turning an eye to next season, something that will have to come once they’re over the shock of this season coming to an end on the road.
“(I tell them) that we keep working,” Rock Canyon coach Becky Mudd said. “This group has done a great job of buying in all year to the idea that we’re going to be a team and we’re going to work together.”
That exactly how the Jaguars were able to hang with Palmer through the duration of the game. They fell behind early, but kept chipping away at Palmer’s lead, doing everything they could to completely close the gap.
Going into the fourth quarter, the Terrors held a 29-20 lead, but Rock Canyon quickly cut the lead to five thanks to field goals from Katie DiDonna and Julia Doherty. DiDonna led the Jaguars with 10 points on the night.
The run was stopped by Abi Torres-Drozd who connected on her first field goal since the first quarter to give Palmer a 31-24 lead, killing any momentum for Rock Canyon.
Torres-Drozd scored 10 of her game-high 13 points in the first quarter before going cold for the rest of the game.
“I was just kind of going for it,” she said. “I was just playing the game I love, I wasn’t thinking about the game itself so much, I was just going out there and doing my best.”
Palmer would add 10 more points to their total and limit Rock Canyon to only two free throws from DiDonna to come away with a win.
In any one-and-done format, the first win is always the most crucial and Palmer coach Dave Shackelford was very aware of that being the case Tuesday night, even if he knew the Terrors’ win was a tad uglier than he would like to see.
“It is (nice to win the first one), no matter how it’s done,” he said. “Abi was a big part of that as her first five or seven points were a big key for us to start. It was steady after that until Bailey stepped up and hit those free throws.”
Palmer will get back to work on Wednesday and will have two full days of practice before their second round game with the Tigers. Even after the win Tuesday night, the Terrors know they have their work cut out for them.
“We need to be tighter on defense,” Smith said. “There’s a few offensive plays that we need to start working and we need to limit our turnovers and work on some fundamentals.”
COLORADO SPRINGS — No. 8 Pine Creek girls basketball beat Palmer 61-23 in a Class 5A matchup on Wednesday.
[divider]
[WPS_photo_gallery id=”390″]
DENVER — Noah Hernandez had a hat trick and two assists as No. 7 Denver East hockey beat Palmer 14-1 on Monday.
[divider]
[WPS_photo_gallery id=”383″]
COLORADO SPRINGS — Alexander Brooks and Noah Cunniff each had two goals as Pine Creek beat Palmer 8-4 in hockey on Monday.
[divider]
[WPS_photo_gallery id=”297″]