Mountain Vista Brady Subart (23) looks to drive on Ralston Valley junior Andrew Wingard during the Class 5A Sweet 16 game Wednesday night at Mountain Vista High School. Subart gave the Golden Eagles a spark with three 3-pointers in Mountain Vista’s 68-38 victory. (Dennis Pleuss)
HIGHLANDS RANCH — Mountain Vista turned the tables on Ralston Valley in the Class 5A boys’ basketball Sweet 16 game Wednesday night.
The Ralston Valley Mustangs came in as the defensive-minded squad having held a dozen opponents this season to under 50 points. However, the Golden Eagles turned to their defense early to build a lead and take a 68-38 home victory.
Ralston Valley senior Zac Stevens, far left, and junior teammate Andrew Wingard fight for a rebound with Mountain Vista senior Graham Smith during the first quarter Wednesday night. (Dennis Pleuss)
“We did something different, which we normally don’t do,” Mountain Vista coach Bob Wood said after his team’s 16th straight win. “We went with our zone trap at the start of the game. We normally play man-to-man for a while. We thought with (Ralston Valley’s) size we could go to the zone trap and see if we could prevent them from going inside and force some turnovers.”
The plan worked to a tee. Mountain Vista (24-1) forced 22 first-half turnovers and built a double-digit lead by halftime. Senior Jake Pemberton, Golden Eagles’ leading scorer, got off to a hot start on the offensive side scoring 10 points in the opening four minutes of the game.
“Today we were a little pumped and electrified,” said Pemberton, who finished with a game-high 24 points. “We came out strong in the first half, got some steal and some easy baskets.”
Mountain Vista came in averaging 78.5 points per game. Ralston Valley coach Mitch Conrad was hoping for a low-scoring affair, but the Mustangs couldn’t keep the Golden Eagles’ offense in check.
“We definitely knew we could win the game if we played to our potential on the offensive side and kept playing defense like we have,” Pemberton said.
Ralston Valley’s only scoring success it had was when it was able to get the ball down in the paint to senior Zac Stevens (13 points) and sophomore Dallas Walton (10 points).
The Mustangs (18-8) struggled with their outside shooting the whole game. Ralston Valley didn’t make a 3-pointer the entire game. Senior Bryn Finnefrock (nine points) and junior Jordan Harnum (four points) were the only other Mustangs to get in the scoring column besides Stevens and Walton.
Mountain Vista senior Jake Pemberton, middle, has the ball knock out of his hands while driving to the basket on Ralston Valley senior Bryn Finnefrock, left, and sophomore Dallas Walton on Wednesday night. Pemberton scored a game-high 24 points in the Golden Eagles’ 68-38 victory. (Dennis Pleuss)
“That was a big factor,” Walton said of Ralston Valley’s poor shooting night. “I think if we would’ve made some shots it would have been much closer of a game. Still, we need to execute and take care of the ball.”
Junior Brady Subart stepped up his game after the first quarter for Mountain Vista. The guard made three 3-pointers and finished with 11 points.
“He (Subart) is a really good shooter. He hasn’t really shot the ball well the last couple of ball games. I thought Brady had a bad first quarter,” Wood said. “I was glad to see him step up and starting hitting in the second quarter. I thought he played really well in the second half.”
A long jumper by Pemberton with 2:43 left in the third quarter pretty much put the game out of reach by extending the No. 1 seed’s lead to 20 points, 43-23.
Wood was able to empty his bench in the fourth quarter. When the final horn sounded 12 Golden Eagles scored in their last game on their home court this season.
Next up for Mountain Vista is a trip to the Denver Coliseum. The Golden Eagles will face defending 5A state champion Eaglecrest in the Great 8. The Raptors knocked off Chatfield 77-62 on Wednesday night.
Eaglecrest ended Mountain Vista’s season last year in the state semifinals with a 73-59 victory.
The Mustangs finished third in the 5A Jeffco League this season and now turn their attention to next season. Conrad will return two starters in Andrew Wingard and the 6-foot-9 Walton.
“We need him to get stronger, and I think he will,” Conrad said of Walton. “He is determined and he is going to be a great player.”
Ralston Valley senior Bryn Finnefrock, right, drives on Mountain Vista senior Carson Simon during the second half Wednesday night. Finnefrock finished with nine points in the Mustangs’ season-ending loss. (Dennis Pleuss)
AURORA — Justine Hall had 25 points, Diani Akigbogun added 19 and Regis Jesuit girls basketball easily moved to the 5A girls basketball Great 8 with a 85-37 win over Ralston Valley on Tuesday.
Mountain Vista won last season’s 5A girls soccer title. (CHSAA file photo)
Mountain Vista, coming off of its second championship in three years, leads the preseason CHSAANow.com girls soccer poll in 5A.
The Golden Eagles return a number of key pieces, including leading scorer Megan Massey (17 goals, nine assists) and sophomore Mallory Pugh (10 goals, three assists).
They are followed by No. 2 Rock Canyon, last season’s runner-up, No. 3 Fossil Ridge and No. 4 Legacy. No. 5 Fairview rounds out the top five.
Another defending champion, Cheyenne Mountain, heads the 4A poll. The Indians received 10 of the 12 first-place votes. They return their leading scorer, as well, in junior Hannah Gerdin. Starting goalie Hunter Peifer is also back.
Broomfield is No. 2 in the 4A ranking, and is followed by No. 3 Palmer Ridge, No. 4 Valor Christian and No. 5 Air Academy.
Colorado Academy is the preseason No. 1 in 3A.
Complete rankings for all classes are below. A state semifinals last season, the Mustangs return their two two scorers from last season, as well as their keeper.
The Classical Academy, last season’s runner-up, is No. 2. Defending champion Peak to Peak comes in at No. 3, Kent Denver is No. 4 and Holy Family is No. 5.
ThunderRidge is the preseason No. 1 in 5A. (Jack Eberhard/JacksActionShots.com)
Defending champions lead CHSAANow.com’s preseason baseball rankings in four of the five classifications heading into the 2014 season.
Those No. 1 teams: ThunderRidge (5A), Mountain View (4A), Holy Family (3A) and Denver Christian (2A). Stratton (1A) is the lone preseason No. 1 to not win a title last season; defending champ Fleming opens at No. 5.
ThunderRidge received 11 of the the 17 first-place votes in the 5A poll, and topped the ranking with 154 overall points. The Grizzlies return a number of key pieces, including shortstop Brody Westmoreland, pitcher/outfielder AJ Jones, pitcher/outfielder Tyler Loptien and infielder Josh Brown.
Regis Jesuit got three first-place votes, and is No. 2. Rocky Mountain is No. 3, Cherry Creek is No. 4 and Grandview rounds out the top five.
Mountain View, No. 1 in 4A, returns the bulk of its team from last season’s title team, including star shortstop and pitcher Adam Baumann.
The rest of the 4A top five includes No. 2 Valor Christian, No. 3 Air Academy, No. 4 Montrose and No. 5 Pueblo West.
Holy Family leads the 3A poll and is followed by No. 2 Eaton, No. 3 Faith Christian, No. 4 Lamar and No. 5 Brush.
In 2A, Denver Christian leads the way. Resurrection Christian is second, and is followed by Lutheran, Las Animas and Paonia.
Stratton is on top of the preseason 1A poll. No. 2 Caliche, No. 3 Elbert, No. 4 Eads and No. 5 Fleming compile the top five.
Fairview 21, Pine Creek 18, Dakota Ridge 14, Chatfield 12, Monarch 12, Legacy 11, Columbine 10, Fossil Ridge 8, Northglenn 8, Cherokee Trail 6, Smoky Hill 6, Arapahoe 5, Rock Canyon 4, Heritage 2, Mullen 2.
Class 4A
RK
TEAM
W-L
PTS
PVS
LW
1
Mountain View (10)
0-0
113
–
0-0
2
Valor Christian (2)
0-0
76
–
0-0
3
Air Academy (1)
0-0
58
–
0-0
4
Montrose
0-0
56
–
0-0
5
Pueblo West
0-0
49
–
0-0
6
Durango
0-0
38
–
0-0
7
Windsor
0-0
37
–
0-0
8
Cheyenne Mountain
0-0
34
–
0-0
9
Longmont
0-0
29
–
0-0
10
Green Mountain
0-0
25
–
0-0
Others receiving votes:
Pueblo South 22, Canon City 21, Evergreen 19, D’Evelyn 18, Ponderosa 17, Wheat Ridge 17, Erie 12, Broomfield 11, Palmer Ridge 11, Northridge 10, Mesa Ridge 8, Fort Morgan 7, Falcon 6, Thompson Valley 6, Centaurus 5, Pueblo East 5, Widefield 3, Thomas Jefferson 2, Niwot 1.
Class 3A
RK
TEAM
W-L
PTS
PVS
LW
1
Holy Family (7)
0-0
70
–
0-0
2
Eaton
0-0
63
–
0-0
3
Faith Christian
0-0
53
–
0-0
4
Lamar
0-0
42
–
0-0
5
Brush
0-0
33
–
0-0
6
La Junta
0-0
27
–
0-0
7
Kent Denver
0-0
18
–
0-0
8
Olathe
0-0
15
–
0-0
9
Bayfield
0-0
12
–
0-0
10
Bennett
0-0
10
–
0-0
Others receiving votes:
Basalt 7, Peak to Peak 7, Manitou Springs 5, The Classical Academy 5, St. Mary’s 4, Sterling 4, Valley 4, Platte Valley 2, Strasburg 2, Trinidad 2, Gunnison 1.
Class 2A
RK
TEAM
W-L
PTS
PVS
LW
1
Denver Christian (3)
0-0
57
–
0-0
2
Resurrection Christian (2)
0-0
49
–
0-0
3
Lutheran (1)
0-0
44
–
0-0
4
Las Animas
0-0
34
–
0-0
5
Paonia
0-0
26
–
0-0
6
Swink
0-0
23
–
0-0
7
Holyoke
0-0
21
–
0-0
8
Rye
0-0
19
–
0-0
9
Kiowa
0-0
18
–
0-0
10
Limon
0-0
17
–
0-0
Others receiving votes:
Yuma 7, Peyton 6, Front Range Christian 3, Byers 2, Sargent 2, Burlington 1, Del Norte 1.
Class 1A
RK
TEAM
W-L
PTS
PVS
LW
1
Stratton (4)
0-0
53
–
0-0
2
Caliche (1)
0-0
43
–
0-0
3
Elbert
0-0
40
–
0-0
4
Eads
0-0
36
–
0-0
5
Fleming
0-0
32
–
0-0
6
Granada
0-0
30
–
0-0
7
Holly
0-0
28
–
0-0
8
Community Christian (1)
0-0
20
–
0-0
9
Baca County
0-0
13
–
0-0
10
Cheyenne Wells
0-0
11
–
0-0
Others receiving votes:
Dove Creek 7, Briggsdale 6, Peetz 4, Pawnee 3, Walsh 2, Cotopaxi 1, Weldon Valley 1.
DENVER — With the puck at the blue line, Ralston Valley’s Greg Dyba dished it off to Austin Resseguie to his left and drifted into the offensive zone.
Resseguie retrieved the puck along the left boards and swiped a backhanded centering pass across the crease. All Dyba had to do was leave his stick on the ice.
He did. He scored. And regained a two-goal lead, as well as any momentum Monarch had stolen just 41 seconds earlier.
Dyba’s goal came with 1:02 to play in the first period, and it ultimately proved to be back-breaking. His goal made it 3-1, and Ralston Valley locked things down defensively thereon.
The Mustangs added an empty-netter with 26 seconds to play, and captured their second-straight hockey championship with a 4-1 win over Monarch at the Denver Coliseum on Saturday.
“We’ve always kind of been — throughout this year, when the other team gets one, we get one right back,” Dyba said after the game. “So we kinda knew we had to get that and it would end up helping us in the long run.”
Added Victor Lombardi, who scored two big first-period goals: “That allows you to get all that confidence back that you lost, and just be able to regain and your momentum.”
This championship comes with an unblemished record — 23-0-0. The Mustangs have now won their past 29 games dating back to last season and are 32-0-1 over their past 33.
“There are high expectations with this school and this team,” Ralston Valley coach Matt Schoepflin said. “But that’s OK. Because I think that we want to play games like this. You know, you want to be in these situations, you relish these situations.
“It’s big for us and we’re going to keep trying to build as strong a program as we can and every year give it the best go we can and see what happens. Definitely, back-to-back is pretty special.”
Saturday started with a bit of a fiasco for the Mustangs. Starting goalie Zack LaRocque’s skate blade snapped in half the moment he stepped on the ice for warmups.
He was replaced by backup James Madok minutes before the puck dropped, and then went to work on his skate with his dad and members of CHSAA’s event team. It was the second time this week it had happened — another blade broke in practice, forcing LaRocque to replace it.
“I knew I couldn’t panic in a situation like that, so I just kept my calm,” LaRocque said.
Madok played great for the game’s first few minutes, and settled in once Ralston Valley grabbed a 1-0 lead on Lombardi’s wrist-shot from low in the faceoff circle.
LaRocque returned with 8:38 to play in the first period after installing another new set of blades.
(Matt Matthewes/MVPSportsPics.com)
“We were laughing,” Schoepflin said, “because last year we got to this point in the state semifinal game down at DU, and about 15 minutes before the game, Zack comes to us and says, ‘Hey, I’m sick, I can’t start.’ So our backup goalie plays the state semifinal game last year. On our bench, we had a good joke, ‘Hey, he always makes things interesting.’
“But at the same time, we had confidence in James,” Schoepflin continued. “He’s a senior this year, I think he played incredible, made some huge saves for us and definitely — he was ready to go, too. And I think that speaks to our team as a whole, too, how we stayed ready and were able to get the job done tonight.”
Said LaRocque, of joining the game in progress: “It was different. James, he played great when I was getting my stuff fixed.”
Lombardi scored his second goal three minutes after LaRocque returned.
Monarch — which was runner-up to Ralston Valley last year, too — rallied when Dima Kyle deflected a shot in from the point with 1:42 to go in the period. At that moment, the game seemed to shift. The Coyotes had a huge goal in the period’s final minutes, something that can often lead to a spark for the rest of the game.
But then Ralston Valley got an even bigger goal, even later in the period. And recaptured all the momentum Monarch had siezed.
“It was real big that we came right back and got that two-goal lead back,” Schoepflin said. “They definitely had some momentum swings during the game and they played a great game. It was a big moment for us, too, but we stayed the course and found a way to win.”
Lombardi, Ralston Valley’s captain, finished with the two goals and also had two assists for a four-point night. Dyba also had two goals and two assists, while Resseguie assisted on three goals.
More photos. (Matt Matthewes/MVPSportsPics.com)More photos. (Matt Matthewes/MVPSportsPics.com)
DENVER — There was no panic. Ralston Valley has been here, on this stage, many times before. Shoot, it was just last season that the Mustangs were hoisting hockey’s championship trophy above their heads.
So, no, an early 1-0 deficit was no cause for concern.
Kyle Valdez scored a big answer goal with five minutes left in the first period which ignited Ralston Valley’s bench. Victor Lombardi scored just 29 seconds later as the Mustangs took a 2-1 lead, one they would never relinquish as they skated away with a 6-2 win in the state semifinals at the Denver Coliseum.
(Tim Visser/TimVisserPhotography.com)
Valdez’s goal was “huge to get us back in the game and get it tied up real quick,” Ralston Valley coach Matt Schoepflin said afterward.
“There wasn’t a whole lot of panic on our bench,” he added. “I think that’s kind of one of the luxuries we have this year — we have a veteran group, we have 17 seniors. Roughly half that locker room in there won the state title last year. We’ve been in this situation before, we’ve played in big games.”
Upstart Cherry Creek, in the midst of a major one-season turnaround, jumped all over the Mustangs as the game started.
Matt Jung turned that energy into the 1-0 lead just 4:26 in. That held up until Cherry Creek’s Mark Saxelby went off for roughing and Valdez scored on the ensuing power play with 5:08 to go in the period.
“That was big to change the momentum in the game,” Valdez said. “That power-play goal really set the tone for the rest of the game.”
Lombardi then took a pass from Greg Dyba in front of the net, made one deke to his left and made it 2-1. Quickly, swiftly.
Three minutes later, Dyba streaked in from the right side, cut in front of the net and beat Cherry Creek goalie Aaron Jatana low to his right. It was 3-1. Just like that.
“We’re kind of a momentum team,” Schoepflin said. “If we get one, we like to stay hungry and get two, and then get three. Our big philosophy is just come wave after wave so it’s not just one line, it’s everybody.”
Neither team scored in the second period — despite six combined power play chances, including a 5-on-3 for each team — and it was Ralston which came out firing in the third.
(Tim Visser/TimVisserPhotography.com)
Austin Resseguie scored 3:05 into that period. Tyler Morpurgo added a power-play tally on a deflection in front of the net 2:46 later. It was 5-1 in a flash.
Garrett Schaff added Ralston Valley’s final goal of the night, and Matt Jung closed the scoring for Cherry Creek.
Cherry Creek won just two games last season, but made a surprising run to the semifinals this year. The Bruins are set to carry a lot of momentum into next season.
However, Friday night, Cherry Creek finished 0-for-5 on the power play, and was outshot 48-17.
“We’ve got the best penalty killers in the league,” Valdez said. “Just staying active on them and not giving them any time to move around.”
Ralston Valley has allowed just 38 shots in three playoff games, and is constantly in shooting lanes.
“A big thing with this group is sacrifice, so if that means you have an opportunity to block a shot, you gotta block a shot,” Schoepflin said. “It’s part of it. We talk about it a lot, we focus on it a lot, and I think everyone in that room has definitely bought into that.”
The Mustangs have now won their past 29 games in a row, and are 32-0-1 over their past 33. Add in the fact that Ralston Valley is the defending champion, and it’s clear who the team to beat is in this sport.
“I think we’ve had a target on our back for the last couple of years,” Schoepflin said. “We talk a lot about how we’re going to get every team’s best game.”
Saturday, in the state championship, they’ll get another team’s best shot.
“This was our goal from day one of the summer,” Schoepflin said. “This is their goal, this is where they wanted to be. I think we’ll be ready (Saturday).”
Ralston Valley sophomore Dallas Walton elevates for his first of three dunks Wednesday night at Ralston Valley High School. The Mustangs defeated Pine Creek 72-54 in the first round of the Class 5A boys basketball state tournament. (Dennis Pleuss)
ARVADA — You don’t want to see Ralston Valley sophomore Dallas Walton when he gets angry.
“I tell him, ‘You are an angry dunker.’ That last one was a little angry,” Ralston Valley coach Mitch Conrad said of his 6-foot-9 sophomore’s third a trio of dunks Walton threw down Wednesday night in a first-round Class 5A boys basketball playoff game against Pine Creek.
No. 5-seeded Ralston Valley took advantage of its height advantage against No. 12 seed Pine Creek to move into the second round with a 72-54 home victory.
“I knew going into this game that (Pine Creek) could shoot,” said Walton, who finished with 15 points. “The only way to beat them was to punish them inside.”
Senior Zac Stevens had a game-high 16 points, doing most of his damage in the paint. Pine Creek senior Joey Black was doing a good job defensively in the middle for the Eagles, but when Black had to leave the game with a left knee injury with 5:03 left in the second quarter the Eagles’ problems down low began.
Ralston Valley senior Zac Stevens, middle, goes up for a shot as Pine Creek seniors Derek Keirns, left, and Joey Black knocks the ball loose Wednesday night in the opening round of the Class 5A boys basketball state tournament. (Dennis Pleuss)
Pine Creek (8-16) actually jumped out to a 12-5 lead midway through the first quarter.
“That kind of happens some games,” Conrad said of Ralston Valley falling behind early. “You know it is do-or-die for this first one. It was good to get that out of our system and hopefully we’ll play loose. We are the underdog in the next game.”
The Mustangs (17-7) went on a 19-2 run during an eight-minute run in the first half to take a double-digit lead at halftime. Junior Andrew Wingard had a strong game for Ralston Valley with 14 points.
“Right when he (Black) went out of the game, Zac and I looked at each other,” Walton said. “We knew it was time to get it inside.”
Ralston Valley also had a massive advantage at the free-throw line. The Mustangs were 25-for-32 from the charity stripe. The Eagles were just 5-for-7 from the free-throw line.
Pine Creek coach Duke Stewart admitted the loss of Black hurt, but he said was frustrated with the way the game was called.
“When they shoot 32 free throws and we shot seven that makes a big difference,” Stewart said.
The Eagles made five 3-pointers, but it wasn’t enough to pull off the upset. Junior Jared Savage (14 points) and senior Derek Keirns (10 points) led Pine Creek in its season-ending loss.
Pine Creek senior Grant Morin (12) is challenge in the air by Ralston Valley sophomore Dallas Walton (35) and senior Bryn Finnefrock during the second half Wednesday night in the opening round of the Class 5A state tournament.
Pine Creek came into the state tournament having lost 10 of 11 games to end its regular season, but the Eagles had a handful of close losses during that stretch. Quality wins over strong 4A teams Denver West and Thomas Jefferson — both earned first-round byes in the 4A state tournament — didn’t hurt getting Pine Creek into the 5A tournament.
“It was a rough season. We took our bumps and bruises,” Stewart said. “Every game we played in, minus maybe two, we were right in there. I think Savage will be a huge core of what we are going to do and build on for next year.”
No. 4 seed Fort Collins (18-5) had players and coaches on hand at Ralston Valley High School to scout the team it will host will host at 6 p.m. Saturday, March 1.
The Lambkins won seven of eight games before receiving a first-round bye entering the playoffs. Fort Collins finished second in the 5A Front Range League. Senior Toby Van Ry (18.7 points and 7.3 rebound per game) has been the driving force for the Lambkins this season.
Walton said he was excited to go head-to-head against the 6-foot-9 Van Ry.
“I love playing guys my height,” Walton said. “It’s a great experience for me to see what I can do.”
Conrad is expecting a close game up in Fort Collins on Saturday.
“I think it is two evenly matched teams in my book,” Conrad said. “We played them this summer and it went down to the wire. I’m expecting a great game both ways.”
Ralston Valley junior Andrew Wingard (1) drives past Pine Creek junior Jared Savage during the first half Wednesday night. Wingard finished with 14 points in the Mustangs’ 72-54 victory. (Dennis Pleuss)
