The Roaring Fork High School girls basketball team wasted little time shaking off the holiday cobwebs to dismantle the Basalt Longhorns 75-16 on Saturday, Jan. 4.
Still undefeated at 8-0, the Rams carry a Class 3A state ranking of sixth in the Colorado High School Activities Association weekly poll, are ranked fifth in the latest Colorado MaxPreps poll and have a RPI power ranking of eighth.
Against Basalt, which now plays at the 4A level, the Rams came out hot, opening a 26-0 lead by the second quarter.
“The girls played very well considering they didn’t have a game in over three weeks,” head coach Mike Vidakovich said of the long break. “(Junior) Nikki Tardif continues to be an anchor in the middle for us with her rebounding, shot blocking and outlet passing. She keys our fast break.”
Tardiff finished the game with 13 points and 13 rebounds. Senior Carley Crownhart had 22 points, sophomore Riley Bevington had 15 points and 10 rebounds, and sophomore Hazel Jenkins had her best game of the season with 11 points coming off the bench.
The Roaring Fork boys didn’t fare as well in their game against Basalt, falling 65-43 to their mid valley rivals, and dropping to 5-3 on the season.
Junior Lucas Carballeira was the top scorer for the Rams with 12 points, and junior Kiko Pena had 14 rebounds. For the Longhorns, senior Elias Schendler dropped 19 points, supported by fellow seniors Taylor Hays and Luke Williams with 12 and 11 points, respectively.
Both Rams teams are at home to open the 3A Western Slope League schedule against North Fork this Friday, Jan. 10, 5:30pm for the varsity girls, and 7pm for the boys.
Wrestling
The Basalt boys and girls wrestling team, which combines student-athletes from Roaring Fork High, opened the post-holiday slate at the 25-team West Grand Invitational on Saturday, Jan. 4.
In the 20-team girls competition, Basalt senior Emely Mejia-Garcia won the 100-pound classification, taking down West Grand’s Heaven Vail in 1 minute, 46 seconds. Mejia-Garcia is undefeated thus far at 12-0. At 130 pounds, Basalt’s Sidney Hernandez was sixth.
And, in the 25-team boys competition, top finishes came at the 144-pound classification, where Roaring Fork senior Bronze Urfrig took second and junior Vaclav Hejda, a Rotary Exchange student from the Czech Republic, was third; at 150 pounds, James Opp took second and Luca Del Cid was third; at 175 pounds, Herberth Requeno took second; 113 pounds, Graham Rose placed fourth and Oscar Arroyo, fifth; 120 pounds, Aaron Arroyo, fifth; 132 pounds, Roaney Requeno, fourth, Colby Samuelson, fifth, and Waylon Applegate, sixth.