A good start for the Roaring Fork High School’s boys and girls basketball teams to begin the 3A Western Slope League schedule promises to get more challenging in the weeks to come.
The Rams swept the first weekend of league competition on Friday and Saturday, Jan. 10 and 11 — the girls winning by scores of 68-34 over North Fork at home and then 54-31 at Grand Valley, and boys winning 53-45 and 63-51 in their games against the same opponents.
The girls led from the opening minutes in both of their contests, allowing some of the bench players to get quality time on the court.
Senior Carley Crownhart had 17 and 22 points (including three 3-pointers) in the respective games, while sophomore Riley Bevington had 16 and 14. Senior Erica Crownhart had 12 against North Fork, and junior Nikki Tardif had 10 against Grand Valley.
The girls remained undefeated at 10-0 and carried a state 3A ranking of fifth into the week, with a big one coming up at home against Cedaredge this Friday, Jan. 17.
“Friday night presents a big challenge against an undefeated Cedaredge team (8-0), but I know the girls will be up for the challenge,” head coach Mike Vidakovich said.
The boys had to work a little harder to earn their two wins, allowing North Fork to keep it close for most of the game before pulling away in the fourth, and then rallying from eight points down at halftime on Saturday to outscore Grand Valley 40-20 in the second half to earn the win.
Junior Kiko Pena had 15 and 20 points and 12 and 20 rebounds, respectively. Junior Lucas Carballeira had 22 points in the Grand Valley game.
“The Western Slope league will keep us on our toes,” head coach Jason Kreiling said. “The two wins this weekend were a great start to our league play, but it was also a reminder that regardless of playing at home or away, each game is going to be tough.”
Both Rams teams host Cedaredge this Friday, and are on the road at Olathe on Saturday. Friday varsity games times are 5:30pm and 7pm at the RFHS gymnasium.
“As long as we play with confidence and as a team we will be competitive,” Kreiling said. “Our plan is to win league, and that hasn’t been done since 2013.”
The Roaring Fork boys were ranked 18th among 3A teams in the state, per the Jan. 13 combined CHSAA rankings.
Girls swimming
A few Carbondale/Roaring Fork athletes are competing this season for the Glenwood Springs High School girls swim team: senior Izzy Moon, junior Caroline Cole and freshmen Isla Friel, Sophia Warner and Avery Watson.
The Demons hosted Aspen and Grand Junction on Saturday, Jan. 11 at the Glenwood Community Center pool. Moon took third in the 100 backstroke, fourth in the 500 free, and was part of the winning 400 free relay; Friel was second in the 100 breaststroke, third in the 200 individual medley, and was part of the second-place 200 medley relay; Watson was seventh in the 500 free and was part of the third-place 400 free relay.
Wrestling
The combined Basalt/Roaring Fork boys and girls wrestling teams hosted the five-team Longhorn Invitational on Saturday, Jan. 11.
In the boys competition, Basalt wins came from Roaney Requeno at 126 pounds, Luca Del Cid at 150 pounds and Herberth Requeno at 175 pounds. Second-place went to Bronze Urfrig at 144 pounds and Waylon Applegate at 138 pounds.
In the three-team girls competition, Basalt’s Emely Mejia-Garcia won her 105-pound class and Roselynne Bernal-Rodriguez was third at 155.