The 2017-18 preseason boys basketball rankings are here. No. 1 teams to start the season include: Rock Canyon (5A), Golden (4A), Sterling (3A), Sedgwick County (2A) and Holly (1A).
Sterling and Holly are defending champions, while Sedgwick County finished runner-up last season.
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.
Evergreen 19, Mead 16, Mesa Ridge 16, D’Evelyn 13, Thompson Valley 12, Sierra 7, Air Academy 4, Northridge 3, Sand Creek 3, Windsor 3, Mountain View 2, Palmer Ridge 2, Ponderosa 2, Fort Morgan 1, Vista PEAK 1.
Class 3A
RK
TEAM
W-L
PTS
1
Sterling (10)
0-0
109
2
Faith Christian
0-0
92
3
Kent Denver (1)
0-0
58
4
Resurrection Christian
0-0
48
5
DSST-Stapleton
0-0
35
6
Colorado Springs Christian
0-0
34
7
Alamosa
0-0
31
8
Lutheran
0-0
27
9
Bayfield
0-0
25
10
Strasburg
0-0
22
Others receiving votes:
Coal Ridge 20, Manitou Springs 20, Manual 15, DSST-Green Valley Ranch 13, Basalt 7, Buena Vista 7, Grand Valley 7, La Junta 7, The Academy 6, Colorado Academy 6, Platte Valley 5, The Vanguard 5, Roaring Fork 4, Arrupe Jesuit 1, Machebeuf 1.
Class 2A
RK
TEAM
W-L
PTS
1
Sedgwick County (5)
0-0
94
2
Holyoke (4)
0-0
84
3
Del Norte (1)
0-0
61
4
Highland
0-0
46
5
Paonia
0-0
43
6
Fowler
0-0
33
7
Sanford
0-0
31
8
Akron
0-0
30
9
Crowley County
0-0
27
10
Ignacio
0-0
24
Others receiving votes:
Yuma 20, Peyton 10, Burlington 6, Meeker 6, Merino 6, Vail Christian 6, Byers 5, Dawson 5, Limon 4, Haxtun 3, Hotchkiss 3, Evangelical Christian 2, Calhan 1.
Class 1A
RK
TEAM
W-L
PTS
1
Holly (5)
0-0
69
2
Cheyenne Wells
0-0
61
3
Fleming (1)
0-0
51
4
Creede
0-0
46
5
Front Range Baptist (1)
0-0
40
6
Peetz (1)
0-0
36
7
Kit Carson
0-0
31
8
Longmont Christian
0-0
29
9
Sierra Grande
0-0
18
10
South Baca
0-0
15
Others receiving votes:
Heritage Christian 8, Ouray 8, Cheraw 7, Stratton/Liberty 4, Sangre de Cristo 4, Flagler 3, Shining Mountain 3, Walsh 3, DeBeque 2, Cornerstone Christian 1, Weldon Valley 1.
Heritage’s Sam Blackwood (left) claimed a regional championship on Monday. (Dan Mohrmann/CHSAANow.com)
EDITOR’S NOTE: This story originally had Sam Blackwood as the sole winner, but scores were recalculated after the on-site reporter left the course. The story has been changed to reflect the accurate result.
COLORADO SPRINGS — Sam Blackwood and Canon Olkowski played well down the stretch and as a result are co-regional champions.
They both shot a one-under-par 70, one stroke better than teammate Blackwood’s teammate Ben Carrington, to take the Class 5A southern regional boys golf championship on Monday.
“My game was more steady,” Blackwood said of his play on the final nine holes. “My ball striking was a lot more inconsistent on the front nine. I found my swing on the back nine and that really helped.”
His birdie on his 18th hole proved to be timely as Olkowski sank a nearly 20-foot birdie putt to get to get to one-under as well.
Heritage also took the team win with Grand Junction finishing second. Both teams have qualified for the 2017 5A state tournament at CommonGround.
The top two teams in each region, along with the next 13 individual qualifiers, will head to state next month.
Oliver Jack, the reigning state champion in Class 3A, cruised to a win in 3A’s Region 1 at East to Links.
Jack shot a 2-under 69. His round included five birdies, including his final two holes.
Jack’s teammate, Jackson Klutznick, tied for second with Lance Peters of Alamosa at 1-over. Klutznick tied for fourth at state last season.
Kent Denver also won the team title, shooting 1-over. Lutheran (+24) was the second-place team, and also qualified for state.
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4A 1: Defending champ Luke Trujillo also cruises.
Discovery Canyon’s Luke Trujillo won 4A Region 1 at Elmwood by eight strokes, shooting a 5-under 65. Trujillo won the 4A championship last fall.
Niwot’s Jack Hoover placed second at 3-over, while Falcon’s Ryan Welsh was third (+5).
Discovery Canyon easily won the regional title as a team at +11. Niwot (+33) also qualified as a team.
[divider]
4A 4: Montrose’s Stangebye wins in playoff.
(Tom Hoganson)
Montrose golfer Micah Stangebye won a playoff to win 4A’s Region 4, held at The Bridges at Black Canyon.
Stangebye and Bridger Tenney of Evergreen were tied at even par after the round, but Stangebye won on the second playoff hole.
Montrose’s Dawson Hussong (+1) finished third.
Montrose also won the region championship as a team, finishing 3-over as a group. Evergreen (+4) was second.
[divider]
3A 4: Aspen runs away with region championship.
Aspen won the 3A Region 4 title held at Devils Thumb with a stunning 6-under team finish. That was 22 strokes better than second-place Basalt, which finished at 16-over.
The Skiers had an astonishing four golfers finish under par — the top four finishers — led by individual champion Carter Hall at 3-under. Dawson Holmes was 2-under.
[divider]
5A Central: Bryant, McMullen shine.
(Marlee Smith/CHSAANow.com)
Davis Bryant is headed back to another state tournament.
The Eaglecrest senior, who was second at the 5A tourney last season, tied for first with Rock Canyon’s Kieran McMullen at the Central Region, which was played at Plum Creek.
The region did not hold a playoff to determine the individual medalist.
Fossil Ridge’s Dillon Stewart tied for third with Mountain Range’s Connor Jones.
Fossil Ridge was the top team at 5-over. Rock Canyon placed second at 6-over.
Sterling was in firm control of Region 3 in 3A, held at Estes Park Golf Course.
The Tigers were the top team, shooting 11-over, 16 strokes ahead of second-place Resurrection Christian (+27).
Sterling also had the top two finishers in Riley Schaefer (1-under) and Brayden Lambrecht (1-over). Resurrection Christian’s Micah Ramirez was third (+4).
[divider]
5A Northern: Regis Jesuit’s McCoy is the top individual.
Regis Jesuit’s Calvin McCoy captured the individual regional title at the 5A Northern event held at Coal Creek. He shot 1-under.
Monarch’s Spencer Daake (+1) was second individually, while Chaparral’s Bryce Howard (+3) placed third.
The Raiders also won the team championship at +11. Monarch qualified for state, as well, after finishing second at 16-over.
[divider]
5A Western: Arapahoe wins team and individual crowns.
Arapahoe’s Tommy Packer captured the 5A Western region with a 1-under 71. Lakewood’s Jack Castiglia finished second at even par at the event, which was hosted by Broadlands.
The Warriors were also the top team finisher at 9-over. Fairview (+12) placed second.
[divider]
3A 2: Agelopoulos, Grossenbacher battle for individual title.
Colorado Academy’s Christian Agelopoulos and Eaton’s Peter Grossenbacher were tied at 2-under at 18 holes at 3A’s Region 2, held at CommonGround.
Grossenbacher then won in a playoff on the first hole.
CA was the top team, finishing at 2-over. Eaton (+11) was second, and qualified for the state tournament.
[button color=”white” size=”normal” alignment=”none” rel=”follow” openin=”samewindow” url=”https://old.chsaanow.com/sports/boys-golf/stats/”]Complete results from boys golf’s regionals can be found here.[/button]
The senior’s kick came following a 9-yard run for junior quarterback Zachary Anderson. Pueblo East also called a timeout in an attempt to ice Gurnett, but it didn’t faze him.
“I had confidence our kicker was going to make that,” Anderson told the Pueblo Chieftain after the game.
Anderson had two rushing touchdowns and 73 yards on Thursday night.
Caleb Grotelueschen also had a big game for the Thunder with a rushing touchdown and a 90-yard kickoff return for a score. Marshall Pike added a rushing score.
Pueblo East quarterback Luc Andrada had four passing touchdowns and also a rushing touchdown, according to the Chieftain.
Lincoln improved to 3-0 with a 43-8 win over Denver West. It’s the second-straight season the Lancers have started 3-0.
Jes Ramirez rushed for three touchdowns and 124 yards as Brighton beat Heritage 20-3. The Bulldogs are now 2-1. Photos from the game.
Orlando Westbrook accounted for three total touchdowns in Harrison’s 26-23 win over Evergreen. Aumiere Shedrick also had 222 total yards and two touchdowns.
Doherty lit up the scoreboard and the stat sheet in a 63-12 win over Palmer. Quarterback Logan Siffert threw three touchdowns, and Julian Cooks rushed for three scores. Gage Vanaman rushed for 149 yards and a score on just seven carries.
Five different players had rushing touchdowns as Standley Lake beat Liberty 42-35. Ty Webber rushed for 135 yards, and Alex France accounted for 132.
Fort Collins is now 2-1 after beating Greeley West 40-35.
Prospect Ridge picked up its first win of the season in beating Arvada 34-0.
Pueblo County beat Falcon 17-16 to pick up its first win this year.
COLORADO SPRINGS — For a few, brief moments on Monday, golfers competing at the Cheyenne Mountain Invite stopped focusing on golf and turned their attention to a natural phenomenon.
Monday’s much-hyped eclipse was a great reminder that life exists outside the athletic realm and sometimes, especially for high school kids, the sight of such a rare event can be a welcome distraction to those looking to remain competitive through the day.
“I actually thought it was kind of cool,” Discovery Canyon’s Luke Trujillo said. “It gave me something to talk about with the guys I was playing with and with the coaches. I guess when something bad goes wrong, (the eclipse) can get my mind off it.”
Trujillo came away with the win, shooting a one-under-par 70, winning his second tournament in a seven-day span. The Thunder also grabbed the team win, shooting 223 as a whole.
As the two seniors who came away with a state title last year, Trujillo and Caleb Blackburn know the feeling of coming away with a win, but doing iit during such a rare moment will hang with them for a long time.
“(The rarity of the eclipse) hit me a little bit, but I didn’t realize the gravity of it,” Blackburn said. “I think the eclipse, since it comes every 40 years, is such an amazing thing to happen. And to be able to play golf while the eclipse is out there is such a cool experience.”
And it was something that all golfers, regardless of score or level, could come together and enjoy. Often, players were seen hitting their shots and then while waiting for the others in the group to hit, throwing on their eclipse sunglasses to track the progress of the moon’s orbit relative to the sun.
“Our principal actually bought them for the entire school, so that was pretty neat,” TCA’s Ryan Beckman said. “They got handed out to every student.”
(Dan Mohrmann/CHSAANow.com)
It seemed to be the norm for the kids at the Country Club of Colorado Springs. While the progress of the eclipse was being tracked as the tournament went on, when it was at its designated peak around 11:47 a.m., most golfers took a minute to put their bags down and take in the spectacle.
And the coaches were able to revel in the same moment. As much as the players weren’t completely focused on their next shots, the coaches were taking just as much time to gaze into the sky.
“One my assistants sent me a message and asked when the last time I was out golfing during an eclipse,” Falcon coach Greg Morris said. “The answer is never. And for these kids, it will never happen again, at least in their young lives.”
The 2017 all-state baseball teams honor the best players in the sport as judged by the leagues and coaches. They 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.
Player and coach of the year was also selected by a vote of the coaches.
[divider]
Class 5A
(Jack Eberhard/JacksActionShots.com)
Player of the year: John Sorensen, Rocky Mountain
Coach of the year: Scott Bullock, Rocky Mountain
First Team
Name
School
Pos.
Year
Liam Eddy
Brighton
P/RF/3B
Senior
Matt Givin
Rock Canyon
RHP/SS/2B
Senior
Tyler Hyland
Rocky Mountain
OF/P
Senior
James Notary
Broomfield
P/INF
Senior
Casey Opitz
Heritage
C/INF
Senior
Tanner O’Tremba
Cherry Creek
OF
Junior
Caleb Sloan
Regis Jesuit
RHP
Senior
John Sorensen
Rocky Mountain
SS/P
Senior
Jordan Stubbings
Legend
3B/1B/C
Senior
Second Team
Name
School
Pos.
Year
Carter Akerfelds
Dakota Ridge
RHP
Senior
Jacob Arellano
Mountain Range
Senior
Tyler Carpenter
Fairview
1B/P
Senior
Drake Davis
Ralston Valley
RHP/OF
Senior
Kalen Hammer
Rocky Mountain
INF
Senior
Jacob Hilton
Heritage
RHP/INF
Senior
Jack Liffrig
Mountain Vista
LHP
Junior
Garrett Tisdall
Eaglecrest
RHP/C/3B
Senior
Jack Winkler
Chatfield
INF/P
Senior
Honorable mention:
Sean Arnold, Highlands Ranch, 1B/OF, Junior
Michael Baer, Regis Jesuit, 1B, Senior
Alex Bumpus, Coronado, CF/P, Senior
Kyle Cardona, Legend, SS/RHP, Senior
Joshua Chamberlain, Legacy, RHP/2B, Senior
Andrew Chavez, Cherry Creek, C, Senior
Riley Cornelio, Pine Creek, SS/RHP, Sophomore
Jeff Cyr, Ralston Valley, SS/RHP, Senior
Andrew Danko, Eaglecrest, SS/RHP, Junior
Colby Deaville, Legacy, SS, Senior
Moses Dokes, Denver East, Freshman
Spencer Gendreau, Rocky Mountain, 1B/OF, Senior
Mikey Griebel, Columbine, CF, Senior
Colton Hill, Rock Canyon, OF, Senior
Sam Ireland, Mountain Vista, 1B/RHP, Sophomore
Patrick Kauffmann, Denver East, Senior
Hunter Kelchner, Grand Junction Central, RHP/1B, Senior
Ryan Kirby, Grand Junction Central, INF, Sophomore
Cooper Legault, Dakota Ridge, OF/RHP, Junior
Jordan Medina, Highlands Ranch, UTIL/P, Junior
Mitch Morales, Broomfield, P/OF, Sophomore
Trey Morrill, Fruita Monument, P/OF, Junior
Conner Nantkes, Cherokee Trail, P/UTIL, Senior
Jakob Pigati, Bear Creek, CF/LF/RF, Senior
Jack Radford, Bear Creek, P, Senior
Cody Schultz, Cherry Creek, INF, Senior
Mason Speirs, Broomfield, C/C, Senior
Jose Treto, Brighton, P/SS/OF, Senior
Matt Turner, Broomfield, 1B, Senior
Jadon Uhrich, Rocky Mountain, C/INF/OF, Senior
Quincey Ulrich, ThunderRidge,
Jake Willemsen, Fairview, OF, Senior
[divider]
Class 4A
(Lance Wendt/LanceWendt.com)
Player of the year: Luke Ziegler, Valor Christian
Coach of the year: Steve Jones, Evergreen
First Team
Name
School
Pos.
Year
Mike Berg
Thompson Valley
C/OF/3B
Senior
Micah Bregard
Air Academy
INF/P
Junior
RJ Dabovich
Pueblo West
Senior
Noah Kuzma
Valor Christian
C
Junior
Ben Muscatello
Evergreen
P/SS/INF
Junior
JD Wadleigh
Green Mountain
RHP/OF
Junior
Judah Wilbur
Denver North
SS/2B/RHP
Senior
Cole Winn
Silver Creek
INF/P
Junior
Luke Ziegler
Valor Christian
3B/RHP
Junior
Second Team
Name
School
Pos.
Year
Josh Danyliw
Valor Christian
P/RF
Junior
Alan Garcia
Pueblo West
Senior
Trystan Kimmel
Thomas Jefferson
INF/RHP
Senior
Skyler Messinger
Niwot
P/INF
Senior
Dylan Norsen
Mountain View
P/INF
Senior
Joel Pierce
Valor Christian
LF/RF
Senior
Jose Robles
Denver North
RHP/C
Senior
Andrew Shaw
Summit
LHP/OF/1B
Senior
Corte Tapia
Windsor
Senior
Honorable mention:
Mason Bennett, Ponderosa,
Matt Berg, Thompson Valley, SS/2B/OF, Senior
Aaron Berkhoff, Cheyenne Mountain, 3B, Sophomore
Brody Bettis, Green Mountain, 2B, Senior
Dalton Bishop, Mesa Ridge, C/INF/SS, Senior
Nick Bowermaster, Thomas Jefferson, SS/RHP, Sophomore
FALCON — Austin Darby is not walking through the door for Cheyenne Mountain coach Mark Swope anytime soon. But he may not have to. In 2011, Darby was a catalyst for the Cheyenne Mountain baseball team that went on to win the Class 4A state title.
Since then, the Indians have been… okay.
But after a 7-3 win over Falcon on Thursday, they have improved to 10-0 on the season and are looking like a team that is on the upswing and looking to get back into the state contender conversation.
“We’re not going to go to that extreme,” Swope said. “We don’t have swing and miss pitchers, we don’t have nine-strikeout guys on the mound. We’re getting it done by (hitting for) contact and fielding the ball.”
But it’s working. The Indians (10-0 overall, 5-0 Pikes Peak Athletic Conference) have, for the most part, played sound baseball this season, resulting in a climb to No. 4 in the 4A CHSAANow.com rankings. The sound play was on display again with a with over the Falcons (5-3, 3-2).
The two teams battled for 10 innings on Tuesday in a game that saw Cheyenne Mountain come away with a 10-9 win. With the extra innings, it was important — perhaps even vital — to keep pitch counts as low as possible.
(Dan Mohrmann/CHSAANow.com)
So naturally, Swope turned to a freshman. Cameron Buckler threw an efficient complete game. He amassed only 87 pitches and held the Falcons to just two earned runs on the day.
“The main thing coming into a game is just to have a lot of confidence in the great defense that we have,” Buckler said. “I’m just able to throw the ball and if they hit it then my defense is going to make a play.”
Falcon was able to swing for eight hits on the day, but Buckler just kept hitting his spots and working his way out of trouble. Twice the Falcons had runners on second and third, but a ground out in the third and a strikeout in the sixth ended any chance of a rally.
“We just couldn’t get the base hit,” Falcon coach Dana Reichers said. “I’ve always told my ball club that pitching and fielding wins championships, along with timely hitting.”
Cheyenne Mountain got their timely hits in early. On Gary Crist’s first pitch of the game, Aaron Berkhoff ripped a double to left-center. Two pitches later Christian Buckler ripped a double of his own to put the Indians up 1-0.
A stolen base and a sacrifice fly made it a 2-0 game before the Falcons even knew what hit them.
“I told the guys to not miss the fastball,” Berkhoff said. “I wasn’t going to be a hypocrite and take the first fastball. So I just nailed that one.”
Falcon pulled even in the third when Phillip Loving hit a RPI single to score Caleb Chandler. In the top of the fourth, Jack Denver and Chase McCleary flied out. But the next two batters reached and Berkhoff drove them in with a single.
“They changed their approach from Tuesday,” Reichers said. “They hit first-pitch fastball which they didn’t do on Tuesday. So good for them.”
Reichers believes that his club with be okay with the worst part of the PPAC schedule now behind them. But his only focus is on Friday’s game against Pueblo South.
Cheyenne Mountain will see non-league action against Canon City. With Buckler able to go the complete game, Swope will stick with his plan to start Everett Dwyer against the Tigers.
In 13 innings on the bump, Dwyer has only surrendered a single earned run this season. If he can remain efficient from here on out, things will continue looking up for a program hoping to return to championship form.
D’Evelyn junior Angi Reed sets up for a 3-pointer during the Jaguars’ 55-45 win over Falcon. (Dennis Pleuss/Jeffco Athletic)
DENVER — The three keys to success for D’Evelyn’s girls basketball team is tempo, tempo and tempo — the quicker, the better for the Jaguars.
That held true Friday night as 15th-seeded D’Evelyn advanced into the round of 16 of the Class 4A state tournament with a 55-45 home victory over No. 18 Falcon. The Jaguars and Falcons were tied at halftime 30-30, but D’Evelyn figured Falcon wouldn’t match the six 3-pointers it made in the first half and the up-tempo pace would eventually favor the Jaguars.
“That’s our style every year,” D’Evelyn junior Angi Reed said. “At halftime coach (Chris Olson) said there was no way they could keep shooting like this and keep running with us. We trusted the process.”
D’Evelyn’s Tori Szathmary, left, attempt to get off a shot. (Dennis Pleuss/Jeffco Athletics)
D’Evelyn senior Jill Smith opened the second half with a 3-pointer from the corner 10 seconds into the third quarter to give the Jaguars (17-7 overall) the lead, which it would never give up. After a slow start, Smith heated up in the third quarter scoring 11 of her 14 points.
“When she (Smith) gets going it really changes what the defense does,” Olson said. “Angi and Payton (Sampson) can drive to the basket. That’s important for us.”
Smith scored all but three of the Jaguars’ points in the critical third quarter. However, she did assist on D’Evelyn’s only other bucket in the quarter. In a designed play for Smith to take a jumper at the free-throw line, Smith kicked it back out to Reed for a deep, but wide-open 3-pointer.
Reed, who finished with 17 points, drained the long 3-pointer to give D’Evelyn a 40-35 lead with 2:30 left in the third quarter.
“I wasn’t surprised. We are all unselfish,” Reed said of Smith kicking the ball back out to her. “We are looking for the best shot, not a good shot.”
Junior Bailey Marvel (11 points) and sophomore Tori Szathmary (seven points) had strong games battling down low with Falcon senior Jade Adams. The Falcons’ 5-foot-11 post player finished with nine points before fouling out with 2 minutes to play.
D’Evelyn’s Izzy Lopez, left, goes up for a shot Friday. (Dennis Pleuss/Jeffco Athletics)
Senior Hanna Diaz finished with a game-high 18 points for Falcon (17-8), as the Falcons’ season came to a close. D’Evelyn held Falcon to just four made field goals and 15 points in the second half.
Falcon came into Friday’s game having won 6-of-7 games. The Falcons also had a quality victory over Valor Christian on the season. Falcon defeated the 2-time defending state champions by a dozen points Dec. 22.
D’Evelyn placed fourth in the deep 4A Jeffco League this year. The Jaguars, along with conference rivals No. 3 Evergreen, No. 6 Valor Christian and No. 9 Golden all grabbed first-round byes. All four advanced into next week’s round of 16.
Next up for D’Evelyn is No. 2 Pueblo West (21-3). The game will be played Tuesday, Feb. 28, in Pueblo.
The Jaguars and Cyclones have plenty of playoff history. D’Evelyn defeated Pueblo West in overtime last season in the opening round of the state tournament. In 2014 the Jaguars defeated the Cyclones in the Sweet 16 and in 2013 D’Evelyn got the better of Pueblo West in the state semifinals.
“I’m excited. We are kind of rivals, I guess,” Smith said of another postseason battle against Pueblo West. “We beat them in overtime last year and we always play them over the summer. I’m excited to play them.”
Pueblo West is on a nine-game winning streak, including a 30-point victory over Greeley Central on Friday night.
“We’ll go down there and give them a great game,” Olson said. “We’ll see what we can do.”
D’Evelyn senior Jill Smith beats Falcon’s defense down the court for a 2nd-half layup. (Dennis Pleuss/Jeffco Athletics)
The 2016 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.
[divider]
Class 5A
(Kai Casey/CHSAANow.com)
Player of the year: Dylan McCaffrey, Valor Christian
